Hilary Pollard Jones was an American naval officer. He served in the United States Navy during the Spanish - American War and World War I. During the early 1920s, he served as Commander in Chief, United States Fleet.
Background
Hilary Pollard Jones was born on November 14, 1863 in Hanover County, Virginia, the oldest of six children of Hilary Pollard and Claudia Hamilton (Marshall) Jones. His father, who had served in the Confederate Army, was principal of Hanover Academy; his mother was a granddaughter of Chief Justice John Marshall.
Education
Young Jones attended "Mont Air, " a private school conducted in Hanover County by Miss Jenny Nelson, and his father's Hanover Academy in preparation for the University of Virginia.
Career
In 1880, however, Jones accepted an appointment to the United States Naval Academy, from which he graduated four years later, the sixteenth member in a class of forty-five. After four years of cruising in American waters, he was assigned to the Nipsic in the Pacific.
In 1889 his ship, with three others, joined four British vessels at Samoa, to which the Germans had sent three warships to punish the natives for the alleged murder of some German nationals. A clash between the Germans and the Americans and British seemed possible but was averted when a hurricane swept over the islands, destroying or severely damaging ships of all three countries.
All the American vessels save the Nipsic were lost. Jones, officer of the deck at the time of the storm, brought his ship safely to the beach and was commended by his captain as a "young officer of great promise. " Opportunities for such officers were not great in the navy of the 1880's and early 1890's, and Jones served through the usual routines of a junior officer ashore and afloat.
In the Spanish-American War he was assigned to the converted yacht Dorothea, attached to Admiral Sampson's fleet on patrol duty. Following the war he obtained his first command, the Scorpion, taking her on a series of cruises (1904 - 06) in West Indian waters.
During the next decade he rose steadily but slowly up the ladder of responsibility and promotion--executive officer of the Idaho, captain of the Tennessee and Rhode Island, superintendent of the naval gun factory at Washington. When the United States entered the first World War, Jones was in command of Squadron One, Patrol Force, of the Atlantic Fleet.
In July 1917 he was placed in command of a cruiser division, and he was promoted to flag rank the day before Christmas.
He had throughout the service at the time the respect of his brother officers as a brave and honorable man and a reputation as a fine ship handler. In the war he acquired additional reputation as an administrator. For much of the last year of the war he was commander of the Newport News cruiser and transport force. As such he was responsible for the safety and efficient operation of sixteen ships carrying men and supplies from this country to French ports. For this service he received the Distinguished Service Medal from both the army and the navy.
After the war Jones rose rapidly through administrative posts to the position of commander-in-chief, United States Fleet (1922 - 23). When he left the Fleet he was assigned to the General Board of the navy. From that time on he served in various diplomatic roles, most significantly as naval adviser to the Conference for the Limitation of Naval Armaments at Geneva in June 1927. There he adamantly supported the American claim for a larger quota of 10, 000-ton heavy (8-inch gun) cruisers than the British were willing to concede. After six weeks of futile debate, the Conference collapsed primarily over the cruiser issue.
Subsequent changes of administration in both the United States and Britain, together with the Kellogg-Briand Pact, created a new diplomatic climate which prepared the way for the London Naval Conference of 1930. Admiral William V. Pratt, then Chief of Naval Operations, and Admiral Jones were appointed naval advisers to the American delegation at London. Pratt was believed by the navy to be willing to yield to England's cruiser demands; Jones was known to stand firm for the presumed American requirements.
When, however, it was rumored that Pratt was to act as the chief naval adviser, superior to Jones, Secretary of the Navy Charles Francis Adams was added to the delegation in the belief that he would support Jones's views. Though Jones was not well and did not wish to go to London, he attended the Conference, where he continued to uphold the previous American position. Pratt and Adams, however, agreed to a compromise solution of the cruiser problem, despite Jones's objections. While the Conference was still in progress Jones returned to this country, probably for reasons of health, although it was widely believed that he had withdrawn in protest. After 1930 Jones continued to live in Washington.
He died at his home there of pneumonia and was buried in the Arlington National Cemetery. His wife, formerly Virginia Lippincott of Philadelphia survived him.
Achievements
Membership
Hilary Jones was a prominent member of the Virginia Society of the Society of the Cincinnati.
Connections
On October 2, 1917 Hilary P. Jones was married to Virginia Lippincott of Philadelphia. They had no children.