- 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=
awards=
relations=
laterwork=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 aflag officer of theUnited States Navy and inventor of theNaval 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 ofBattleship Division 1 in peace time prior to the start ofWorld War II . On26 May 1939 , he relieved Rear AdmiralChester Nimitz as ComBatDiv1, and was relieved23 January 1941 by Rear AdmiralIsaac C. Kidd , who died on the Division flagship, USS|Arizona|BB-39, in theattack on Pearl Harbor . On1 February 1941 , Willson became the Superintendent of theUnited 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 January1942 , Willson became the chief of staff to theChief of Naval Operations AdmiralErnest 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 betweenFranklin Delano Roosevelt andWinston 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 ofWorld 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 incryptology . [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
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