RADM William S. Benson, USN
25 SEPTEMBER 1919
RADM WILLIAM S. BENSON, USN
In the years before WWI, the Secretary of the Navy took a more hands-on approach to day-to-day Navy activities. He was assisted by the Chiefs of the eight Bureaus in matters such as personnel, docks and yards, inspections, and provisioning. But in the area of fleet operations the SecNav was on his own, notably even in times of international conflict. Senior Navy officers recognized that Secretaries of the Navy, as political appointees, often had little or no military experience. And to this end, there were calls for the creation of a senior officer position that could advise SecNav and oversee fleet operations. When this proposal reached President Woodrow Wilson’s SecNav, Josephus Daniels, he immediately objected. In his mind, this threatened the basic Constitutional tenant of civilian control of the military. Even the American public opposed “Prussianization” of the Navy, a reference to Prussia’s military-centric governance of that day.
Despite Daniels’ objections, Congress did create the position of Chief of Naval Operations in the Navy Act of 1915, passed on March 3rd. Daniels was given the distasteful task, to him, of nominating a senior CAPT or Flag Officer for this new position. This was a time of increasing awareness that significant reform was necessary to the structure and functioning of the Navy, the creation of a CNO being only one of these reforms. Admired senior “insurgents” such as George Dewey, Henry B. Luce, Alfred T. Mahan, Bradley A. Fiske, Henry C. Taylor, and William A. Sims supported reform, opposing Daniels’ conservatism. Congressmen Richmond P. Hobson and Henry Cabot Lodge were on board as well, as was former President Teddy Roosevelt. Were Daniels to select a reform-minded senior officer, he would have set himself up for difficulties.
CAPT William Shepherd Benson was, at the time, Commandant of the Philadelphia Navy Yard. He was a respected officer, a veteran of the Spanish-American War, with both headquarters experience and cruiser and battleship command at sea. Most importantly to Daniels, Benson was not involved in reform efforts. And on 11 May 1915 Congress approved his nomination to become the first CNO.
Benson proved more than equal to the task of outlining and defining the role of the new position, while simultaneously accepting subordination to SecNav. His work answered the concerns of both to conservatives and reformists. He oversaw creation of the Navy Reserve, executed our interventions in Central America, and prepared us for entry into WWI. He served for four years, retiring and receiving a promotion to RADM on this date, having cemented the CNO position and assuaged fears of military over-reach.
Watch for more “Today in Naval History” 30 SEP 24
CAPT James Bloom, Ret.
Cogar, William B. Dictionary of Admirals of the U.S. Navy, Vol 2 1901-1918. Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 1991, pp. 22-24.
Coletta, Paolo E. American Secretaries of the Navy Vol 1 1775-1913. Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 1980, pp. 498-500.
ADDITIONAL NOTES: Benson is known for another magnanimous act. His son, LT Howard H.J. Benson, USN, had become skipper of the submarine H-2 by 1913. When the US entered WWI in 1917 the younger Benson was on shore duty. He petitioned his father, then CNO, for orders to a combat posting. His father declined to act either for or against his son’s request, leaving his son to forge his own career. LT Benson ultimately secured combat duty as skipper of convoy escorts, and earned a Navy Cross in the process.
The eight Bureaus in this day were Engineering, Docks and Yards, Ordnance, Navigation, Medicine and Surgery, Provisions and Clothing, Construction and Repair, Equipment and Recruiting
Richmond Hobson was a former Navy officer and Medal of Honoree from the Spanish-American War.
Promotion to Flag Rank upon retirement was a practice of our Navy in the past, often done as a reward for an outstanding career. It is no longer practiced.
Our WWII era destroyer BENSON (DD-421) and our troop transport ADMIRAL W.S. BENSON (AP-120) both remember our first CNO. BENSON was the first of only two modified Sims-class tin cans today known as the Benson-class. She was launched 15 November 1939 with RADM Benson’s widow as sponsor. She saw action in convoy duty in the Atlantic and Mediterranean before transferring after VE-Day to the Pacific.
