Robert Carlisle Giffen (1886 – 1962) was an admiral in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Birth to the beginning of World War I

Robert Carlisle Giffen was born in West Chester,

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, on 29 June 1886. He attended the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

, in

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, Indiana, before appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy from the State of Nebraska in 1903. Midshipman Giffen graduated with the Academy's class of 1907 and was assigned to the battleship USS ''Virginia'', in which he voyaged around the world with the " Great White Fleet" between late 1907 and early 1909. During the next four years, Giffen served in several ships and also participated regularly in the National Rifle Matches. Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Giffen served at the

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in 1913-15 and was then assigned to the new destroyer USS ''Wainwright''.

World War I and inter-war years

During 1917-1918, Lieutenant Commander Giffen commanded the destroyer USS ''Trippe'' in European waters and served with the Sixth Battle Squadron, attached to the

British Grand Fleet The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. History Formed in August 1914 from the ...

in the North Sea. In mid-1918 he took command of the new destroyer USS ''Schley'', serving in her at Gibraltar and in the Mediterranean Sea until August 1919. From then until the middle 1930s he had shore duty at San Francisco, California, at the Naval Academy and at Keyport, Washington; served afloat as Executive Officer of USS ''Huron''; and was Commanding Officer of the gunboat USS ''Sacramento'', a destroyer squadron and the oiler USS ''Neches''. Between 1934 and 1937, Captain Giffen was again stationed at the Naval Academy, followed by a tour in command of the light cruiser USS ''Savannah'' in 1938-1940.

World War II

Atlantic service

Giffen attended the

Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associ ...

in 1940 and spent several months in Washington, D.C., as Director of the Naval Reserve Policy Division of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. In March 1941, Rear Admiral Giffen became commander of a cruiser division. He led the North Atlantic

Neutrality Patrol On September 3, 1939, the British and French declarations of war on Germany initiated the Battle of the Atlantic. The United States Navy Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) established a combined air and ship patrol of the United States Atlantic coa ...

on increasingly "warlike" operations during the latter part of 1941. Once war formally began for the United States in December, he commanded surface forces that escorted convoys and, at times, operated with the

British Home Fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the First ...

. On 27 March 1942 he was named commander of US Navy Atlantic Task Force 39 when its commander, Rear Adm. John W. Wilcox, Jr. was lost at sea. In November 1942, he participated in the North Africa invasion, during which his task force actively engaged French warships and aircraft off Casablanca,

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Pacific and Caribbean service

During 1943 and into 1944, Rear Admiral Giffen commanded battleship and cruiser task forces in the Pacific, participating in the latter stages of the fight for Guadalcanal (and was the losing commander in the

Battle of Rennell Island The took place on 29–30 January 1943. It was the last major naval engagement between the United States Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Guadalcanal Campaign of World War II. It occurred in the South Pacific between Rennell ...

), the Aleutians campaign, the invasions of the Gilbert and Marshall Islands, and raids against Japanese bases in the central Pacific. In May 1944, with the rank of vice admiral, he became Commandant of the Tenth Naval District and Commander, Caribbean Sea Frontier, with headquarters at San Juan, Puerto Rico from 14 May 1944 until 20 August 1945.

Final career assignments and retirement

Vice Admiral Giffen was Commander Service Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, from August 1945, and retired from active duty at the beginning of September 1946. He died at Annapolis, Maryland on 10 December 1962.

References

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External links

Robert C. Giffen Papers, 1905-1990 (bulk 1905-1945) MS 427
held by Special Collections & Archives, Nimitz Library at the United States Naval Academy {{DEFAULTSORT:Giffen, Robert C. 1886 births 1962 deaths United States Navy personnel of World War I Aleutian Islands campaign Navy Midshipmen athletic directors United States Navy World War II admirals United States Naval Academy alumni United States Navy vice admirals University of Notre Dame alumni Recipients of the Navy Cross (United States) Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal People from West Chester, Pennsylvania Military personnel from Pennsylvania