Relieving the Watch

The master of ceremonies was Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. In the row of admirals' heads in the paneled Navy Department board room, his cotton top stood out like a white flag. While Secretary Forrestal smiled approval, 60-year-old Admiral Nimitz formally presented the new cast of characters now taking over from 67-year-old Admiral King's war-weary team. As things go in the Navy, the accent was decidedly on youth: the new high command averaged five and a half years younger.

No. 2 man to Nimitz is Admiral DeWitt C. ("Duke") Ramsey, 57, longtime naval aviator who is Vice Chief of Naval Operations. Under him are six deputy chiefs, all vice admirals: Forrest P. ("Fuzz") Sherman, 49 (operations); Richard L. ("Close-In") Conolly, 53 (administration); W. H. P. ("Spike") Blandy, 55 (special weapons); Louis E. Denfeld, 54 (personnel); Arthur W. Radford, 49 (air); William S. Farber, 60 (logistics), the only holdover.

More important than the admirals' birth dates was their break from battleship thinking. Of ten top-rankers who will be closest to Submariner Nimitz, four are high-octane airmen (King had only one); three are submariners; two are surfacemen but amphibious specialists. Only holdover, Admiral Farber is a battleship man. Among Ernie King's top nine advisers were six "turtlebacks."

Although Nimitz drew no attention to this fact, it was no coincidence that the heavy-armor men had gone over the side. As one of the young Turks put it: "They couldn't kick 'em too hard as they let 'em drop. That hurts enough."

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