Promoted to rear admiral, he was appointed the first director of the Long-Range Objectives Group (OP-93) when the group was established in February 1955, then served as special assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1955 to 1956, commanded Carrier Division 4 from 1957 to 1958, and was director of the Strategic Plans Division from 1959 to 1960

He commanded the Seventh Fleet from March 7, 1960 to October 28, 1961.[7] With 125 warships and 500 aircraft, the Seventh Fleet constituted the world's most powerful peacetime naval force,[8]and its role was to concentrate so much United States naval and air power in the Pacific as to reduce the likelihood of war. Asked whether the Seventh Fleet had enough power for this purpose, Griffin admitted, "I've never seen a military commander say he had everything he wanted. It is just not the nature of the beast."[9]

In 1960, after rioting in Japan forced the unexpected collapse of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's planned visit to Tokyo, the President sailed to Taiwan aboard the heavy cruiser St. Paul along a course that took him within 150 miles (240 km) of the potentially hostile Chinese mainland, escorted by a Seventh Fleet protective force that included 100 planes, the aircraft carriers Yorktown andTiconderoga and four destroyers. Griffin reassured newsmen that there was no indication of any unusual activity on the part of the Chinese Communists, but added that the motto of the Fleet was readiness and in the event of any threat the Fleet was ready to strike; in particular, should any submarine make any hostile move against the President and his escort force, he would do his best to destroy it. "The first thing I would do would be to get the St. Paul out of here as fast as possible."[8]

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy moved the carriers of Griffin's Task Force 77 into the South China Sea, where Griffin conducted naval exercises in response to the escalating crisis in Laos

Griffin was a leading candidate to succeed Chief of Naval Operations Arleigh A. Burke in 1961. Burke ranked Griffin high on a list of forty admirals that Burke submitted to Secretary of the NavyJohn B. Connally, Jr. as eligible successors,[11] and Newsweek rated Griffin's odds of succeeding Burke at 4 to 1.[10] Burke was succeeded by Admiral George W. Anderson, Jr. and Griffin became Anderson's deputy for fleet operations and readiness.

As deputy chief of naval operations for fleet operations and readiness from 1962 to 1963,[1] Griffin supervised an influential Navy study that reversed the Navy's previous stance on its nuclear propulsion program by accepting the view of Vice Admiral Hyman G. Rickover and the Atomic Energy Commission that nuclear power was not prohibitively expensive, and calling for the use of nuclear propulsion in all major surface ships, not just in submarines.[12]

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Griffin was one of three senior officers assigned by Anderson to monitor the Navy's involvement in the crisis around the clock, and to act in Anderson's absence: "first, to make sure that the President and the Secretary of Defense were informed…and secondly, to prevent any civilian encroachments on military operations."[13]

In 1963, Griffin was a candidate to succeed Admiral Robert L. Dennison as the four-star commander in chief of the Atlantic Fleet, under a proposal that would split that command from the unifiedAtlantic Command, which would go to Admiral Harold Page Smith.[14] Although the Atlantic Fleet and Atlantic Command ultimately remained dual-hatted under Smith, Griffin gained his fourth star anyway when he was appointed commander in chief of United States Naval Forces Europe later that year.

In June 1963, he was advanced to the rank of full admiral when he succeeded Admiral David L. McDonald as the triple-hatted Commander in Chief, U.S. Naval Forces, Europe (CINCUSNAVEUR), Commander in Chief, U.S. Naval Forces, Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean (CINCNELM), and U.S. Commander Eastern Atlantic (USCOMEASTLANT). He relinquished one of these hats when CINCNELM was disestablished on December 1, 1963. He was relieved by Admiral John S. Thach in March 1965

He was Commander in Chief Allied Forces Southern Europe (CINCSOUTH) from March 31, 1965 to January 31, 1968, succeeding Admiral James S. Russell.[16] As commander of all NATO forces in southern Europe, Griffin directed the land, sea and air forces deployed in the Mediterranean area by five nations: Italy, Greece, Turkey, Britain, and the United States.[17]

While CINCSOUTH, Griffin frequently warned that Soviet efforts to undermine the Western position in the Middle East had "all the earmarks of a concerted effort to alter the strategic balance" as part of a broader campaign with the ultimate target of Europe. "While the Arab world is a rich prize in itself, Europe has been and remains the primary objective. A strong Soviet power position in the Mediterranean, supported by a string of client states along its southern shore, would give the Russians not only control of key resources essential to the European economy, but positions from which to menace the flow of shipping on which that economy's survival depends." However, Griffin's superiors in Washington remained convinced that the Soviet Union was not interested in a direct confrontation with American power.[18]

Upon reaching the statutory retirement age, he was relieved as CINCSOUTH by Admiral Horacio Rivero, Jr. and retired from the Navy effective February 1, 1968.[17] At his retirement ceremony at his headquarters in Naples, Italy on January 31, 1968, Griffin asserted that the relatively peaceful Soviet posture in central Europe was a tactical move to cover a thrust of naval forces into the Mediterranean, and complained thatFrance's recent withdrawal from NATO was tantamount to freeriding off the contributions of allies who met their treaty obligations. "NATO's great shield of collective security has become so broad that it even covers those who say they no longer choose to contribute to its support, giving them freedom to pursue their policy of withdrawal, secure in the knowledge that, in a showdown, they would still share the benefits of its great protection. This is obviously a game which only a few can play, for if all of us were to be so foolhardy, the alliance, as an effective institution, would cease to exist. Fortunately, this fallacy has found no imitators. And we may hope that it will be short-lived."

He married Camilla Yvonne Ganteaume on September 14, 1935; after her death at the age of 49 on August 10, 1963, he remarried to Marion Hopkins Schaefer on November 21, 1964.[1] He and his first wife had two children: Linda Louise Griffin, and Navy officer Charles Donald Griffin, Jr.[19]

After retiring from the Navy, he resided in Washington D.C., where he was a vestryman at St. Alban's Episcopal Church and a member of the Army and Navy Club and the Chevy Chase Club. He died of a heart attack at the age of 90 while playing golf at his summer residence, Bald Peak Colony Club, in Melvin Village, New Hampshire.[3]

His decorations include the Navy Distinguished Service Medal with Gold Star; the Bronze Star; and the Presidential Unit Citation with two Gold Stars. Foreign awards include the Order of George I with rank of Supreme Commander[clarification needed] (Greece); the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic with rank of Knight Grand Cross; the Philippine Legion of Honor with rank of Commander; the Order of Military Meritwith Silver Star (South Korea); the Order of the Rising Sun with Double Rays (Japan); and the Medal of Pao-ting (Republic of China).[1][2]

He held the Gray Eagle Award as the senior active-duty aviator in the Navy from July 31, 1967 until his retirement on February 1, 1968.[20]

He is great-grandfather to Elizabeth Garner LeStage, Charles Richard Griffin LeStage, Cora Abigail Griffin, and Xyacery Bryant.

An oral history is archived at the United States Naval Institute

C Griffin (1906)