Forrest Sherman Forrest Percival Sherman ( 30 October 1896 – 22 July 1951 ) was an admiral in the United States Navy and the youngest man to serve as Chief of Naval Operations until Admiral Elmo Zumwalt became Chief of Naval Operations in 1970 . Biography . Born in Merrimack , New Hampshire , Sherman was a member of the Naval Academy class of 1918 , graduating in June , 1917 due to America ' s entry into World War I . During and shortly after World War I , he served in European waters as an officer of the gunboat " Nashville " ( PG - 7 ) and destroyer " Murray " ( DD - 97 ) . In 1919 – 21 , Sherman was assigned to the battleship " Utah " ( BB - 31 ) and destroyers " Reid " ( DD - 292 ) and " Barry " ( DD - 248 ) , serving as Commanding Officer of the latter . Following duty as Flag Lieutenant to Commander Control Force , Atlantic Fleet , he received flight training at NAS Pensacola , Florida . Designated a Naval Aviator in December 1922 , Lieutenant Sherman was assigned to Fighting Squadron 2 ( VF 2 ) until 1924 , when he returned to Pensacola as an instructor . Study at the Naval War College was followed in 1927 by service in the aircraft carrier s " Lexington " ( CV - 2 ) and " Saratoga " ( CV - 3 ) . While in the latter ship , he commanded Scouting Squadron 2 and was Flag Secretary to Commander Aircraft Squadrons , Battle Fleet . Promoted to the ranks of Lieutenant Commander in 1930 and Commander in 1937 , during that decade Sherman served at the Naval Academy , commanded Fighting Squadron 1 , had charge of the Aviation Ordnance Section of the Bureau of Ordnance , was Navigator of the aircraft carrier " Ranger " ( CV - 4 ) , and had duty on a number of flag staffs . In 1941 – 42 , he served with the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and was a member of the Permanent Joint Board on Defense , Canada - United States . Captain Forrest Sherman worked closely with then US Army Major Albert C . Wedemeyer author of the " Victory Plan of 1941 " , " the blueprint . . . for the mobilization of the United States Army for World War 2 " . Wedemeyer , while working in the War Plans Department , was commissioned to write the " Victory Plan by General George C . Marshall . " The Victory Plan predicted the future organization for an army that did not yet exist , outlined combat missions for a war not yet declared , and computed war production requirements for industries that were still committed to peacetime manufacture . " Captain Forrest Sherman ' s personal relationship with Major Albert Wedemeyer " ensured a community of planning effort between the two services and pointed to a future in which the services would acknowledge that mobilization planning was a joint responsibility that one service alone could not conduct adequately . " ( From " Writing the Victory Plan of 1941 " by Charles E . Kirkpatrick ) In May 1942 , after reaching the rank of Captain , Sherman took command of the carrier " Wasp " ( CV - 7 ) , taking her through the first month of the Solomon Islands campaign . After " Wasp " was sunk by a Japan ese submarine on 15 September 1942 , he was awarded the Navy Cross for his extraordinary heroism in command of the carrier during the opening days of the South Pacific operations . Sherman then became Chief of Staff to Commander Air Force , Pacific Fleet . In November 1943 Rear Admiral Sherman was assigned as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Pacific Fleet commander , Admiral Chester W . Nimitz . He held that position for the remainder of World War II , playing a critical role in planning the offensives that brought victory in the Pacific , and was present when Japan surrendered on 2 September 1945 . Following a short tour as a carrier division commander , in December 1945 Vice Admiral Sherman became Deputy Chief of Naval Operations . Sherman ' s next assignment , beginning in January 1948 , was to command the Navy ' s operating forces in the Mediterranean Sea . He was recalled to Washington , D . C . , at the end of October 1949 to become Chief of Naval Operations , with the rank of Admiral . During the next sixteen months , he helped the Navy recover from a period of intense political controversy ( as in the so - called " Revolt of the Admirals " ) , and oversaw its responses to the twin challenges of a hot war in Korea and an intensifying cold war elsewhere in the world . On 22 July 1951 , while on a military and diplomatic trip to Europe , Admiral Forrest Sherman died in Naples , Italy , following a sudden series of heart attacks . Two destroyer s have been named USS " Forrest Sherman " in his honor , as was Sherman Island , Antarctica , Forrest Sherman Field , NAS Pensacola , home of the Blue Angels , and Forrest Sherman Field , Hospital Point , US Naval Academy . The US Department of Defense school in Naples , Italy was formerly called Forrest Sherman High School . References . The quotes from the " Victory Plan of 1941 " and Captain Forrest Sherman are from " Writing the Victory Plan of 1941 " by Charles E . Kirkpatrick . " Some material is from the official site of USS " Forrest Sherman " , produced by the Navy and therefore in the public domain .