The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
|
| Previous: Ailanthus Class, U.S. Net Tenders | Table of Contents | Next: Aioi |
Walden "Pug" Ainsworth graduated from the Naval Academy in 1910 and participated in the Vera Cruz Expedition in 1914. He became an expert in ordnance and commanded destroyers before becoming a instructor at the Naval Academy and a naval ROTC professor at Tulane University. He was commanding Destroyer Squadron 2, part of the Neutrality Patrol in the Atlantic, when war broke out.
Ainsworth took command of battleship Mississippi
on 19 December 1941. From May 1942 to December 1942, he was acting
Commander, Destroyers, Pacific Fleet in place of Robert Theobald,who had been sent
to the Aleutians. He was
subsequently promoted to rear admiral and
took administrative command of all Pacific Fleet destroyers on 4 July
1942. Given command of Cruiser
Division
9 and Task Force 67 built around it, he
operated
aggressively in the Solomons,
on one occasion conducting a daring bombardment of Munda on New Georgia.
Ainsworth was later
given command of Task Force 18 and commanded the Allied forces in
the battles of Kula Gulf and Kolombangara. Both were thought
to be Allied victories at the time, but radio intelligence eventually proved
that Japanese losses were far less than thought. It took some time for
Ainsworth and his fellow cruiser
admirals to learn to let their destroyers operate independently while
their cruisers stayed out of range of the "Long Lance" and employed
long-range gunnery.
Ainsworth commanded the fire support group for the Guam operation and screens for carrier task groups before
becoming the administrative commander for all cruisers and destroyers
in the Pacific.
Boatner describes Ainsworth
as "tall, beefy, and genial but a strict disciplinarian". Morison
described him as "Tall, hearty ... with a sailor's light blue eyes,
florid complexion, and engaging smile..." He was one of the best
fighting admirals of the surface fleet.
| 1886-11-10
|
Born in Minneapolis |
|
| 1910-6-3 |
Ensign
|
Graduates from Naval Academy,
standing 73rd in a class of 131. Assigned to BB Iowa. |
| 1912 |
AP Prairie |
|
| 1914 |
BB Florida |
|
| 1917-5 |
AP DeKalb |
|
| 1918 |
America |
|
| 1918 |
Frederick |
|
| 1919-2 |
Inspector of ordnance, Navy
Armor and Projectile Plant |
|
| 1921 |
Executive officer, AP Hancock |
|
| 1923 |
Executive officer, CL Birmingham |
|
| 1923 |
Commander, Marcus |
|
| 1924-8 |
Inspector of ordnance, New York
Navy Yard |
|
| 1925 |
Staff, Destroyers Squadrons,
Asiatic Fleet |
|
| 1927-7 |
Commander, Paul
Jones |
|
| 1928 |
Instructor, Naval Academy |
|
| 1931 |
BB Idaho |
|
| 1933 |
CA Pensacola |
|
| 1934 |
14 Naval District |
|
| 1935 |
Naval War College |
|
| 1936-6 |
Commander
|
Executive officer, Mississippi |
| 1938 |
Professor of Naval Science and
Tactics, Tulane University |
|
| 1940-7-22 |
Captain
|
Commander, Destroyer Squadron 2 |
| 1941-12-19 |
Commander, BB Mississippi |
|
| 1942-7-4 |
Rear
admiral |
Commander, Destroyers, Pacific
Fleet |
| 1942-12-10 |
Commander, Cruiser Division 9 | |
| 1944-10-31 |
Commander, Cruisers-Destroyers, Pacific Fleet |
|
| 1945-8-20 |
Commander, 5 Naval District |
|
| 1948-12-1 |
Retires |
|
| 1960-8-7 |
Dies at Bethesda Naval Hospital |
References
Morison
(1950)
Pettibone (2006)
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007-2009 by Kent G. Budge. Index
