Then, reflect on the education opportunities that God has provided us today. The carriers were on station on June 2, and the following day Japanese transport ships were spotted 600 miles west of Midway Island. He also commanded Task Force 16 at the Battle of Midway, comprising the carriers Enterprise and Hornet. In fact, Spruance had a knack for getting along with difficult people, including his friend Admiral Kelly Turner, the hotheaded commander of 5th Fleet's amphibious force. Enterprise dive bombers critically damaged two Japanese carriers including Nagumo's flagship Akagi; while the Yorktown air group, launched after Fletcher was confident that all Japanese carriers were accounted for, crippled the Soryu. Always calm, always at peace with himself, Spruance had that ability which marks the great captain to make correct estimates and the right decisions in a fluid battle situation. When New Mexico was struck by two kamikaze on the night of 12 May 1945 a hasty search by Spruance's staff found the Admiral manning a fire hose amidship. He loved to show them to visitors. [7], Spruance ran a quiet bridge, without chit-chat; he demanded that orders be given concisely and clearly. At 10.26am on 4 June 1942 the course of World War Two in the Pacific changed utterly. Although some historians and many newsmen have written many words about Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, U.S. Navy and his brilliant career in the Pacific in World War II, the complete story of this reserved and self-effacing man is now being told for the first time by one of his close friends and wartime associates. It Didnt End Well. Maintaining a position offshore, the Fifth Fleet's ships were subjected to relentless kamikaze attacks by Japanese aircraft. It was interesting work, but I wouldnt want to do it for a living. Before Midway, a small and fractional U.S. Navy faced an overwhelmingly larger and battle-hardened Japanese Combined Fleet. Overseeing the Battle of Tarawa in November 1943, he guided Allied forces as they advanced through the Gilbert Islands. World War II: Fleet Admiral William Halsey Jr. World War II Pacific: The Japanese Advance Stopped, M.S., Information and Library Science, Drexel University, B.A., History and Political Science, Pennsylvania State University. Lieutenant aboard the Hiryu who led and was killed during the first Japanese counterattack after the sinking of 3 Japanese aircraft carriers. The Americans lost 74 carrier planes; the Japanese 80. On February 26, 1940, Spruance reported as commandant of the 10th Naval District with headquarters at Naval Station Isla Grande in San Juan, Puerto Rico. On June 14, while Mitscher led a diversionary attack on the Bonin Islands 800 miles to the north, U.S. Marines and infantrymen stormed ashore. More to his liking was the study of foreign methods of naval fire control, which took him to London and Edinburgh. Historian Samuel Eliot Morison believed he was one of the greatest fighting and thinking admirals in American naval history. The Japanese planned to outwit the U.S. forces at Midway. I am lazy, and I never have done things myself that I could get someone to do for me. During World War II, he was commander in the . Meanwhile, Task Force 58 was busy in the forefront of clearing the Japanese from the 600-mile-long Marianas chain. Hickman, Kennedy. After air assaults, two rocky islands, Kiska and Attu, were occupied by Japanese ground forces. [11] Although Spruance was proven as a cruiser division commander, he had no experience handling carrier-air combat; Halsey reassured Nimitz, and he told Spruance and Fletcher to rely on their newly inherited staff, particularly Captain Miles Browning, a battle-proven expert in carrier warfare. During the third week of May 1942, U.S. naval intelligence units confirmed that the Japanese wouldby early Juneinvade Midway Island. Retribution was not long in coming. In the course of a two-hour interview, he stood or walked about all the timenot restlessly, but slowly and deliberately. [14][15] For his actions at the battle of Midway Rear Admiral Spruance was awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal and cited as follows: "For exceptionally meritorious service as Task Force Commander, United States Pacific Fleet. The US intelligence services could predict the way the Japanese carriers and planes would be approaching the battle. Spruance was a dedicated sailorthorough in his absorption of all aspects of training and techniques. In October 1946 he was awarded the Armys Distinguished Service Medal for his exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services during the capture of the Marshall and Mariana islands. On April 1, Spruance began the Battle of Okinawa. Four days after the invasion, all immediate objectives had been taken, and by February 8, 1944, all organized resistance had ceased. Admiral William L. Calhoun saw him as a cold-blooded fighting fool. Spruances performance at Midway so impressed Admiral Nimitz that he made him his chief of staff. Advertisement Still have questions? When Yorktown was struck at Midway, however, Fletcher transferred his flag to the cruiser Astoria and placed Spruance tactically in charge. [27], Spruance was an active man who thought nothing of walking eight or 10 miles a day. Fletcher quickly ordered his dive bombers to strike, which fatally damaged the fourth Japanese carrier; it was scuttled the next day. 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. Mounting a tenacious defense, the Japanese held out for over a month. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. As the island-hopping campaign began, MacArthur continued his . As part of this reorganization, the force became known as the Fifth Fleet when Spruance was in charge and the Third Fleet when Halsey was in command. By shortly after 9 a.m., planes from Yorktown were also on their way. Lieutenant Commander Maxwell Leslies VB-3 from Yorktown attacked the carrier Soryu. He commanded U.S. naval forces during two of the most significant naval battles that took place in the Pacific Theatre: the Battle of Midway and the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Japanese submarine I-168 torpedoes and torpedoes a damaged US aircraft carrier and its escorting destroyer. Critical for the defense of Hawaii, the commander of the US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, intended to dispatch Halsey to block the enemy thrust. After serving aboard the battleship Iowa, Spruance went on a world cruise aboard the battleship Minnesota. Raymond A. Spruance was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on 3 July 1886. In one incident a distraught officer rushed to report, "Captain, we've just dropped a depth charge over the stern!" The Japanese had been overconfident, and the Americans taught them a bitter lesson. On December 30, 1914, Spruance married Margaret Vance Dean, the daughter of an Indianapolis businessman. In the seven-week campaign, 55 Japanese ships were sunk, five probably sunk and 74 damaged. 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. [4] Spruance attended Indianapolis public schools and graduated from Shortridge High School. Aircraft carrier that served as the flagship of Task Force 17 and Admiral Fletcher. It is regrettable that, owing to Spruances innate modesty and his refusal to create an image of himself in the public eye, he was never properly appreciated. Five days after the Marshalls campaign, Spruance sent the Mitscher force to attack Tinian and Saipan in the Mariana Islands. Admiral Yamamoto commanded the combined invasion fleet from aboard his flagship Yamato. He was uniquely modest and candid about himself all his life. Was the site of a naval battle between the United States and Japan in 1942. He was the grandfather of legendary theatre director Anne Bogart. Two years later, Spruance again received orders for the Naval War College and taught on the staff until April 1938. The Gilberts attack was planned and directed by Spruance, with the assistance of Rear Adms. At the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Japanese won a tactical victory, but suffered an operational-level defeat: it did not invade Port . Naval Academy at Annapolis. From 1952 to 1955 Spruance served as the American ambassador to Philippines. Japanese escort carrier that was mainly responsible for launching scouts attached to Combined Fleet main body. But the American commander, who could be daring and resourceful when necessary, could also exhibit shrewd caution when his experienced mind sensed an ambush. Four years later, President Harry S. Truman appointed him as Ambassador to the Republic of the Philippines. John C. Waldron. Japanese naval force tasked with the invasion of the Aleutian Islands under Vice Admiral Kakuta with aircraft carriers Junyo and Ryuho. Midway Island sent a false message stating that its water distillation plant had been damaged and that the base needed fresh water. United States Aircraft Carrier attached to Task Force 16. 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. Spruance was put in command of Task Force 16, which included two carriers: USS Enterprise and USS Hornet, and was instrumental in the decisive US victory in the Battle of Midway. Spruance served as executive officer of USS Mississippi from October 1929 to June 1931. He was then 55. Since US intelligence had reported the possibility that the Kido Butai would be operating in two separate task forces, that meant that Fletcher only knew the location of half of the carrier force. This time we were right because the enemy did what we expected him to do. [7], Spruance served in Washington until early 1924, when he was ordered to the headquarters, Commander Naval Force in Europe. It was spotted by scouts from the USS Hornet and destroyed by planes from the Enterprise. Not till many months later did American intelligence ferret out the facts."[33]. While one was at sea, the other would be planning their next operation. Navy.[4]. He commanded U.S. naval forces during one of the most significant naval battles that took place in the Pacific Theatre: the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Spruance himself directed a task group of battleships, cruisers and destroyers that left the main body to go after Japanese ships that were fleeing Truk, sinking the light cruiser Katori and destroyer Maikaze. The Coral Sea fight was virtually a warm-up for the Battle of Midway, regarded later as the turning point of the war in the Pacific. He commanded that vessel during the patrols with the Atlantic Fleet until January 1920, when he assumed command of newly commissioned destroyer USS Percival in San Francisco, California. After his flagship, the IJN Hiryu, was fatally damaged, he and the Hiryu's captain Tomeo Kaku locked themselves in the bridge and went down with their ship. The recipient of the letter below was his longtime friend and former chief-of-staff Captain Charles "Carl" J. Moore. With it he intended to significantly expand the Imperial Japanese Navy's outer defense perimeter across the central Pacific; and, he believed, this very powerful stroke against Midway would so severely threaten Hawaii and Pearl Harbor that the U.S. government would be induced to sue for peace. Things did not look hopeful for Spruance and his force on the eve of Midway. A number of torpedo squadrons from the airfields and carriers launch attacks on the Japanese carriers but score no hits and almost all planes involved were shot down. He began attendance at the Naval War College in 1926, and graduated in 1927. Shortly after the Midway battle, Spruance became chief of staff to Admiral Nimitz, and in September 1942 was appointed as Deputy Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet. In April 1942 he offered support to carriers that launched the Doolittle Raid, an air raid on Tokyo and other parts of Honshu island. The American losses were Yorktown, destroyer Hammann and 147 planes. 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