After Pearl Harbor
As CNO, Stark oversaw combat operations against Japan and the European Axis Powers that officially began in December 1941.
In March 1942, Stark was relieved as CNO by Admiral Ernest King. He went to England the next month to become Commander of U.S. Naval Forces in Europe.
From his London headquarters, Admiral Stark directed the naval part of the great buildup in England and U.S. naval operations and training activities on the European side of the Atlantic. He received the additional title of Commander of the Twelfth Fleet in October 1943, and he supervised USN participation in the landings at Normandy, France in June 1944. Admiral Stark built and maintained close relations with British civilian and naval leaders, who "generally adored him", and also with the leaders of other Allied powers. Stark was particularly important in dealing with Charles de Gaulle; it was thanks to Stark the U.S.-British-Free French relationship continued to work. He earned high praise from King for his work.
After the Normandy landings, Stark faced a Court of Inquiry over his actions leading up to Pearl Harbor. The Court concluded Stark had not conveyed the danger, nor provided enough information, to Kimmel, but had not been derelict. King's endorsement of the report was scalding, leading to Stark being relieved. In 1948, King reconsidered and requested the endorsement be expunged: "It was the only time that King ever admitted he had been wrong."
From August 1945 until he left active duty in April 1946, Stark served in Washington, D.C., and made his home there after retirement. He died in 1972. The controversy surrounding him has only become fiercer since.
Read more about this topic: Harold Rainsford Stark
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