Joel Roberts Poinsett Pringle was an American naval officer.
Background
He was born on February 4, 1873 on his father's plantation, "Greenfield, " Georgetown County, South Carolina, United States, of distinguished ancestry, the son of Dominick Lynch and Caroline (Lowndes) Pringle, a descendant in the fourth generation of John Julius Pringle, and in the fifth, of Robert Pringle, South Carolina jurist, who came to Charleston from County Edinburgh, Scotland, about 1725.
His father was educated at Heidelberg and had been United States minister to Turkey. His mother was a daughter of Richard Henry Lowndes, a retired naval officer. Joel Roberts Poinsett, for whom he was named, was his great-grandmother's second husband.
Education
After studying at the Porter Military Academy in Charleston, he entered the United States Naval Academy, graduating in 1892. Later he had a year's study at the Naval War College in Newport.
Career
During the Spanish-American War he served in the Columbia, and thereafter continued in routine sea and shore duty, the latter chiefly at the Naval Academy. His first command was the destroyer Perkins, Atlantic Torpedo Flotilla. He was executive of the battleship Nebraska, 1911-13, being promoted to commander in 1912.
In June 1916, he was ordered to command the destroyer tender Dixie and Divisions 3 and 4, Torpedo Flotilla, and in November was given command of Flotilla 2, Destroyer Force. The Dixie joined the destroyers operating at Queenstown, Ireland, in the World War in June 1917, and shortly thereafter Pringle was shifted from her to the destroyer tender Melville. He received the temporary rank of captain on August 31, 1917 (made permanent July 1, 1918), and on October 9 became Admiral Sims's chief of staff and the senior American officer at Queenstown. He was also the United States chief of staff to Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly of the Royal Navy, commander-in-chief on the coast of Ireland.
He left Queenstown in March 1919. He served a year on the staff of Admiral Sims, president of the Naval War College, and after commanding the Idaho, was again at the college as chief of staff, from 1923 to 1925. He became the chief of staff to the commander, Battleship Divisions, Battle Fleet, in July 1925, and after September 1926, was the chief of staff to the commander, Battle Fleet.
Made rear admiral on December 6, 1926, he served as president of the War College from 1927 to 1930. He was an adviser at the London Naval Conference in 1930, and from May 1930, to May 1932, commanded Battleship Division Three of the United States Fleet. Thereafter he was commander, Battleships, United States Fleet, with the rank of vice admiral.
He died at San Diego, California. His burial was in the Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis. He was survived by his wife Cordelia, daughter of Commodore R. L. Phythian, whom he married on Jan. 25, 1899, and by a daughter.
Achievements
Joel Roberts Poinsett Pringle was a famous commanding officer, his highly sucessful commands included the destroyer Perkins; Dixie; Flotilla 2, Destroyer Force, Atlantic Fleet; Melville; the battleship Idaho. His administrative work in charge of the American forces and the base at Queenstown was a model of its kind and has been generally pronounced the best ever seen in the American navy.
For his service during World War I, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for exceptionally meritorious service and was made Officer of the Legion of Honor (France).
Pringle Hall at the Naval War College is named in his honor.
Personality
Quotes from others about the person
Admiral Bayly wrote after Pringle's death (London Times, September 29, 1932). "He was a man of perfect tact and exceptional ability. He was as universally liked as he was implicitly obeyed. He never once failed me during the War, and was just as ready to help British ships as American, his one idea being to do his duty; and no man ever did it better. "
Connections
On January 25, 1899 he married Cordelia Phythian, daughter of Commodore Robert L. Phythian.
