William S. Pye

William Satterlee Pye
Vice Admiral William S. Pye, USN
Born	(1880-06-09)9 June 1880 Minneapolis, Minnesota
Died	4 May 1959(1959-05-04) (aged 78) Bethesda, Maryland
Place of burial	Arlington National Cemetery
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1901–1945
Rank	Vice Admiral
Commands held	Acting CINCPAC Task Force 1 President of the Naval War College
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Navy Cross Legion of Merit World War I Victory Medal World War II Victory Medal Spanish Campaign Medal American Defense Service Medal

Acting CINCPAC

Task Force 1

Vice Admiral William Satterlee Pye, United States Navy, (9 June 1880 – 4 May 1959) was a U.S. Navy officer who served during World War I and World War II, but never saw combat action. His last active-duty appointment was as President of the Naval War College, in 1942–1946. His awards included the Navy Cross for his distinguished service as a staff officer during World War I.

Pye was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on 9 June 1880. Entering the United States Naval Academy in 1897, he graduated in 1901 and was commissioned an Ensign in June 1903. From 1901 through 1915, he served in several ships, among them five battleships and an armored cruiser, and was also assigned to the staffs of the Naval Academy and Naval War College. In 1915–1916 he placed the new destroyer USS Jacob Jones into commission. He relinquished command of Jacob Jones before her 1917 deployment to Europe with the US entry into World War I, and joined the staff of the Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet. He served in that position through the war, receiving the Navy Cross "for exceptionally distinguished and valuable service on the staff of the commander in chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, in addition to excellent performance of his routine staff duties in preparing a series of orders for the conduct of battleship and fleet, based upon the best thought and experience of the United States fleet and British fleet during the late war."