Ships
- USS Lexington (CV-16) Commanding officer from 17 February 1943 · Relieved on 10 April 1944
Felix Budwell Stump was born on 15 December 1894 in Parkersburg, West Virginia, a river town on the Ohio, and grew up there. He was appointed to the Naval Academy in 1913 and graduated with the Class of 1917, just as the United States entered the First World War. He served in the gunboat Yorktown and as navigator of the cruiser Cincinnati in the Atlantic during the war, and afterwards in the old battleship Alabama.
Like many of the ambitious young officers of his generation, he turned to the air. He went through flight training at Pensacola in 1920–1921 and then studied aeronautical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From 1923 to 1925 he flew with Torpedo Squadron 2, the "Doer Birds," aboard Langley, the experimental first carrier. In 1928–1929 he commanded the Cruiser Scouting Wing, and in 1930–1931 he served on the staff of Commander Cruisers, Scouting Fleet. In 1936–1937 he commanded Saratoga's Scout-Bombing Squadron 2, and from 1938 to 1939 he was navigator of the first Lexington (CV-2). He was promoted to commander in 1937 and became executive officer of Enterprise.
When war came he was commanding Langley, by then a seaplane tender, in Manila Bay. In January 1942 he joined the staff of Admiral Thomas Hart's Asiatic Fleet during the hopeless defense of the Philippines and the Netherlands East Indies. For that service he received the Army's Distinguished Service Medal.
On 17 February 1943 he became the first captain of the new Essex-class Lexington (CV-16). The ship's 1946 cruise book remembered that he "took over the helm of the new Lexington with a vigorous hand and in short order had won for her the reputation of being a hot carrier," and that he "won the affection and deep respect of all hands." Under him she struck Wake Island, raided the Gilberts, supported the Tarawa landings, and flew air cover for the bombardment of Mili in March 1944. On the night of 4 December 1943, off Kwajalein, a Japanese aerial torpedo struck her stern and jammed her rudder. The cruise book says that within two minutes Stump was on the public-address system, telling his men exactly what had happened. He got her home for repairs, and in the spring of 1944 she was back in the line for the long-range strike on Palau. He left her on 10 April 1944.
As a rear admiral he took command of Carrier Division 24 and Task Unit 52.11.2, with his flag in the escort carrier Corregidor, for the Saipan campaign. Then, as commander of Task Unit 77.4.2, the escort carrier group called "Taffy 2," with his flag in Natoma Bay, he fought at Leyte Gulf in October 1944. When Admiral Kurita's battleships fell on Taffy 3 off Samar on 25 October, Stump's carriers sent strike after strike against them. He received the Navy Cross. His flag stayed in Natoma Bay through the Philippine operations in early 1945.
From May 1945 until December 1948 he was Chief of Naval Air Technical Training. He then commanded Naval Air Forces, Atlantic Fleet, and was made vice admiral, and from March 1951 to June 1953 he commanded the Second Fleet. On 10 July 1953, as a full admiral, he became Commander in Chief, Pacific, and Commander, Pacific Fleet, the post Nimitz had held. He held it through the Taiwan Strait crises of the mid-1950s until his retirement on 1 August 1958. In retirement he was vice chairman and chief executive of the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
He died of cancer at Bethesda Naval Hospital on 13 June 1972. The Spruance-class destroyer Stump (DD-978) was named for him.
Date flags:
Wikipedia's text has his Pacific Command term ending on 14 January 1958 in one place and 31 July 1958 in another.
Wikipedia's text says he was promoted to commander in 1940, while uboat.net gives 30 June 1937. This bio follows uboat.net.
Sources
Wikipedia, "Felix Stump" (citing Morison, vol. 12; Y'Blood, The Little Giants; Wukovits, Devotion to Duty).
Lexington (CV-16) Cruise Book, 1946 (e-yearbook.com).
uboat.net, Allied Warship Commanders: Felix Budwell Stump (ranks; Langley AV-3 20 Sep 1941 – 13 Jan 1942; CV-16 17 Feb 1943 – 10 Apr 1944; Mili, 17 Mar 1944).
Wikipedia, "Battle off Samar"; Wikipedia, "USS Lexington (CV-16)" (torpedo hit, 4 Dec 1943).