transmitted as a message) to Rear Admirals Frank Jack Fletcher and Raymond Spruance on the eve of the battle of Midway To quote a U S Navy website, "Nimitz clearly . This article was written by Michael D. Hull and originally appeared in the May 1998 issue of World War II magazine. His chance would come. As the island-hopping campaign began, MacArthur continued his . It was the only aircraft carrier in the presence of Midway Island to survive the dive bomber attack and launched two and a half waves of planes against the United States Navy. (. For most of the war, Spruance preferred to use the heavy cruiser USSIndianapolis, named for his hometown, as his flagship. Admiral Spruance no.__!t to seek and destroy the Imperial Japanese Navy in a "decisive battle." Rather, Spruance chose to place highest priority on covering and defending the United States (U.S.) amphibious forces that were in the initial phase of the invasion of Salpan. In 1916 he aided in the fitting out of the battleship Pennsylvania and he served on board her from her commissioning in June 1916 until November 1917. About his intellect he was equally unpretentious: Some people believe that when I am quiet that I am thinking some deep and important thoughts, when the fact is that I am thinking of nothing at all. Flagship of Task Force 16 under the command of Raymond Spruance. The battle commenced on the morning of June4; the first several waves of U.S. attack aircraft were badly beaten, both near Midway and at sea around the Japanese task force. D. Suburban America, 100 POINTS! By shortly after 9 a.m., planes from Yorktown were also on their way. Midway bought the United States valuable time until the new Essex-class fleet carriers became available at the end of the year. Official Navy historian Samuel Eliot Morison characterized Spruance's performance as "superb", and he was nicknamed "electric brain" for his calmness even in moments of supreme crisis, a reputation enhanced by his successful tactics. catalogued as someone to watch; there was never any possibility that he would be passed over in the lists for promotion. Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat fighters, Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless dive bombers and Douglas TBD-1 Devastator torpedo bombers thundered off the flight decks and rose to search for the enemy carriers. The Americans lost 74 carrier planes; the Japanese 80. Then Nagumos force was spotted by torpedo bombers from Hornets squadron VT-8, led by Lt. Cmdr. If this happened, it would enable the Japanese to pinch the Americans between their two carrier forces. He studied hard, and when he graduated in September 1906, he stood 26th in his class. However, Spruances fleet was also charged with guarding the amphibious landings at Saipan and Tinian. Spruance commanded US naval forces during two of the most significant naval battles that took place in the Pacific theater, the Battle of Midway and the Battle of the Philippine Sea. He was promoted to captain in 1932, and the following year he was assigned as chief of staff and aide to the commander of a destroyer scouting force. But they expected it to come at the obvious and exposed outer fringe, and when we struck at the heart of the archipelago with a huge fleet that had approached undetected, we enjoyed complete tactical surprise. He took part in organising the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and led the 5th Fleet in these two final battles. When I look at myself objectively, he wrote in retirement, I think that what success I may have achieved through life is largely due to the fact that I am a good judge of men. The correct answer to this open question is the following. Halsey was aggressive and a risk taker. During the joint operations leading to the assault and capture of the important enemy bases, complete integration of Army and Navy units was accomplished under his outstanding leadership, enabling all the forces to perform their closely co-ordinated missions with outstanding success.[24]. The slow-moving Devastators were easy targets for the Japanese gunners and Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero fighters, and all 15 were shot down. The Iwo Jima and Okinawa actions lasted from January to May 1945, and in August the Japanese surrendered. [Admiral Spruance wrote this foreward for Mitsuo Fuchida's book, Midway, The Battle That Doomed Japan; The Japanese Navy's . Because of gaps in the search patterns flown by the Japanese, the American carriers were able to approach unseen. A bust of Spruance is in the lobby. Spruance was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 3, 1886, to Alexander and Annie Hiss Spruance. His new duties involved planning rather than operations, and Spruance chafed for more action. Yamato class battleship that served as the Japanese Combined Fleet's Flagship, housing Admiral Yamamoto. The airstrips in the Gilberts were put to good use two months later when they were used in the invasion of Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Most of Nagumo's attack planes had just returned from the first strike on Midway and were immobilized on the carrier hangers, while his combat air patrol cover planes were engaged with battling torpedo bombers from Hornet. Photograph Courtesy of the US Naval History & Heritage Command. In 1949, naval historian Samuel Eliot Morison noted that Spruance was subjected to criticism for not pursuing the retreating Japanese and allowing the surface fleet to escape. Spruance graduated from the U.S. While one was at sea, the other would be planning their next operation. Web. His tour of sea duty ended in 1921, and he spent the next three years with the Navy Departments Bureau of Engineering and the Doctrine of Aircraft board. Returning to Newport, Spruance remained at the college until retiring from the US Navy on July 1, 1948. On April 22, Task Force 58s guns and planes supported the U.S. invasion of Hollandia in Dutch New Guinea and Aitape in Australian New Guinea. At Midway, Spruances force inflicted on the Imperial Japanese Navy its worst setback in 350 years. On April 28, the last day of the invasion, Spruances command was redesignated as the Fifth Fleet. How can these and the knowledge they provide be used to spread His Word? Spruance died in Pebble Beach, California, on December 13, 1969, and was buried with full military honors at Golden Gate National Cemetery near San Francisco. Finishing the course, he completed a tour in the Office of Naval Intelligence before being posted to USS Mississippi (BB-41) in October 1929 as executive officer. Early on the morning of Thursday, June 4, 1942, Nagumos carriers launched a 108-plane strike against Midway and inflicted He organized the Japanese counterattack on the American carriers and is credited with the sinking of the USS Yorktown, the only American Carrier sunk at Midway. Yorktowns planes hit Soryu as she was turning into the wind to launch aircraft. The repulse of the Japanese invasion fleet at Midway, and critically the destruction of the Kido Butai, allowed the U.S. to gain parity in the naval air war. Naval Academy at Annapolis. The Battle of Midway was fought June 4-7, 1942, during World War II (1939-1945) and was the turning point of the war in the Pacific. Despite this, some detractors argued that Spruances tactics at Philippine Sea were overly cautious. The Japanese lost 19 ships sunk, seven probably sunk and more than 200 aircraft destroyed, and their installations were bombed and strafed. It faced a Japanese invasion fleet organized into two groups: the air-attack task force of four carriers with support ships under command of Admiral Chichi Nagumo, and the surface and occupation forces under Admiral Nobutake Kond and others. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. He presided over US Forces in the Pacific during two decisive Allied victories: the Battle of Midway in 1942 and the 1944 Battle of the Philippines Sea. . Early on, Halsey had led his task force on hit-and-run raids against the Japanese in the western Pacific: striking the Gilbert and Marshall islands in February 1942, Wake Island in March, and projecting the air power of the Doolittle Raid against the Japanese homeland in April. Landing troops on Saipan on June 15, he defeated Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa at the Battle of the Philippine Sea a few days later. Thus the Americans knew the Japanese planned to move toward Midway. Pratt, F. "Spruance: Picture of the Admiral," Harpers Magazine 193, no. Akagi and Kaga subsequently went down. And with this battle the American forces gained, and afterwards continued to gain, hard combat experience; so the Japanese lost that crucial advantage as well. Spruance's achievements were acknowledged by the unique distinction of a special act of Congress awarding him Admiral's full pay for life. Since the Japanese planes were returning from the Midway strike, Spruance ordered that his strike be launched without delay so as to maximize the chances that the Japanese carriers would be caught while landing planes or spotting the next wave. It was his job to protect the landing force.[8]. Following the war, Spruance served as US Ambassador to the Philippines from 1952 to 1955. While both Fletcher and Spruance were rear admirals, Fletcher was senior and nominally in overall command. ThoughtCo. More to his liking was the study of foreign methods of naval fire control, which took him to London and Edinburgh. In the opening weeks of the conflict, Spruance's cruisers served under Vice Admiral William "Bull" Halsey and took part in raids against the Gilbert and Marshall Islands before striking Wake Island. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. Historian Samuel Eliot Morison believed he was one of the greatest fighting and thinking admirals in American naval history. He attended grade and high schools in East Orange, N.J., and in Indianapolis. After these victories, Spruance went back to Pearl Harbour to assist with planning Japans invasion. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz called him a fine man, a sterling character, and a great leader, and said, nothing you can say about him would be praise enough. His father wanted him to go to West Point, but young Raymond yearned to go to sea. [7], Spruance ran a quiet bridge, without chit-chat; he demanded that orders be given concisely and clearly. In this position, he traveled to London and Edinburgh. He was appointed as Ambassador to the Philippines by President Harry S. Truman, and served there from 1952 to 1955. Raymond Spruance was born in Baltimore on July 3, 1886, the son of Alexander and Annie Spruance. He was the united states navy fleet admiral in the some of the The battle of Midway was one of the most decisive battle in th Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku, Japanese fleet commander, chose to i Fewer than two days before launch from Pearl Harbor, Nimitz's commander of the fleet carrier force, Admiral Halsey, was hospitalized with severe shingles;[10] Halsey immediately recommended Admiral Spruance to Nimitz as his replacement with Admiral Fletcher receiving overall command. In April, Nimitz divided command of the Central Pacific Force between Spruance and Halsey. Close to Japan, Allied planners intended to use Okinawa as a springboard for the eventual invasion of the Home Islands. Having been promoted to rear admiral in December 1939, he was directed to assume command of the Tenth Naval District (San Juan, PR) in February 1940. Retiring to Pebble Beach, CA, he died there on December 13, 1969. Before the Battle of the Coral Sea on 7-8 May 1942, the Imperial Navy of Japan had swept aside all of its enemies from the Pacific and Indian oceans. The Gilberts attack was planned and directed by Spruance, with the assistance of Rear Adms. Both commanders hoped for a classic battle with the Imperial Japanese Navy, but only Mitschers carrier planes were able to reach the enemy. He also held several engineering, intelligence, staff and Naval War College positions up to the 1940s. I finally wangled two months at sea, in 1918, before the war was over. 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