Ramsey was born on October 2, 1888, at
Whipple Barracks, near
Prescott, Arizona, to Frank DeWitt Ramsey and Lillian Carlotta Zulick. He was the grandson of Arizona Territorial Governor
C. Meyer Zulick. Upon graduation from the
U.S. Naval Academy, Ramsey was commissioned an Ensign in June 1912. His Naval Academy classmates included future Admirals
Daniel E. Barbey,
Elliot Buckmaster,
Louis E. Denfield,
Charles A. Lockwood,
Charles P. Mason,
Alfred E. Montgomery,
Mahlon Tisdale,
Louis Wenzell, and
Carleton F. Wright. He took Juanita as his wife. In 1917 he qualified as a
naval aviator. During
World War I, he was Inspection Officer for United States
Naval Air Stations in
France, and a member of the
Inter-Allied Naval Armistice Commission. During the
interwar period, Ramsey served as a naval aviator on various naval staffs and ships. Reporting on board the aircraft carrier in 1938, he was her executive officer into 1939. Later that year, he headed BuAer's Plans Division, and in 1941 became Assistant Chief of BuAer. During
World War II, he commanded the
Saratoga from May through September 1942, covering the landings on
Guadalcanal,
Solomon Islands, on 7 August, ==Navy Cross citation==