Harold Rainsford Stark Harold Rainsford Stark ( 12 November 1880 – 20 August 1972 ) served as an officer in the United States Navy during World War I and World War II . Stark was the US Navy ' s 8th Chief of Naval Operations , from August 1 , 1939 to 26 March 1942 . Early life and career . Stark enrolled in the United States Naval Academy in 1899 and graduated with the class of 1903 . As a plebe there he received the nickname " Betty " . From 1907 to 1909 , Stark served on the battleship USS " Minnesota " before and during the U . S . Atlantic Fleet ' s cruise around the world . World War I . Subsequently , Stark had extensive duty in torpedo boat s and destroyers , including command of the Asiatic Fleet ' s torpedo flotilla in 1917 , when these old and small destroyers steamed from the Philippines to the Mediterranean to join in World War I operations . Stark served on the staff of Commander , US Naval Forces operating in Europe from November 1917 to January 1919 . Interwar Years . Following the war , Stark was Executive Officer of the battleships " North Dakota " and " West Virginia " , attended the Naval War College , commanded the ammunition ship " Nitro " and served in naval ordnance positions . During the later 1920s and into the mid - 1930s , with the rank of Captain , he was successively Chief of Staff to the Commander , Destroyer Squadrons Battle Fleet , Aide to the Secretary of the Navy , and Commanding Officer of USS " West Virginia " . From 1934 to 1937 , Rear Admiral Stark was Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance . He then from July 1938 served at sea as Commander Cruiser Division Three and Commander of Cruisers in the Battle Fleet , with the rank of Vice Admiral . CNO and the beginning of World War II . In August 1939 , Stark became Chief of Naval Operations with the rank of Admiral . In that position , he oversaw the expansion of the Navy during 1940 and 1941 , and its involvement in the Neutrality Patrol s against German submarines in the Atlantic during the latter part of 1941 . It was at this time that he authored the Plan Dog memo , which laid the basis for America ' s Europe first policy . He also orchestrated the Navy ' s change to adopting unrestricted submarine warfare in case of war with Japan ; Stark expressly ordered it at 17 . 52 Washington time on 7 December 1941 , not quite four hours after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor . It appears the decision was taken without the knowledge or prior consent of the government . It violated the London Naval Treaty , to which the U . S . was signatory . His most controversial service involved the growing menace of Japanese forces in the period before America was bombed into the war by the attack on Pearl Harbor . The controversy centers on whether he and his Director of War Plans , Admiral Richmond K . Turner provided sufficient information to Admiral Husband E . Kimmel , Commander of the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor , about Japanese moves in the fall of 1941 to enable Kimmel to anticipate an attack and to take steps to counter it . Captain ( later Rear Admiral ) Edwin T . Layton was Kimmel ' s chief intelligence officer ( later also Adm . Chester W . Nimitz ' s intelligence officer ) at the time of the attack . In his book , " And I Was There : Pearl Harbor and Midway — Breaking the Secrets " ( 1985 ) , Layton maintained Stark offered meaningless advice throughout this period , withheld vital information at the insistence of his Director of War Plans , Admiral Turner , showed timidity in dealing with the Japanese , and utterly failed to provide anything of use to Kimmel . John Costello ( Layton ' s co - author ) , in " Days of Infamy " ( Pocket , 1994 ) , points out MacArthur had complete access to both and JN - 25 , plus over eight hours warning , and was still caught by surprise . Moreover , as SCAP official historian Gordon Prange and his colleagues note in " December 7 , 1941 " ( McGraw - Hill , 1988 ) , defense of the fleet was General Short ' s responsibility , not Stark ' s . Turner ' s insistence on having intelligence go through War Plans led Office of Naval Intelligence ( ONI ) to a wrong belief ONI was only to collect intelligence ; Turner did not correct this view , nor aid Stark in understanding the problem . Among others , Morison and Layton agree Turner was most responsible for the debacle , as does Ned Beach in " Scapegoats " ( Annapolis , 1995 ) . In addition , there was considerable confusion over where Japan might strike , including against the Soviet Union or British colonies in Asia . After Pearl Harbor . As CNO , Stark oversaw combat operations against Japan and the European Axis Powers that officially began in December 1941 . In March 1942 , Stark was relieved as CNO by Admiral Ernest King . He went to England the next month to become Commander of U . S . Naval Forces in Europe . From his London headquarters , Admiral Stark directed the naval part of the great buildup in England and U . S . naval operations and training activities on the European side of the Atlantic . He received the additional title of Commander of the Twelfth Fleet in October 1943 , and he supervised USN participation in the landings at Normandy , France in June 1944 . Admiral Stark built and maintained close relations with British civilian and naval leaders , who " generally adored him " , and also with the leaders of other Allied powers . Stark was particularly important in dealing with Charles de Gaulle ; it was thanks to Stark the U . S . - British - Free French relationship continued to work . He earned high praise from King for his work . After the Normandy landings , Stark faced a Court of Inquiry over his actions leading up to Pearl Harbor . The Court concluded Stark had not conveyed the danger , nor provided enough information , to Kimmel , but had not been derelict . King ' s endorsement of the report was scalding , leading to Stark being relieved . In 1948 , King reconsidered and requested the endorsement be expunged : " It was the only time that King ever admitted he had been wrong . " From August 1945 until he left active duty in April 1946 , Stark served in Washington , D . C . , and made his home there after retirement . He died in 1972 . The controversy surrounding him has only become fiercer since . Postwar . He maintained a family summer residence on Lake Carey in Tunkhannock , Pennsylvania north of his native Wilkes - Barre for many years and flew in by naval seaplane for weekends during his career . The cottage still stands on the westerly shore of the lake . Honors . Stark was awarded three Navy Distinguished Service Medal s and one Army Distinguished Service Medal . The frigate USS " Stark " ( FFG - 31 ) was named in honor of Admiral Stark . A research & development laboratory & office building at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division was named in honor of Admiral Stark .