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| 67k | Willis A. Lee, Jr. was born in Natlee, Kentucky, on 11 May 1888. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1908. Over the next two decades, he served in several ships and on shore duty as an inspector of ordnance, while also representing the Navy in rifle competitions. He was Commanding Officer of three destroyers during the 1920s and attended the Naval War College late in that decade. During the 1930s and early 1940s, Lee was several times assigned to the Fleet Training Division, commanded the light cruiser Concord, and served on the staff of Commander, Cruisers, Battle Force. In early 1942, following his promotion to the rank of Rear Admiral, Lee became Assistant Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet. In August 1942, Rear Admiral Lee was sent to the Pacific to command a Battleship Division. Flying his flag in USS Washington (BB-56), he was active through the Guadalcanal Campaign and led his force to victory over a Japanese surface group in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on the night of 14-15 November 1942. He was later promoted and placed in charge of the Pacific Fleet's fast battleships. In May 1945, he was sent to the Atlantic to command a special unit researching defenses against the Kamikaze threat. While serving in that position on 25 August 1945, Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee died suddenly after suffering a heart attack. Photo #: NH 95009. Rear Admiral Willis A. Lee, Jr., USN, portrait photograph, taken circa 1942. From RAdm. Samuel Eliot Morison photographic files. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. | Bill Gonyo |
| 31k | Undated, location unknown. | - |
| 49k | Valetta, Malta circa 1960. | Robert Hurst |
| 249k | Boston Naval Shipyard, July 4, 1961 | © Richard Leonhardt |
| 56k | Boston Naval Shipyard, August 1961. DDG-3 John King And DDG-10 Sampson Also In This Image | © Richard Leonhardt |
| 124k | Originally classed as (DD-929), the Willis A. Lee was reclassed as (DL-4) during construction in the belief that she and her sisters would be "destroyer leaders". Her original armament was deceptive with ASW Weapon As mounted fore and aft and the inclusion of the large bow-mounted sonar dome but her designed role was that of a "task force air defense ship and she carried all the then latest conventional A.A. weapons, gun directors and radar arrays. The photo, taken at Boston Navy Yard, in April, 1966, shows the ship receiving a new rubber sonar dome, which greatly enhanced the scanning sonar performance. The dry-docking problems with the bow mounted domes is apparent. | - |
| 49k | Circa 1967, location unknown. | Robert Hurst |
| 152k | Publicity photo of the Lee circa 1967-68. | Dave Mader |
| 119k | At sea during Med to Newport transit - April 1968. | Dave Mader |
| 108k | Moored at Destroyer & Submarine Piers in Newport - 1968. | Dave Mader |
| 36k | Tied at Pier (lower right), Gibraltar, 1968. | Dave Mader |
| 45k | Hangar Deck Life Ring - Gibraltar, 1968. | Dave Mader |
| 49k | Port Visit - Sousse, Tunisia - 1968. | Dave Mader |
| 36k | Anchored in Harbor - Syracusa, Sicily - 1968. | Dave Mader |
| 54k | Hangar Deck Cookout - 1968 Med Cruise | Dave Mader |
| 38k | Bridge - Gibraltar - 1968. | Dave Mader |
| 47k | Fantail Sea Detail - Greece - 1968. | Dave Mader |
| 34k | Returning to Newport in the Fog - 1968. | Dave Mader |
| 41k | Ship's patch. | Mike Smolinski |
| 90k | Ship's plaque Dave received when he left the ship in February of 1969. | Dave Mader |
