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William Veazie Pratt | |
|---|---|
%2c_1929_(cropped).jpg) Pratt in 1929 | |
| Born | (1869-02-28)February 28, 1869 Belfast, Maine, US |
| Died | November 25, 1957(1957-11-25) (aged 88) |
| Branch | United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1889–1933 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands | Chief of Naval Operations United States Fleet Battle Fleet Destroyer Force,Pacific Fleet USS New York USS Birmingham |
| Battles / wars | Spanish–American War Philippine–American War World War I |
| Awards | Navy Distinguished Service Medal Army Distinguished Service Medal |
William Veazie Pratt (28 February 1869 – 25 November 1957) was anadmiral in theUnited States Navy. He served as thePresident of the Naval War College from 1925 to 1927, and as the 5thChief of Naval Operations from 1930 to 1933.
Admiral William V. Pratt was born on February 28, 1869, in Belfast, Maine. He was the son of Nichols Pratt, who entered the Union Navy in August 1862 as an acting master’s mate and was promoted to acting master in April 1865 during the Civil War.[1]
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After graduating from theUnited States Naval Academy in 1889, Pratt served in several cruisers and gunboats, visiting Europe, South America and Asia. During 1895–97, Ensign Pratt had the first of three instructor tours at the Naval Academy. He was assigned to the gunboatUSS Mayflower during theSpanish–American War and to thecruiserUSS Newark afterwards. While in the latter, he returned to Asiatic waters, where he saw action in thePhilippine–American War. A second Naval Academy session followed in 1900–1902, after which he served in theNorth Atlantic FleetflagshipUSS Kearsarge.
Lieutenant Commander Pratt's final Naval Academy tour took place in 1905–1908. He then was executive officer of thecruisersUSS St. Louis andUSS California. Promoted to the rank of commander in 1910, Pratt was an instructor at theNaval War College in 1911–1913 and spent the next two years in theAtlantic Torpedo Flotilla, much of that as commanding officer of itsflagship, the scout cruiserUSS Birmingham. Captain Pratt was assigned to theUnited States Army inPanama and at theArmy War College in 1915–1917. DuringWorld War I he served inWashington, D.C. as Assistant Chief of Naval Operations in 1918.
Pratt was at sea in 1919–1921 as commanding officer of thebattleshipUSS New York and as CommanderDestroyer Force,Pacific Fleet. Following promotion torear admiral in mid-1921, he was a member of theGeneral Board in Washington, D.C., and served as a technical advisor during the negotiations that led to theWashington Naval Limitations Treaty of February 1922. He commanded a battleship division in 1923–1925 and was president of the court of inquiry that examined the 8 September 1923Honda Point Disaster. Assignments followed to the General Board and as president of the Naval War College. In 1927, he returned to sea as CommanderBattleship Divisions,Battle Fleet. A year later, he became Commander Battle Fleet in the rank of admiral and in 1929–1930 was commander in chief ofUnited States Fleet.
Pratt's work with the U.S. Fleet was interrupted in early 1930 by a trip to England to participate in the London conference that furtherlimited the size of the world's major navies. He becameChief of Naval Operations in September 1930 and spent nearly three years in that post, during a time whenDepression-era demands for economy made it very difficult to maintain the Navy's size and readiness. During his tenure, he also helped Coast Guard CommandantHarry G. Hamlet in discouraging PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt from merging the Navy and Coast Guard. Pratt agreed withPresident Herbert Hoovers's emphasis on disarmament and went along with postponement of new construction and cutting the fleet. Other naval officers disagreed sharply with Hoover's policies.[2]
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Retired at the beginning of July 1933, Pratt lived thereafter in Maine andNew York City. DuringWorld War II, he wrote a regular column for a nationally circulated magazine and spent several months on active Navy Department duty in 1941 studying measures to counter the Germansubmarine threat. Pratt died in 1957.
Like his father, Pratt was a companion of the District of Columbia Commandery of theMilitary Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.
In 1960, thedestroyerUSSWilliam V. Pratt (DLG-13, later DDG-44) was named in honor of Admiral Pratt.
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromAdmiral William V. Pratt.Naval History and Heritage Command.
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| Preceded by | Chief of Naval Operations 1930–1933 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Commander in Chief,United States Fleet 1929–1930 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the Naval War College 1925–1927 | Succeeded by |
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