[12] Spruance assumed command of Task Force 16 with its two carriers, USSEnterprise and USSHornet, under battle command of Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher. 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. His new duties involved planning rather than operations, and Spruance chafed for more action. ThoughtCo, Jul. Spruance was about to face the sternest test in his long, distinguished career. 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. The Americans lost 74 carrier planes; the Japanese 80. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. Fit and spare in his 70s, Spruance spent most of his retirement days wearing old khakis and work shoes and working in his garden and greenhouse. The Americans lost only 17 planes and no ships. Commanding the battleship for nearly two years, Spruance was aboard when World War II began in Europe. Only 17 of the islands 4,690 Japanese defenders survived to become prisoners. B. Jim Crow Laws These attacks were followed by a raid against Marcus Island. US Naval Task force under Raymond Spruance with 2 carriers, Enterprise and Hornet. Akagi class Japanese aircraft carrier that served as the flagship of Admiral Nagumo. Raymond Ames Spruance was born in Baltimore, Maryland on July 3, 1886, to Alexander and Annie Spruance, but grew up in Indianapolis. Then U.S. dive bombers from Spruance's Enterprise flew to Nagumo's fleet of four carriers which, fatefully, were without air cover. The Eastern Orthodox Church developed from the church in Constantinople. I can thank heredity for a sound constitution, and myself for taking care of that constitution." Having attained the rank of commander, Spruance attended the Senior Course at the Naval War College in July 1926. He was decorated with Order of Leopold and Croix de guerre with Palm by the Government of Belgium for his service for the Allied cause.[26]. It was hit and shortly after destroyed by American dive bombers. Richmond Kelly Turner and Harry W. Hill and Marine Generals Holland M. Smith and Julian C. Smith. [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. With the battleship's completion, Spruance joined its crew and remained aboard until November 1917. "Foreward for Midway." US Naval Institute Proceedings 81, no. He managed to gain an appointment from Indiana to the U.S. 1155 (August 1946): 144-157. His flagship was badly damaged by the Japanese and was hit by two torpedoes from a Japanese submarine before sinking. Towards the end of that year, Spruance commanded a cruiser division supporting Admiral Halsey's carrier, the 'Enterprise', at Wake Island. Moving forward in mid-1944, Spruance embarked on a campaign in the Marianas Islands. Word of the sacrifice of VT-8 stunned the United States, and Churchill was reported to have wept when he heard about it. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. Hickman, Kennedy. On April 1, Spruance began the Battle of Okinawa. The Japanese were trying to tow Soryu to safety when she was torpedoed and sunk by the U.S. submarine Nautilus. On February 19, American forces landed and opened the Battle of Iwo Jima. On the afternoon of June 4, 24 American dive bombersincluding 10 refugees from Yorktownscored four hits on Hiryu. Hiryu class Japanese aircraft carrier that was the flagship of the second detachment of the carrier strike force. His steady rise, according to Newsweek magazine, has borne the imprint of his personalityunobtrusive but undeviating. Michio Kobayashi For that assault, Spruance led the most powerful naval strike force in history. He disliked personal publicity and had a reputation for freezing reporters who invaded his privacy. Not till many months later did American intelligence ferret out the facts."[33]. Naval History and Heritage Command, "Biography of Raymond A. Spruance Press Release July 24, 1941, United States Navy Department", "Adm Spruance's Fitrep after Battle of Midway", Citation, Navy Cross, Raymond A. Spruance, "Admiral Raymond Ames Spruance America's Navy", "News Release: Navy Names Two New Guided Missile Destroyers", "War & Remembrance (Part 3) (May 26 July 25, 1942)", "War & Remembrance (Part 3) (May 26 July 25, 1942) 1988", Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 19411942, The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 19421944, Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 19441945, United States Ambassadors to the Philippines, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Raymond_A._Spruance&oldid=1137739908, Ambassadors of the United States to the Philippines, High Commissioners of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army), Recipients of the Navy Cross (United States), Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, Articles with dead external links from July 2022, Articles with dead external links from December 2020, Articles with permanently dead external links, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2016, Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 6 February 2023, at 05:43. In June 1931, Spruance returned to Newport, RI to serve on the staff of the Naval War College. About us| Spruance became a shadowy sort of legend in the Navy. World War II: Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, World War II: Battle of the Philippine Sea. 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. The following year, they made me executive officer of the transport Agamemnon, bringing troops home from France. Japanese submarine I-168 torpedoes and torpedoes a damaged US aircraft carrier and its escorting destroyer. [32] Wouk writes in his book that "Spruance escaped [the Japanese fleet admiral] Yamamoto's terrible trap by acting on perfect military instinct. He was modest and candid about himself. He was fond of symphonic music, and his tastes were generally simple. This was followed by an assault on Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands on January 31, 1944. Akagi was lashed by bombs, which exploded torpedoes that were being loaded onto her planes, and the crew abandoned ship. For most of the war, Spruance preferred to use the heavy cruiser USSIndianapolis, named for his hometown, as his flagship. However, an invasion was rendered unnecessary when the atomic bomb was used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. In the seven-week campaign, 55 Japanese ships were sunk, five probably sunk and 74 damaged. 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. 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. In this position, he traveled to London and Edinburgh. Leaving, he assumed command of USS Mississippi. Navy.[4]. 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. Shortly before his retirement, Spruance received the following Letter of Commendation from the Secretary of the Navy: Your brilliant record of achievement in World War II played a decisive part in our victory in the Pacific. So the US navy had a good idea of what to expect from the Japanese fleet and how to counterattack it. [2] He emerged from the war as one of the greater admirals in American naval history. the prospects for its inclusion in doctrine The logical starting point is Admiral Chester Nimitz's famous "letter of instruction" (actually, of course, transmitted . Then Nagumo was dumbfounded to receive a search planes report of 10 enemy ships to the northeast, where no U.S. ships were supposed to be. 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. He's one of the finest officers I know of. Meanwhile, the Japanese attack on the Aleutian Islands had been carried out as planned on June 3. Things did not look hopeful for Spruance and his force on the eve of Midway. By 1939, at the age of 53, Spruance had spent 18 years at sea. ), honoris causa degree from Central Philippine University in 1955, an institution of higher learning founded by the American Baptist missionary, William Orison Valentine in 1905. Spruance's seagoing career included command of the destroyers Bainbridge from March 1913 to May 1914, Osborne, three other destroyers, and the battleship Mississippi. Admiral Spruance died on 13 December 1969, at his home in Pebble Beach , California. Japanese fleet in charge of landing army units on Midway. Ambassador to the Philippines in 1952-55. 108 planes under Juichi Tomanaga bomb and strafe Midway. Raymond Ames Spruance (July 3, 1886 - December 13, 1969) was a United States Navy admiral during World War II. 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. Japanese propagandists pointed to their success in the Aleutians to offset the defeat at Midway, but actually the Aleutians were of little strategic value. Admiral William L. Calhoun saw him as a cold-blooded fighting fool. Spruance received the Navy Cross for his actions at Iwo Jima and Okinawa.[23]. In the footnote Morison says, Admiral Spruance, in commenting on the first draft of this volume, requested that I delete victor at and substitute who commanded a carrier task force at, butI have let it stand. After working to defend neutral American shipping from German U-boats, Spruance received orders to take over Cruiser Division Five in September 1941. The Japanese managed to inflict only superficial damage on three ships. 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. Known as "island hopping," U.S. forces moved from island to island, using each as a base for capturing the next. Japanese supporting aircraft carrier in the corresponding Aleutian Islands Invasion. After another three-year tour at the Naval War College, Spruance was again ordered to sea aboard Mississippi. The US intelligence services could predict the way the Japanese carriers and planes would be approaching the battle. He died on 13 December 1969 at the age of 83. He did not discuss his private life, feelings, prejudices, hopes or fears, except perhaps with his family and his closest friends. On April 28, the last day of the invasion, Spruances command was redesignated as the Fifth Fleet. Yet because of his modest, retiring nature, Spruance was never a popular hero in the manner of Admirals Nimitz, William F. Halsey and Marc A. Mitscher. Spruances naval guns started their bombardment two days later. 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. In August 1943 Spruance was placed in command of the Central Pacific Force, which, on April 29, 1944, was redesignated as the Fifth Fleet. 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