Willard Augustus Kitts III (April 14, 1894 – November 21, 1964) was a highly decorated officer in the United States Navy with the rank of vice admiral.

An ordnance expert and veteran of several campaigns in the Pacific Theater during World War II, he distinguished himself as commanding officer of heavy cruiser USS Northampton, which was sunk during the Battle of Tassafaronga in November 1942.

[1] Kitts then commanded battleship USS Nevada during the Aleutian Campaign and rose to the rank of rear admiral in late 1943, while serving as assistant chief of the Bureau of Ordnance.

He graduated from the Oswego High School in summer 1912 and subsequently earned an appointed to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland.

Among his classmates were several future distinguished flag officers, including future Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Arthur W. Radford; four-star admirals Russell S. Berkey, Robert Carney, William Fechteler and John D. Price; vice admirals Frank E. Beatty Jr., Gerald F. Bogan, Ralph E. Davison, Calvin T. Durgin, George F. Hussey Jr., C. Turner Joy, Bertram J. Rodgers, John E. Wilkes; and rear admirals and major generals Oscar R. Cauldwell, Don P. Moon, Charles P. Cecil, Henry M. Mullinnix, Thorvald A. Solberg, Gilbert C. Hoover, and Arnold W.

Following the United States entry into World War I, Arkansas patrolled the east coast and trained gun crews until July 1918, when she embarked as the part of Battleship Squadron Six for the North Sea, where she served with the British Grand Fleet.

Kitts was meanwhile promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant on January 1, 1918, and served aboard Arkansas until December 1920, when he was ordered back to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge for instruction in engineering.

[1] He graduated with Master's degree in November 1922 and was ordered to the Washington Navy Yard, where he completed instruction in Ordnance engineering in August 1923, when he joined newly commissioned battleship USS Colorado under Captain Reginald R. Belknap.

[1] In June 1926, Kitts was promoted to lieutenant commander and ordered to the Naval Powder Factory, Indian Head, Maryland, as ordnance inspector.

He was transferred to the staff of Destroyer Squadron 12, Battle Fleet in June 1928 and remained in that capacity until July 1931, when he was ordered to Rochester, New York, as an Inspector of Ordnance, Bausch & Lomb Optical company.

The Northampton then operated with a cruiser-destroyer force, to prevent the Japanese from reinforcing their troops on Guadalcanal, but during the Battle of Tassafaronga on the night of November 30, 1942, she was hit with two torpedoes and began sinking.

[24][25] Vice Admiral Willard A. Kitts III died of brain tumor on November 21, 1964, aged 70, at Bethesda Naval Hospital, Maryland, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, with full military honors.