I haven't been able to determine PRECISELY the command relationships that MacArthur and Eisenhower had (reporting to the Chief of Staff OR directly to the President, but I did find this:

Marshall was given the rank of a five-star general in December 1944. Along with William Leahy he was senior to Ernest King, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur and Henry Arnold.

The whole issue of who reports to whom has gone back and forth. During the Cold war we had "Specified" (single service) and "Unified" (multi-service) Commands, headed by various Service 4-Stars. These commanders I believe reported to the President, and not through either their respective Service Chief OR Service Secretary. I believe there have been changes to that now which place the Service Chiefs as well as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs into the Chain of Command.

One thing I know for certain. Whoever is the "Chief of Staff of the Army" is ALWAYS the highest ranking Army General, with the earliest date of rank, and the sequence number 1 on the General Officer list. (unless an Army General happens to be the Chairman of the JCS). Whenever they select a new Chief of Staff, it is customary for any more senior 4 stars to retire.

One thing I know that Rumsfeld did is that he abolished the term "Commander in Chief, xxxxxxxxxxxxxx", which was the traditional title of these 4 star commanders. Not understanding the LONG tradition behind these titles, (and no doubt just plain not giving a damn!) he declared that there was ONLY one "commander in chief" and these guys are now simply "Commander, xxxxxxxxxx"


Tom

What?! No guesses yet??!!
Need another clue?. . .OK, here goes;
This girl is the seventh WASP-class Amphibious Assault Ship and the second ship in the Navy to bear the name.

Well, OK, if you're going to make it THAT easy, I guess I gotta jump in:

LHD-7 is the Navy's third amphibious assault ship designed and built from the keel up with accommodations for female sailors. This "Women at Sea" modification provides LHD-7with living areas for nearly 450 female officers, chiefs, enlisted personnel and embarked troops. Overall, the ship has living areas for nearly 3,200 crew members and troops.

Iwo Jima (LHD-7) started on 12 December 1997 and commissioned on 30 June 2001

Tom

Jeez, I was hoping that I didn't have to give another hint!! :-)

Floors yours, Mr. Hathaway!

That one was kind of easy Mark. Almost quoted exactly from the website I saw it on.

:-) :-) :-)

It WAS a direct quote until I re-read the question (RTFP) and saw Gunny was asking for the THIRD and not the FIRST, so I had to quickly go back in and edit it!!!!!

I'm gonna look over all my "resources" and see if I can come up with a good one.

Tom

Here's an easy one -What ship was involved in a friendly collision with the Wisconsin BB-64?
an extra credit question - what is the current caretaker status of the USS Puget Sound AD-38?-
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=qngf2h8r1hjm&style=o&lvl=2&scene=1994340

That would be the DDE 510, USS Eaton, in heavy fog off the Virgina Capes on 6 May 1956. To repair her, the bow from the unfinished Kentucky was removed in Newport News and sent over to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, where it was "grafted" on to the front of Wisconsin.

And according to the latest edition of Ships and Aircraft, she is currently decommissioned, and in Reserve Status for the Atlantic, one of two Destroyer tenders still around, the other being USS Acadia, AD 42 in similar Reserve status on the Pacific coast.



OK, this one might be a bit obscure, but somebody will figure it out.

The Navy planned to commission a ship the USS Lafayette, BEFORE the SSBN which carried that name.

What was the ORIGINAL name of the ship which was planned to become the USS Lafayette, and why didn't the conversion take place?

Extra credit: What was the planned classification and proposed hull number for the USS Lafayette?

Tom

Could that be the SS Normandie -a French cruise liner siezed by the US and re-named the USS layfayette AP-53. She was to be converted into a troop carrier but caught fire in NY and rolled in the harbor - sold for scrap in 46?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Lafayette_%28AP-53%29

Exactly correct!!! (And I was thinking this was going to be tricky!)

OK, you're up!!


Tom

For those who don't know this. After the graft of the KY to the WIS the Wisconsin became known as the WISKY to those that served aboard her.

Hey guys. Let's keep this going. Here's an easy one.

What ship was layed down as the USS Kearsarge?

Kenny

OK Gator, I'll bite!

LHD-3 Kearsarge, Wasp Class Amphibious Assault Ship (Multi-Purpose):
Laid down, 9 February 1990, at Litton-Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp. Pascagoula, MS.
Launched, 26 March 1992
Commissioned USS Kearsarge (LHD-3), 16 October 1993
Kearsarge is a unit of Amphibious Squadron Six, Amphibious Group Two, US Atlantic Fleet, and is homeported at Norfolk, VA.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Specifications:
Displacement 40,500 tons (fl.)
Length 844'
Beam 106'
Draft 27'
Speed 20 kts+
Complement Crew 104 Officer, 1004 Enlisted
Marine Force 2,074
Armament two Sea Sparrow launchers, three 20 mm Phalanx (CIWS)mounts, eight .50 cal. machine guns
Aircraft 42 CH-46 Sea Knight Helicopters, 5 AV-8B Harrier aircraft, 6 ASW helicopters
Landing Craft 3 Air-Cushion Landing Craft (LCAC)
Propulsion two 600 psi boilers, two geared steam turbines, two shafts, 70,000 total shaft horsepower

Doh! This is what the question should have said.

What ship was layed down as the USS Kearsarge but launched under a different name?

Geez Gunny, I'm sorry.

Gator

Hmm, had a funny feeling that's what ya meant (I typed this answer first, then second guessed myself, deleted it and posted the above response to cover my a**!)

OK, here we go;

The eighth USS Hornet (CV/CVA/CVS-12) was originally named USS Kearsarge, but renamed in honor of the CV-8, which was lost in October of 1942.

Corret!

Over to you.

Ok, mates, another easy one. . .

"What was the only ship of the United States Navy named for this species, found in the West Indies and the tropical Pacific?"

**Bonus Question**
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Who was her first Captain, and who was his famous father?"

Just a guess Gunny, would it be Monitor?
Tom

That would be USS Triton, whose first skipper was the late Ned Beach, whose father was Edward Beach.

Aw c' mon mates!
You can do better than that!
Good guesses though, but try again!

Hmmm. . .
Do you guys need another hint?

I got a hunch, but I've got to check something out tomorrow. I found something today, that MIGHT be the answer, but I'll know more in the morning.

Tom

Bring it on, Mr. Hathaway!
This is sooooooooooo easy!

May not be the RIGHT answer, but it fits.

How about the USS Dentuda (SS-335), which was commissioned on 30 December under the command of (then) CDR John S McCain, Jr.

A Dentuda is a large shark found in temperate and sub tropical waters, and there hasn't been any other ship with this name in the US Navy..


John McCain, Jr went on to become a 4 star admiral and was retired as Commander in Chief of US Pacific Command. At the time he was the CINC of PACOM, his son, a naval aviator, wound up being a POW at the Hanoi Hilton for 5 1/2 years. This same son almost lost his life earlier during the Forrestal's devasting fire when a rocket accidentally fired from another aircraft on deck hit the plane in which he was sitting. The resulting fire ultimately claimed 134 lives, although the son managed to escape

John S McCain Jr's famous father was also a four star admiral, (although promoted posthumously) and became a naval aviator at age 51, commanded the CV-4 Ranger, and replaced Adm Marc Mitscher as Commander of the Fast Carrier Task Force and ultimately winning the Navy Cross for his efforts. He attended the surrender ceremony in Tokyo bay, but sadly died in September of 1945 immediately after returning to the US.

BTW, John S McCain Jr's SON has also gone on to become a bit famous in his own right. John S McCain III is one of the Senators from Arizona.


This may not be the answer you're looking for, but it sure does seem to fit!

Tom