Harold Raynsford Stark
American admiral (1880-1972)
Harold Raynsford Stark (November 12, 1880 – August 20, 1972) was an officer in the United States Navy during World War I and World War II, who served as the 8th Chief of Naval Operations from August 1, 1939, to March 26, 1942. He was relieved of that position and subsequently reassigned to serve Commander of United States Naval Forces Europe in the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Early life and career
Stark was born in Wilkes‐Barre, Pennsylvania, on November 12, 1880, and enrolled in the United States Naval Academy in 1899. As a plebe he received the nickname "Betty", when upper classmen required him to place his hand over his heart and exclaim "We'll win today, or tonight Betty Stark's a widow," based on the rallying cry attributed to General John Stark during the Revolutionary War.
After his graduation in 1903 Stark served two years as a midshipman, then required by law before commissioning, before he was commissioned Ensign on February 3, 1905. He served on the battleship USS Minnesota from 1907 to 1909, before and during the United States Atlantic Fleet's cruise around the world.
During the following six years, he successively commanded the torpedo boat Stringham and the destroyers Porter, Lamson, and Patterson, and was Engineer Officer of the cruiser Brooklyn. From June 1915 to February 1917, he had shore duty at the Naval Torpedo Station in Newport, Rhode Island.
While Stark was commanding the Patterson on maneuvers near Campobello, Nova Scotia in 1914 the young Franklin D. Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary of the Navy and an observer on board, asked to take the helm, saying he had sailed those waters since childhood. Lieutenant Stark replied "No sir.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q700730. VIAF identifies the subject as 37714958. The Library of Congress control number is n86114983. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1880, 1972, 1939 and 1942.
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This entry incorporates text from “Harold Raynsford Stark” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.