From January 1920 to July 1921 he served as assistant communication officer on the staff of Admiral Henry B. Wilson, Jr., Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet.

In August 1921 he was transferred from Pennsylvania to the newly commissioned battleship Maryland, where he remained until June 1925, when he returned to the Naval Academy for a two-year tour as an instructor in the Department of Navigation.

[2] From May 1927 to July 1930 he served as gunnery officer aboard the armored cruiser Rochester, which operated in the Caribbean Sea during interventions in Nicaragua and Haiti.

He spent the next two years with the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps Unit at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

After Gingrich left his service, Forrestal wrote to President Harry S. Truman that "He was invaluable to me, being far above the ordinary officer in his understanding of the Navy's relations with the public and with civilians."

King and his senior admirals had effectively excluded Knox from major war decisions by only showing him routine communications from the fleet and neglecting to present the important messages, which they handled themselves.

Alerted to this practice, Gingrich advised Forrestal to go to the Navy Department communication room and examine all incoming telegrams for himself.

Armed with this information, Forrestal was able to exert more influence over Navy Department operations than his predecessor, at King's expense.

Whenever the admiral passed the aide in the hallway, King would greet Gingrich with a sarcastic "Good morning, Commander," and a deep, mocking bow.

Aflame and dead in the water, Franklin was still under attack by kamikaze planes and threatening to explode when Gingrich maneuvered Pittsburgh close enough to take the burning carrier under tow, protecting Franklin with antiaircraft fire until the carrier was able to work enough speed to proceed to Pearl Harbor under its own power.

For helping to rescue Franklin at great risk to his own ship, Gingrich was awarded the Silver Star "for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity".

[3] As captain of Pittsburgh, Gingrich became famous for sailing his ship safely to port after 15 percent of the cruiser's length was torn off by a typhoon, an act of seamanship dubbed a "miracle" by contemporary accounts.

Gingrich immediately ordered the engines into reverse to pull Pittsburgh away from the dangerous obstacle, simultaneously trying to prevent the critically damaged ship from capsizing.

[11] Pittsburgh arrived at Guam five days after the storm and was equipped with a temporary bow, leaving two weeks later for permanent repairs at Puget Sound Navy Yard in Washington.

The 500-mile separation between the cruiser's stern and bow led contemporary news accounts to dub Pittsburgh "the longest ship in the Navy.

"[8][11] Regaling the press after Pittsburgh's safe arrival in port, Gingrich declared, "I'm sorry I can't give you an immortal phrase to hand down to posterity.

The sudden transfer was viewed as a punitive exile imposed by outgoing Chief of Naval Operations King and Chief of Naval Personnel Randall Jacobs to deny Secretary Forrestal an ally in the bureaucratic battle King and Jacobs were waging against Forrestal over the direction of the postwar Navy.

Like Strauss, Gingrich felt that his efforts to tighten security were being unjustly blocked by irresponsibly idealistic AEC leaders.

[16] He submitted numerous written protests against the employment of individuals with questionable associations, but found his reports overruled or ignored by superiors who refused to consider political ideologies such as being an "advanced 'liberal'" as disqualifying scientists from work in the atomic energy programs, and who demanded proof of membership in the actual Communist Party for evidence of a poor security risk, not just membership in organizations deemed subversive by the Attorney General.

Resentful AEC security officers believed they were being caricatured as military men without a scientific background who were jumping at ghosts by considering atomic workers unsafe if they "did not share antiquated political beliefs," a caricature perhaps grounded in incidents such as the interview of a suspended Oak Ridge National Laboratory chemist during which Gingrich "personally advised [the chemist] against the unfortunate practice of scientists acting outside their own field," and went on to disparage scientists' "attitude toward security and the fuss being raised over the Negro question.

before the Joint Congressional Committee on Atomic Energy, AEC chairman David E. Lilienthal conceded that Gingrich had no relevant background in security.

Addressing the Annapolis Chapter of the Military Order of the World Wars on April 19, 1949, Gingrich assured his audience that there had been no significant violation of security regulations in the past year and a half, and decried "sensational and grossly exaggerated tales" about "spies stealing atomic secrets" and about the hazards of atomic energy.

His letter of resignation stated that "the security division has been completely reorganized, adequately staffed with highly capable personnel whose duties have been properly set forth.

In addition to interdicting Korean waters against hostile and unauthorized shipping, Task Force 95 conducted shore bombardment and naval airstrikes on both coasts and maintained a continuous blockade of the North Korean port of Wonsan, the longest naval blockade of modern times.

The resulting improvement in targeting efficiency reduced the monthly firing rate to 15,000 rounds, representing a savings of approximately $40,000,000 over the course of a year.

"[27] For commanding the Blockade and Escort Force, Gingrich was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal and decorations from the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Thailand.