The United States Navy
Chiefs of Naval Operations

............The responsibilities of the Chief of Naval Operations
Name Term of Office
• William Shepherd Benson May 11, 1915 – Sept. 25, 1919
• Robert Edward Coontz Nov. 1, 1919 – July 21, 1923
• Edward Walter Eberle July 21, 1923 – Nov. 14, 1927
• Charles Frederick Hughes Nov. 14, 1927 – Sept. 17, 1930
• William Veazie Pratt Sept. 17, 1930 – June 30, 1933
• William Harrison Standley July 1, 1933 – Jan. 1, 1937
• William Daniel Leahy Jan. 2, 1937 – Aug. 1, 1939
• Harold Raynsford Stark Aug. 1, 1939 – Mar. 26, 1942
• Ernest Joseph King Mar. 26, 1942 – Dec. 15, 1945
• Chester William Nimitz Dec. 15, 1945 – Dec. 15, 1947
• Louis Emil Denfeld Dec. 15, 1947 – Nov. 1, 1949
• Forrest Percival Sherman Nov. 2, 1949 – July 22, 1951
• William Morrow Fechteler Aug. 16, 1951 – Aug. 17, 1953
• Robert Bostwick Carney Aug. 17, 1953 – Aug. 17, 1955
Arleigh Albert Burke Aug. 17, 1955 – Aug. 1, 1961
• George Whalen Anderson, Jr. Aug. 1, 1961 – Aug. 1, 1963
• David Lamar McDonald Aug. 1, 1963 – Aug. 1, 1967
• Thomas Hinman Moorer Aug. 1, 1967 – July 1, 1970
• Elmo Russell Zumwalt, Jr. Jul. 1, 1970 – Jul. 1, 1974
• James L. Holloway III July 1, 1974 – June 30, 1978
• Thomas B. Hayward July 1, 1978 – June 30, 1982
• James D. Watkins July 1, 1982 – June 30, 1986
• Carlisle A.H. Trost July 1, 1986 – June 30, 1990
• Frank B. Kelso II July 1, 1990 – Apr. 23, 1994
Jeremy Michael Boorda Apr. 23, 1994 - May 16, 1996
Jay L. Johnson Aug. 2, 1996 – July 21, 2000
Vern Clark July 21, 2000 – present

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