Vice Admiral William Satterlee Pye (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. Career through 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. One of his classmates was Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King. 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 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." Interwar years Pye served in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in 1919–1921, and was executive officer of the battleship in 1922–1923. Late in 1923, Pye served as a destroyer division commander. His division was the second in line at the Honda Point Disaster, and two of his destroyers were among those lost. He returned to Washington, D.C., for service at the Navy Department, which lasted into 1927. In the next five years, he commanded the minelayer , had more Navy Department service, and was head of the U.S. Naval Mission to Peru. Captain Pye commanded the battleship in 1932–1933. Promoted to the rank of rear admiral, Pye served as chief of staff to Commander Scouting Force, attended the Naval War College, had further Navy Department service, and was Commander Destroyers in both the Scouting Force and Battle Force of the Pacific Fleet. With the temporary