Robert C . Giffen Robert C . Giffen ( 1886 – 1962 ) was an admiral in the United States Navy . Birth to the beginning of World War I . Robert Carlisle Giffen was born in West Chester , Pennsylvania , on 29 June 1886 . He attended the University of Notre Dame , in South Bend , 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 Washington Navy Yard 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 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 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 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 . In November 1942 , he participated in the North Africa invasion , during which his task force actively engaged French warships and aircraft off Casablanca , Morocco . 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 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 .