Namesake:
Admiral Robert B. Carney
Upon graduation from the Naval Academy, in 1916, the
future Chief of Naval Operations and son of Lieutenant Commander
R.E. Carney (1868-1935) served onboard the Battleship USS NEW
HAMPSHIRE. In October of that year, he joined the destroyer
tender USS DIXIE until July 1917, when he transferred to the
destroyer USS FANNING. Admiral Carney, then a lieutenant, was
serving as Gunnery and Torpedo Officer when the FANNING sank the
German U-58 on November 17, 1917.
Between the wars, he commanded several destroyers,
including commissioning the destroyer USS REID. Additionally, he
served as Executive Officer of a battleship and acquired staff
experience in the fleet. Ashore, he served in the Navy
Department in the Division of Fleet Training and in the Shore
Establishment Division of the Secretary of the Navy’s
office.
After the onset of the Second World War, Admiral Carney,
newly promoted to Captain, brought the light cruiser USS DENVER
into commission and set out for the South Pacific. While
participating in the Solomon Island campaign Admiral Carney was
twice decorated for "exceptionally meritorious conduct...in
action against enemy Japanese forces..."
On July 26, 1943, he was promoted to Rear Admiral and
became Chief of Staff to Admiral William F. Hasley, Jr.,
Commander, South Pacific Force, which included all ground, sea,
and air forces in the South Pacific area. When Admiral Halsey
assumed command of the Third Fleet in the Central Pacific in
June 1944, Rear Admiral Carney accompanied him as Chief of
Staff. He took part in the Palau, Leyte, Lingayen, and Okinawa
campaigns and in the attack on Formosa, in the China Sea;
against the Japanese homeland and the Second Battle of the
Philippine Sea. During this period, he earned the Navy Cross,
the United States Navy’s ranking decoration for "-invaluable
assistance in formulating the plans for a series of combat
operations in which task forces of the Third Fleet engaged
capitol ships of the Japanese fleet waging devastation attacks
on major Japanese combatant an carrier task forces-"
Rear Admiral Carney arranged with Japanese emissaries for
the entry of the Third Fleet into Tokyo Bay, accepted the
surrender ceremony held in Admiral Halsey’s Flagship, the
battleship USS MISSOURI.
After the war, he was promoted to Vice Admiral in 1946,
and until February 1950, served as Deputy Chief of Naval
Operations. Next he assumed command of the Second Fleet
operating on the East Coast of the United States. On October 2,
1950, he was advanced in rank to Admiral and on May 13, 1953,
President Eisenhower announced his selection of Admiral Carney
as the next Chief of Naval Operations.
On completion of his appointment as Chief of Naval
Operations, Admiral Carney retired from active service. Over the
next several years, Admiral Carney’s various assignments,
coupled with his personal interest in industrial participation
in the defense effort, resulted in close contact with industry
including the position of Chairman of the Board, Bath Iron
Works, Corporation. The very same shipyard which built the
destroyer proudly bearing his name.
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