Briscoe (DD 977) - Naval Cruise Book

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Admnai Rohent Pemcj Bnucoe UiM Qijijith Ncu y A native of Cenlerville. Mississippi. Admiral Briscoe was graduated from the Naval Academy in June 1918. During World War 1 he served in the battleship ALABAMA of the Atlantic Fleet and in the destroyer ROE. operating from Brest France. At the end of hostilities, he made the first postwar Midshipmen cruise in the USS KEARSARGE and in 1919 returned to destroyer duty as Engineer Officer of the USS HUMPHREYS, stationed in Near East waters at Constan- tinople. During the Turko-Greek fighting m 1920-1921, he commanded a Naval landing force at Derindge. Turkey. After further destroyer duty in the USS FLUSSER and USS HENDERSON, and recruiting duty at Little Rock, Arkansas, he served as Senior Assistant Engi- neer of the battleship WEST VIRGINIA, then returned to the Naval Academy as an instructor in Mechanical Engineering. In 1931-1933 he was on China Sta- tion, assigned first as Executive Officer of the USS EDSALL, on Yangtze Patrol during the Japanese occupation of Woosung and Manchuria, and later as Com- munication Officer of the USS HOUSTON, flagship of the Commander in Chief, Asiatic Fleet. He again returned to the Naval Academy in June 1934. and for three years served as Head of the Department of Chemistry. Sea duty as Navigator of the battleship MISSISSIPPI preceded a tour during the prewar period as Assistant Director of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and Navy Department Liaison Officer with the National Defense Research Committee. He has been identified as one of the pioneers of modem electronics develop- ment in the Navy. In May 1942 he assumed command of the USS PROMETHEUS, a recommissioned World War 1 repair ship. Under his command she joined the THIRD Fleet at Noumea. Caledonia, where he was detached to command Destroyer Squadron 5 and operated as escort commander for Task Forces 67, 68 and 70. In the intervening periods when the battleships and cruisers were not at sea. Admiral Briscoe operated Commander Task Group 67.5 (Cactus Striking Force) in Guadalcanal waters. He was transferred to command of the USS DENVER in July 1943, and returned that cruiser to the United States after she suf- fered severe battle damage off Rabaul in November 1943. In February 1944 he joined the Staff of the Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet, in Washington, as Head of New Developments, and with his promotion to flag rank in April 1945, assumed command of Amphibious Group 14. V-J Day found him in Manila, working on plans for the invasion of the Japanese homeland. In Sep- tember 1945 he took command of the Operational Development Force, Atlantic Fleet with headquarters at Norfolk Virginia. After two years there, and a tour of duly as Assistant Chief of Naval Operations (Readiness), he became Commander Amphibious Force, Atlantic Fleet, on November 1, 1950. Ordered in January 1952 to command the SEVENTH Fleet in Korean waters, he retained this command until designated Commander Naval Forces, Far East, in June of that year. Two years later he reported as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, for Fleet Operations and Readiness, and on July 2, 1956. became Comman- der in Chief Allied Forces, Southern Europe, For exceptional meritorious service ... (in that capacity) from July 2. 1956 to December 31, 1958. He was award- ed the Distinguished Service Medal. On January 1, 1959 he was transferred to the Retired List of the U.S. Navy. He died on October 14, 1968 in Liberty, Mis- sissippi. i Vx '

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