Russell Willson

Infobox Military Person
name= Russell Willson
lived= 1883–1948


caption= Rear Admiral Russell Willson(l) relieves Rear Admiral Nimitz aboard the USS|Arizona|BB-39
nickname=
placeofbirth=
placeofdeath=
allegiance= United States of America
branch= United States Navy
serviceyears=
rank= Vice Admiral
unit=
commands= Battleshp Division 1
battles=
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Vice Admiral Russell Willson (b. 1883cite web |url=http://www.usna.edu/cemetery/PDF%20Files/Section%204/0556-%20Willson,%20R.pdf |title=United States Naval Academy Cemetery and Columbarium |accessdate= 2007-03-20] - d. 1948cite journal |date= 1948-07-19 |title= Milestones |journal= Time |volume= LII |issue= 3 |pages= |id= |url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,798897,00.html?promoid=googlep|accessdate= 2007-03-20 ] ) was a flag officer of the United States Navy and inventor of the Naval Cipher Box issued in 1917.cite web| last = Howeth | first =L. S. | coauthors = ed. Thomas H. White
title = History of Communications--Electronics in the United States Navy | publisher = United States, Government Printing Office, Washington | date = 1963 | url = http://earlyradiohistory.us/1963hw25.htm#25sec5 | accessdate = 2007-08-15 ]

Russell Willson was an alumnus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. [cite news |title= Alumni's Impressive Record Subject of Bldg. 10 Exhibit |url= http://www-tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_064/TECH_V064_S0026_P001.pdf |format= PDF |work= The Tech |page= 1 |date= 1944-03-10 |accessdate=2007-03-20 ]

Career

During World War I, Willson organized the Navy's communications.

World War II

Rear Admiral Willson was the last commander of Battleship Division 1 in peace time prior to the start of World War II. On 26 May 1939, he relieved Rear Admiral Chester Nimitz as ComBatDiv1, and was relieved 23 January 1941 by Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, who died on the Division flagship, USS|Arizona|BB-39, in the attack on Pearl Harbor. On 1 February 1941, Willson became the Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy.cite web |url= http://www.usna.edu/VirtualTour/150years/1940.htm |title= A Brief History of the United States Naval Academy |accessdate=2007-03-20] After the start of WW II, in January 1942, Willson became the chief of staff to the Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Ernest King. [cite book |title= History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Volume I, The Battle of the Atlantic, September 1939 - May 1943 |author= Morison, Samuel Eliot |publisher= First Illinois Paperback |origyear= 1947 |year= 2001 |pages= 116] Willson was a principal at several of the wartime conferences between Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. [cite web |url= http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/wwii/sp1943-44/appC.htm |title= PRINCIPALS AT THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES JANUARY 1943-SEPTEMBER 1944 |accessdate= 2007-03-20]

After World War II, he retired as an advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff to become associate editor of World Report.

Personal life

Russell Willson was married to Eunice Westcott Willson(1884-1962). They had a son, Russell, and two daughters, Eunice and Mary. Lt. Russell Willson, Jr.(1919-1945), USN, was a naval aviator, and Eunice Willson (1912- ) worked for the Navy for several years in cryptology. [Rice, Eunice Willson: “The Memoirs of Eunice Willson Rice”, 2001] Russell Willson and his wife, as well as Russell Willson, Jr., are buried together in the United States Naval Academy Cemetery.

References