He was born on October 30, 1896 in Merrimack, New Hampshire, United States, the son of Frank James Sherman, a textbook salesman, and Grace Allen Sherman. He acquired a strong attachment to the sea through a grandfather who had captained a whaling vessel out of New Bedford, Massachussets, and through his own youth, spent at Melrose, Massachussets, where he boated extensively.
After one year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sherman transferred in 1914 to the United States Naval Academy. Known to his classmates as "Fuzz, " he excelled in scholarship, especially theoretical and practical ordnance and gunnery, and in fencing. He graduated second in his class of 199 in June 1917 - one year early because of wartime accelerations. He attended the Naval War College (1926 - 1927).
During World War I, Sherman was on convoy duty in the western Mediterranean aboard the patrol gunboat Nashville. He next had routine assignments at sea aboard the destroyer Murray, the battleship Utah, and the destroyer Reid. In 1921-1922 he was flag lieutenant (aide) to Admiral N. A. McCully, Jr. , commander of Control Force (escort and underwater warfare vessels), Atlantic Fleet, aboard the battleship Florida.
Transferring into naval aviation, Sherman (now a lieutenant) earned his wings at Pensacola, Fla. , in 1922. He was then assigned to Fighting Squadron Two in the Battle Fleet.
He published several penetrating essays in the United States Naval Institute. He taught flying at Pensacola (1924 - 1926). Sherman was a pilot aboard the navy's first two large aircraft carriers, Lexington (1927 - 1928) and Saratoga (1928 - 1929), serving briefly as commanding officer of Scouting Squadron Two aboard the latter. He then became (1929 - 1930) flag lieutenant to Admiral J. M. Reeves, commander of aircraft squadrons, Battle Fleet, on the Saratoga during Fleet Problem IX, the first practical demonstration of offensive carrier air power. After a year teaching seamanship and flight tactics at the Naval Academy, Sherman returned as flag lieutenant on the Saratoga, this time under Admiral H. E. Yarnell.
In 1932 he took command of Fighting Squadron One on the Saratoga; he and his squadron won fleet awards in aerial proficiency. In June 1933 he began a three-year tour as director of the Aviation Ordnance Section in the Bureau of Ordnance, which was followed by one year as navigator on the carrier Ranger. Sherman's considerable talents attracted the attention of the navy's high command.
In mid-1937 he became staff aviation officer to Admiral C. C. Bloch, who was Commander Battle Force. The beginning of World War II in Europe and the Battle of the Atlantic brought Sherman additional duty as a member of the United States-Canadian Permanent Joint Board on Defense.
In August 1941 he attended the Anglo-American Atlantic Charter conference off Argentia, Newfoundland, as naval aviation adviser. The following February, Sherman began a three-month tour of duty on the wartime Joint Strategic Committee at the headquarters of the commander-in-chief of the United States Fleet, during which time he was promoted to captain and assigned to command the carrier Wasp, then operating with the Atlantic Fleet. Sherman took the Wasp to the Pacific in June 1942 and thence to the South Pacific theater, where it supported the American landings at Guadalcanal in August and subsequent operations in adjacent waters. Although the Wasp missed contact with the Japanese fleet in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons (August 25), it remained in the Solomons area and was sunk by torpedoes from a Japanese submarine on September 15; blame for the sinking was assigned the task force commander aboard the ship, Admiral L. Noyes.
Although cleared of responsibility, Sherman suffered the stigma of any captain who loses his ship in battle; his career would have been shortened had not Admiral John H. Towers, Commander Air Force Pacific Fleet, appointed Sherman to be his chief of staff in October 1942. Impressed by Sherman's erudition and genius for strategic planning, Chester W. Nimitz in November 1943 transferred him to his own staff, first as assistant and then as deputy chief of staff (plans) and head of the staff of the War Plans Division, with the rank of rear admiral. Sherman accompanied or represented Nimitz at all highlevel conferences, virtually as his alter ego. Nimitz honored Sherman by having him accompany the Pacific Fleet commander at the Japanese surrender ceremony on September 2, 1945.
After the war Sherman served briefly as commander of Carrier Division One before promotion, in December 1945, to vice admiral and appointment as deputy chief of naval operations (operations). He again served under Nimitz, directing all plans, fleet training, intelligence, and operations. In addition to these routine tasks, in January 1946 he went to Bermuda as American naval adviser at the Anglo-American civil aviation conference.
He worked out the details of the final unification legislation with General Lauris Norstad of the Army Air Forces.
He returned to sea duty in command of United States Naval Forces, Mediterranean, in January 1948, the title being changed in June to commander of the Sixth Task Fleet. Sherman wisely remained aloof from the turmoils of the renewed unification controversy and the so-called "revolt of the admirals" in Washington during 1949. He was recalled from the Mediterranean in November of that year to become the new chief of naval operations, with the rank of full admiral. The youngest officer to hold the post until then - he was fifty-three years old - Sherman soon overcame internal navy fears about his loyalty.
During an inspection tour of NATO bases and a diplomatic mission to arrange the leasing of United States bases in Spain he died of a heart attack at Naples, Italy.
Forrest Sherman played a vital role in helping to prepare the navy for the coming war, was the youngest man to serve as Chief of Naval Operations of the War Plans Division. Sherman distinguished himself in the planning and execution of naval aviation logistics during the crucial shift from the strategic defensive to the offensive against Japan. In addition, his tact and efficiency did much to ease tensions between Towers and the commander-in-chief of the Pacific Fleet. For his sucessful service he was awarded with Navy Cross, Navy Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart. The Forrest Sherman class destroyer was named for him. Also named in his honor was Sherman Island, Antarctica, Forrest Sherman Field, NAS Pensacola, home of the Blue Angels, and Forrest Sherman Field, Hospital Point, US Naval Academy. The US Department of Defense school in Naples, Italy was formerly called Forrest Sherman High School.
Sherman was recognized and respected as an austere, intelligent, efficient, and ambitious officer.
Quotes from others about the person
He was described by contemporaries according to Current Biography as having "an exceptionally fluid mind and a wide grasp of potential problems and troublesome details".
On April 2, 1923, he married Dolores Brownson; they had one child, a daughter.
