William V. Pratt

William Veazie Pratt
Admiral William Pratt, USN, while CNO
Born	(1869-02-28)February 28, 1869 Belfast, Maine
Died	November 25, 1957(1957-11-25) (aged 88)
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1889–1933
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	United States Fleet Chief of Naval Operations
Battles/wars	Spanish–American War World War I
Awards	Navy Distinguished Service Medal Army Distinguished Service Medal

William Veazie Pratt (28 February 1869 – 25 November 1957) was an admiral in the United States Navy. He served as the President of the Naval War College and as the Chief of Naval Operations.

William V. Pratt was born in Belfast, Maine. He was the son of Nichols Pratt, who served in the Union Navy during the American Civil War with the rank of acting master.

After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1889, he served in several cruisers and gunboats, visiting Europe, South America and Asia. During 1895–97, Ensign Pratt had the first of three instructor tours at the Naval Academy. He was assigned to the gunboat Mayflower during the Spanish–American War and to the cruiser Newark afterwards. While in the latter, he returned to Asiatic waters, where he saw action in the Philippine–American War. A second Naval Academy session followed in 1900–1902, after which he served in the North Atlantic Fleet flagship Kearsarge.

Lieutenant Commander Pratt's final Naval Academy tour took place in 1905–1908. He then was Executive Officer of the cruisers Saint Louis and California. Promoted to the rank of Commander in 1910, Pratt was an instructor at the Naval War College in 1911–1913 and spent the next two years in the Atlantic Torpedo Flotilla, much of that as commanding officer of its flagship, the scout cruiser Birmingham. Captain Pratt was assigned to the Army in Panama and at the Army War College in 1915–1917. During the First World War he served in Washington, D.C. as Assistant Chief of Naval Operations in 1918.