Clark H . Woodward Clark Howell Woodward ( 1877 – 1968 ) served the United States Navy in five wars : the Spanish - American War , Philippine - American War , the Chinese Boxer Rebellion , and both World Wars . A staunch promoter of an advanced U . S . Navy , he influenced priorities and policies concerning the upgrading and construction of modern naval warships . Upon his retirement after fifty years and six months of active duty , he assured an audience at Annapolis that " the first fifty years were the hardest . " Combat experience . Born in Atlanta , Georgia , on March 4 , 1877 , Woodward was an active naval officer early on . While still a midshipman attending the United States Naval Academy , he was activated early for duty in the Spanish - American War of 1898 . Graduating in January 1899 , he was immediately dispatched to help quell the Nicaraguan revolution of February 2 through March 5 , 1899 . In November of that same year , he joined the China Relief Expedition representing the United States in the Eight - Nation Alliance opposing the Boxer Rebellion uprising . Although an experienced naval officer trained to lead sailors , Woodward earned a Navy Expert Rifle Medal in 1910 , and served in U . S . Navy combat missions in Nicaragua in 1912 , the Gulf of Mexico in 1914 , and the Caribbean in 1915 . He fought through the entirety of United States involvement in World War I , emerging a decorated veteran with a Commodore ' s star . Peacetime service . Between the two World Wars , with a second star on each shoulder , Rear Admiral Woodward served as Commandant of the Panama Canal District , and later as Commandant of the U . S . Third Naval District , which covered Connecticut , New Jersey , and southern New York , and had its headquarters in lower Manhattan . He was also given simultaneous command of the U . S . Navy Yard , New York , popularly referred to as the Brooklyn Navy Yard . ( Its official name at that time was U . S . Navy Yard , New York , and was referred to in correspondence as the New York Navy Yard . The yard ' s unofficial " Brooklyn " nickname was never used by the Navy Department . ) Clark Howell Woodward married Charlotte Margaret Linné ; she was a widow of Captain Edward Graham Parker , and the daughter of Catherine Fitzpatrick ( O ' Reilly ) and Captain John Conrad Linne ( keeper of the lighthouse at Goat Island in San Francisco Bay ) . They lived in Washington , D . C . until Woodward ' s assignment to his New York City posting . There , they officially resided at the Commandant ’ s House in the Navy Yard , but stayed more often in their Upper West Side apartment on Riverside Drive . The Navy Yard . As Commandant of the New York Navy Yard from October 1 , 1937 to March 1 , 1941 , Woodward was not only charged with the construction of warships , but also had oversight of the Brooklyn Naval Hospital , located on the eastern side of Wallabout Bay ; the Material and Chemical Laboratories at the Navy Yard ; and numerous supply depots around the borough of Brooklyn . As the last commandant to simultaneously command the U . S . Navy Yard and the Third Naval District , Woodward held a complex dual - position , having to answer to both the Secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Naval Operations ( CNO ) . Contention surrounded the construction of materiel in the years leading up to World War II . Woodward was convinced that only battleships , not aircraft carriers and their warplane squadrons , could project sufficient naval power abroad . In this he had long contended , agreeing with Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D . Roosevelt in 1922 when the future Commander - in - Chief stated his belief that “ the day of the battleship has not passed , and it is highly unlikely that an airplane , or fleet of them , could ever successfully sink a fleet of Navy vessels under battle conditions . ” Woodward himself is noted as saying , as late as 1939 , that “ as far as sinking a ship with a bomb is concerned , you just can ’ t do it . ” ( Ironically , just three years later , his son - in - law Miles Browning would prove that opinion wrong by devastating the Japanese Navy with aggressive carrier - launched aerial attacks at the Battle of Midway . ) Under Woodward ’ s command during the late - 1930s , the Navy Yard began to concentrate less on cruiser and other smaller warship production , shifting its priority to the building of new battleships . Capable of constructing three cruisers and two cutters simultaneously , the Yard now put all of its resources into the building of gigantic battleships . Under Clark Woodward ’ s watch as commandant , the U . S . Navy also undertook an accelerated upgrading and expansion of the Brooklyn Navy Yard . The entire physical plant was overhauled , all of its older factories ( many dating as far back as the Civil War ) remodeled and repaired . A huge new turret shop was built , and a mammoth Hammerhead crane , capable of lifting 350 tons , was constructed to capacitate battleship fabrication . Forcing rights of condemnation under eminent domain , the yard took over the old Wallabout Market abutting it to the east , using the expanded space to build two additional 1100 - foot dry docks , a new foundry , several subassembly shops , and a materials laboratory . Under Woodward ’ s oversight , additional dock s and berth s were constructed on the East River , and miles of roads and railroad tracks were added to interconnect the upgraded facility . Military advocate . While commanding the Third Naval District and the Brooklyn Navy Yard , Woodward was an outspoken supporter of an expanded U . S . Navy , constantly warning that it was inferior to those of both Great Britain and the troublesome Japanese . Arguing that the pace of new construction was far too slow , he despaired that the U . S . Navy was " woefully weak " in destroyers and submarine s . In 1940 , the Brooklyn Eagle carried numerous speeches of his in which Woodward warned not only of America ' s " third - place " status , but also that the United States Army lacked the strength to repel a potential attack on the Navy Yard if an enemy managed to break through the nation ’ s naval defenses . Later , he would use the sinking of the SS Normandie ( which he believed was sabotage and took as something of a personal affront ) to underline his concerns . Promoted to Vice Admiral , Clark Howell Woodward left his positions in New York in March 1941 . Rear Admiral Edward J . Marquart succeeded Woodward as commandant of the New York Navy Yard . However , command of the Third Naval District went to another admiral , Adolphus Andrews . With Woodward facing forced retirement due to age , the Navy Department felt that the two positions would be too much for a lesser individual to handle . While Woodward had served the longest term of any Commandant , U . S . Navy Yard , New York , or Commander , Third Naval District , in the 1930s and 1940s , those responsibilities have been separated between two naval officers ever since his command . Reactivation . In a speech delivered on what proved to be the eve of war , 6 December 1941 , Woodward predicted that the United States Navy would soon be able to defeat any and all naval forces in the world , in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans simultaneously . He was called back to active duty the very next day , and his words were proven prescient by his beloved Navy ’ s successful prosecution of both the Pacific War and the Battle of the Atlantic . Finally retiring in 1948 , after over fifty years of service , Woodward continued to work for the Navy with retired status during the Korean War . Upon the armistice in 1953 , he withdrew from duty altogether . However , he remained a staunchly vocal advocate of decisive military might . Clark Howell Woodward died a widower in Arlington , Virginia in 1968 , a decade after the death of his wife in a fire . He was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery . His collection of papers spanning the years 1915 through 1968 , which include correspondence , news clippings , publications , photographs , personal writing , and souvenir s which document his exceptionally long Navy career , are housed in the U . S . National Archives . ( Papers of Clark H . Woodward , Operational Archives Branch , Naval Historical Center , Washington , D . C . ) Military decorations . Woodward was the recipient of the following awards :