Russell Willson - Interwar Years

Interwar Years

Willson commanded destroyers at Greenland in connection with the United States Army's around-the-world flight. He graduated from the Naval War College in 1924 and was a member of the U.S. Naval Mission to Brazil from 1927 to 1930. He served as naval attache at the United States Embassy in London in 1937 and 1938. Rear Admiral Willson was the last commander of Battleship Division 1 in peacetime 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 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.