Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, USN; A Study In Command

By Vice Admiral E. P. Forrestel USN, Fleet Admiral C. W. Nimitz USN and Rear Admiral E. M. Eller USN

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. The author, Vice Admiral E. P. Forrestel, an important member of Spruance’s Staff, was in an ideal position to observe and report on the thought processes of this great and successful naval officer. Spruance’s rise to fame came in the Battle of Midway where his sound judgement and wise decisions won a stunning victory over greatly superior enemy forces. That victory reversed the long series of enemy successes and was truly the turning point in the war. From that time on he played an ever increasing part in our naval advance across the Pacific—a task he shared in full measure with another great American naval officer—Admiral W. F. Halsey, U.S. Navy. Tarawa, the Marshall Islands, the Marianas, Iwo Jima and the Ryukyus were important stepping stones along the way that lead to the deck of the U.S.S. MISSOURI in Tokyo Bay where the surrender terms were signed on September 2, 1945. To cap his extraordinarily successful naval career which ended in his Presidency of the Naval War College he accepted an appointment as our Ambassador in the Philippines. Here his wisdom and tact contributed importantly to the satisfactory settlement of a number of troublesome and vexatious problems that disturbed the good relations that should exist between the governments of the Philippines and the United States.

It is given to few Americans to serve their country so effectively and at such high levels as did this man. His career will serve as an example and a challenge to service personnel and diplomats alike. His story will be read avidly by those who suffered his blows in war and by those who are hostile to our country.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Verdun Press
• Release date: Nov 6, 2015
• ISBN: 9781786251978

Vice Admiral E. P. Forrestel USN

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Text originally published in 1966 under the same title.

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Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, USN — A Study in Command

by

VICE ADMIRAL E. P. FORRESTEL USN (Retired)

with a Foreword by FLEET ADMIRAL C. W. NIMITZ USN

and an Introduction by REAR ADMIRAL E. M. ELLER USN (Retired) Director of Naval History

NR&L (MOD) 37252

Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, U.S. NAVY.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS 5

A FOREWORD 6

Introduction 7

Preface 11

Illustrations 14

List of Charts 16

Abbreviations and Ship Symbols 17

Aircraft Designations 19

UNITED STATES: 19

JAPANESE: 19

Code Names for Operations 20

CHAPTER 1 — The Road to Flag Rank 21

CHAPTER 2 — ComTen and ComCaribSeaFron 33

CHAPTER 3 — ComCruDiv Five 37

CHAPTER 4 — The Battle of Midway 48

CHAPTER 5 — Chief of Staff, U.S. Pacific Fleet 70

CHAPTER 6 — Preparing for the Gilberts 77

CHAPTER 7 — Planned Support 83

CHAPTER 8 — Movement to the Objective 86

CHAPTER 9 — The Gilberts Secured 94

CHAPTER 10 — The Marshall Islands Operation 102

MAJURO 106

ROI-NAMUR 107

KWAJALEIN 111

TRUK, CAROLINE ISLANDS 113

CHAPTER 11 — The Mariana Islands Operation Opens 126

CHAPTER 12 — The Battle of the Philippine Sea 134

CHAPTER 13 — The Mariana Islands Secured 149

TINIAN 155

GUAM 163

CHAPTER 14 — The Iwo Jima Operation 173

Iwo Jima. 188

CHAPTER 15 — The Okinawa Operation 198

CHAPTER 16 — The War Ends 231

CHAPTER 17 — Completion of a Naval Career 236

CHAPTER 18 — Ambassador to the Philippine Republic 246

Epilogue 253

REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 254

APPENDIX I — Decorations and Awards — Admiral Raymond A. Spruance 255

APPENDIX II — Battle of Midway 256

JAPANESE 256

UNITED STATES 258

APPENDIX III — Gilbert Islands Operation 263

APPENDIX IV — Marshall Islands Operation 265

APPENDIX V — Strike on Truk, 17–18 February, 1944 267

APPENDIX VI — Mariana Islands Operation 268

APPENDIX VII — Battle of the Philippine Sea 270

UNITED STATES 270

JAPANESE 271

APPENDIX VIII — Iwo Jima Operation 272

APPENDIX IX — Okinawa Operation 275

A FOREWORD

FLEET ADMIRAL CHESTER W. NIMITZ.

U. S. NAVY QUARTERS

ONE YERBA BUENA ISLAND

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 94130

-ADMIRAL RAYMOND A. SPRUANCE -

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. The author, Vice Admiral E. P. Forrestel, an important member of Spruance’s Staff, was in an ideal position to observe and report on the thought processes of this great and successful naval officer. Spruance’s rise to fame came in the Battle of Midway where his sound judgement and wise decisions won a stunning victory over greatly superior enemy forces. That victory reversed the long series of enemy successes and was truly the turning point in the war. From that time on he played an ever increasing part in our naval advance across the Pacific—a task he shared in full measure with another great American naval officer—Admiral W. F. Halsey, U.S. Navy. Tarawa, the Marshall Islands, the Marianas, Iwo Jima and the Ryukyus were important stepping stones along the way that lead to the deck of the U.S.S. MISSOURI in Tokyo Bay where the surrender terms were signed on September 2, 1945. To cap his extraordinarily successful naval career which ended in his Presidency of the Naval War College he accepted an appointment as our Ambassador in the Philippines. Here his wisdom and tact contributed importantly to the satisfactory settlement of a number of troublesome and vexatious problems that disturbed the good relations that should exist between the governments of the Philippines and the United States.

It is given to few Americans to serve their country so effectively and at such high levels as did this man. His career will serve as an example and a challenge to service personnel and diplomats alike. His story will be read avidly by those who suffered his blows in war and by those who are hostile to our country.

I hope it will be read with equal interest by all Americans and by those friends of other countries who benefitted by his skill and courage.

C. W. NIMITZ

Fleet Admiral, U. S. Navy

Introduction

He is a man of the age...not rash, but a go-ahead man, he combines valor with discretion, and will not rush into anything he cannot see his way out of. Everyone respects him, and our men will fight to the death for him.

These words were written of David Farragut in late April 1862 just after his dramatic conquest of the impossible at the Battle of New Orleans. It was a truly decisive battle of the Civil War, capturing the South’s largest city, its primary port for cotton export, and the only center where she could have built the ships to stop the Union Navy on the western rivers. Without change the same words could have been said of Admiral Raymond A. Spruance after his conquest of the impossible in the Battle of Midway—as the years lengthen this significant victory will loom larger and larger as another of the decisive battles of history.

Victory at Midway dramatically unveiled a war career for Admiral Spruance who, commanding under the overall genius of Admiral Nimitz, was to serve America greatly. Under Spruance’s leadership afloat, in ever growing tide, United States amphibious power swept across the vast Pacific from the Gilberts to Okinawa, on the threshold of Japan. All hands in operations at the moment were too busy getting the job done to appreciate the magnitude of the achievements. Now, studying these operations from a distance in time, one is impressed by the vastness of movement, by the far flung forces that in some cases started from the Atlantic coast of the United States, by the incredible skill that meshed all these into a tumultuous H-hour filled with a storm of gunfire, scream of planes, clang of machinery, rush of boats and men.

Admiral Spruance was the man to guide and direct this irresistible power that included not only the amphibious force itself under Admiral Turner but also the rest of the fleet. Success in amphibious attack depends upon the whole navy more than any other fleet operation.

Amphibious operations mean much more than the brave men who storm ashore, or the ships and boats that take them there. Against opposition they cannot succeed without the mighty carrier striking force of ships and planes to clear the way, without tankers, repair, supply, service and support ships of every type, without underwater demolition teams and the minesweepers, without submarines and patrol planes, without well trained gunfire support ships before, during, and long after the first wave hits the beach. Today the Navy has over 100 types of ships; nearly all would be called on in major amphibious attack.

Admiral Spruance was the right man to direct, from an overall standpoint, the multitude of complex elements. Far-seeing, cool and unruffled, with a precise mind that encompassed great and small alike, he led, as a true leader should, by careful planning with his team, then allowing each commander to do the job without interference.

A self-possessed man who faced the toughest decision calmly, Admiral Spruance fought the war with his entire being. He inspired confidence like his great commander Admiral Nimitz who trusted him implicitly in operations and seldom disagreed with him in counsel. His achievements and service to our times should be more clearly understood. The excellent Command Study on him that follows will go far toward that understanding.

Anyone who has lived through the fury of giant crisis in war knows that as The Captain makes the ship, the leader more than anything else except the hand of God decides the issue. The more we can learn how key leaders thought, planned, acted, the better hope we have of training similar ones for the crises certain to come tomorrow. Their lives thus serve both at the time of their achievements to lead to victory and afterwards as a lantern for the storms of the future.

After World War II, the Navy Department, therefore, wisely sought to have the principal architects of victory at sea set down their reminiscences. Modest, unassuming, stating that he only did his duty like everyone else on the lonely sea, Admiral Spruance long resisted. Then through the persistent efforts of the inimitable Captain Ralph Parker and Rear Admiral Carl Moore, Admiral Spruance’s war-time Chief of Staff and one of the nation’s clearest thinkers, we found the right man in Vice Admiral Emmet P. Forrestel. Serving through most of the war on Admiral Spruance’s small, able staff, the then Captain Forrestel, properly nicknamed Savvy, had gained the Admiral’s complete confidence. When we offered his name to Admiral Spruance, he at last agreed to the Command Study, if it would be of any value to the Navy Department, though he still repeated his doubts that his contribution merited any special attention.

Admiral Forrestel likewise modestly said he had neither competence nor experience for an undertaking of this nature—though he obviously had, since he had written many carefully researched and well-presented studies and reports. He finally consented and, like the can-do naval officer he is, turned to in earnest. Going through our large archives with the expert aid of Mr. Dean Allard and his assistants, Miss Barbara Gilmore and Mrs. Mildred Mayeux, he read all the pertinent original reports and everything else available on Admiral Spruance’s long splendid service to the nation. Although half across the continent, he repeatedly visited his war-time boss for fruitful interviews supplemented by correspondence with him and numerous others. Conferring with many who knew Admiral Spruance, especially Admiral Nimitz, he then forged draft after draft, patiently enduring suggestions for modification and at the proper time sent these to appropriate veterans of the war for review.

After he had the manuscript in hand, Admiral Forrestel then carefully went through our extensive collection of WW II photographs and battle charts with the able guidance of Commander D. V. Hickey, Henry Vadnais, Lieutenant (junior grade) William Rope, Charles Weaver and Donald Martin. Valuable assistance came from Paul White of the National Archives in the large naval photographic collection there. The result admirably complements his narrative.

Admiral Forrestel’s study was then turned over to our Historical Research Section for further examination and editorial preparation. Dr. William J. Morgan, head of the Section, with his fine assistants: Lieutenant (junior grade) Lloyd L. Reynolds, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Scheffenacker, and Mr. Frederick S. Hicks, managed to find some time amidst the pressure of other publication projects to ready the manuscript for the press and to guide it through the Government Printing Office from galley proof to book.

As in all our work, Captain F. Kent Loomis, Assistant Director of Naval History, has contributed greatly, as have Miss T. I. Mertz and Mrs. Gertrude Johnson.

Readers will note that this volume has little in it that is controversial. It does not seek the sensational. It could not and still honestly tell the life of Admiral Spruance. Like Admiral Nimitz, he strove to lead by bringing reasonable men into agreement, though never hesitating to make the hard decision when he had to. His own magnificent words in a personal letter during the course of our long effort to induce him to agree to this study speak of the man better than any others could:

The things that I remember best are the times when we had considerable differences of opinion about what we should do. These were generally resolved satisfactorily, and there is no point in rehearsing them. I think the fact that we could have differences in our ideas, and could argue and debate our various points of view up and down the line is the important thing to remember. Time for preparing our plans was short, and they had to proceed more or less simultaneously on all echelons to get things done. If orders had been handed down the line from on high, and no one had been allowed to question them or any part of them, things might, at times, have gone differently.

Unknowledgeable men often speak of the Navy as barnacle crusted, or of battleship admirals opposing change of every sort. The truth of course is the contrary. The Navy is always changing. It has led the nation in much major progress—in ship building from the time of Humphreys in the 1790s; in astronomy and hydrography from the time of Commander Matthew Fontaine Maury before the Civil War; in many fields of physics from the first accurate measurement of the speed of light last century by the young naval officer, Albert A. Michelson, with midshipman assistants at the Naval Academy; in radio and radar from the time of another young officer of numerous inventions who became Admiral Bradley Fiske; in many areas of aviation and underwater operations; in a host of other developments of this century including, particularly, atomic energy for ship propulsion.

Admiral Spruance saw nothing but a changing navy. His career encompassed more fundamental changes in navies than in any other period of history. From crude beginnings, the United States Navy developed strength under the sea and in the sky with dramatic increase in total power. It combined all these into an irresistible torrent of strength for amphibious assault from the Mediterranean (the sea of history) to the shores of Japan. Then as he neared the end of his notable career in the Navy, soon to make a similar high name in diplomacy, atomic energy burst with awesome impact upon the Navy and our times.

The most significant part of these almost unbelievable changes, as demonstrated by the universally successful amphibious assaults in World War II, was the growing shift of power away from the land to the sea. As one looks back into history, he sees that this is not a sudden shift. It is a long one that has steadily expanded with the growth of science, invention and technology.

An early revolution of large import came with the age of sail. Great Britain led the world toward freedom, that the free sea offers, through the power of wind on sails. This brought navies easily into the great oceans and opened all horizons to man.

Yet, as we have noted, even greater change lay ahead; in steam, for example, that released ships from wind and tide. Electricity and internal combustion engines were some of the developments that projected navies under the sea and into the heavens with far reaching impact on destiny. In this century progress has accelerated with lightning speed comprising such fundamental changes integrated into deep sea navies as submarines, aircraft, radar, guided missiles and atomic energy. Admiral Spruance himself, like most officers to some degree, played his part in shaping these momentous changes.

Although I talked often to Admiral Spruance on the staff at Pearl Harbor and at times on his flagship afloat, it was almost always on matters of immediate urgency to the war at hand—plans, analyses of actions for lessons, our fleet’s material methods, training and operations, and how to improve them. What he thought about the significance and meaning of the advances in strength at sea did not come out, but he certainly knew how to use them. Not an aviator, he nevertheless employed the powerful wings of the new trident Navy with devastating effect whether in fleet battle as at Midway or in overwhelming sea assault from the Gilberts to Okinawa. Not a submariner, he nevertheless understood and reaped the benefits of the unique powers this undersea tine of the trident brings to navies in key fleet operations as well as in the submarines’ powerful secret war.

In resistless drive across the Pacific, he achieved greatly with all parts of the fleet. He picked his top commanders and let them do the job. At the same time he integrated all parts of the Navy into his own computer mind and projected them into a single fighting force against the enemy. As a consequence, when opinions differed among his outstanding subordinate commanders (and at times between them and himself) and they could not iron it out, as he said, by discussion and reason, then he himself made the hard decision. Invariably it proved correct.

This Command Study will prove instructive to every officer in the Navy from the newest Ensign to the Chief of Naval Operations. In reading it, juniors particularly will be inspired. As a junior officer one sees Spruance daily doing his duty to the best of his ability whatever the task assigned. He seeks nothing special except to serve well wherever duty calls. He does nothing spectacular to make him stand out among the legion of capable young officers who serve the country afloat. Gradually through the unknown seas of duties, he moves ahead in a pattern of excellence that steadily shapes his character. Then suddenly destiny calls at Midway—and he is ready, both then and for all that followed.

E. M. ELLER

Rear Admiral, USN (Retired),

Director of Naval History.

Preface

The name of Raymond Spruance is known only vaguely to many in connection with the Pacific War of 1941–45, and too few can recall just what he did, or why they remember the name at all. In the chapters following, the endeavor is to focus the reader’s attention on the outstanding accomplishments of one of the foremost naval leaders of all time.

Admiral Spruance went about his tasks in a self-effacing way, preferring minimal publicity to acclaim, his reward being the satisfaction of knowing he had done his best, and that he had thereby helped the war effort.

The name and exploits of Halsey in the Pacific are well-known. Not so well-known is the fact that all during the latter half of the war, Halsey and Spruance operated on the same level under Admiral Nimitz, and that the fleet they alternately commanded was the same fleet, called the Third Fleet when it operated under Halsey, and the Fifth Fleet when under Spruance. When one of these commanders was at sea conducting an operation, the other was ashore with his staff, planning the operation to follow.

Halsey had a flair for doing the spectacular in a dashing way, and for uttering catchy phrases which made good press copy. Anecdotes about him abound. Spruance, on the other hand, was the quiet, studious man whom the press found difficult to glamorize. His few public statements were strictly factual and dry. His brilliance as a strategist and tactician was acknowledged, and his planning was so thorough and so well thought out that the unexpected seldom happened in his operations, which usually proceeded like well-planned drills.

The naval careers of Halsey and Spruance were intertwined at various other times, first when Spruance commanded a ship in Halsey’s destroyer division in the early 1920’s, and again at the opening of World War II, when Spruance’s cruiser task group was a part of Halsey’s carrier task force. The two different types respected each other and got along well together. It was on Halsey’s recommendation that Raymond Spruance was given command of the task force when Halsey was hospitalized just as the Battle of Midway was about to commence. In this volume, no attempt to compare the wartime accomplishments of these two leaders should be inferred. Each was an exceptional commander, each accomplished much, and each of the two different personalities and types was needed.

Others with personalities different from his own attracted Spruance. Prominent among these were Rear Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner, the brilliant, fractious genius of amphibious warfare, and Major General Holland M. Smith, the outspoken, fighting Marine whom Spruance chose to lead his amphibious troops.

The writer is indebted to many who have furnished material and helped with this account. Stories and anecdotes about a Spruance do not come readily, but many have furnished items which add up to an evaluation of the man. The following are only a few of those to whom thanks are especially due:

Mrs. Raymond A. Spruance, who made available some of her husband’s wartime correspondence, as well as clippings and other papers.

Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, who reviewed and helpfully commented upon the manuscript, and graciously wrote the Foreword.

Rear Admiral Charles J. Moore, first Chief of Staff of the Central Pacific Force and Fifth Fleet, who not only furnished much material, but also reviewed and commented upon parts of the manuscript.

Admiral Arthur C. Davis, Spruance’s Chief of Staff in the Iwo Jima and Okinawa operations.

Admiral Harry W. Hill, an amphibious commander in several Spruance operations.

Vice Admiral Allan E. Smith, Chief of Staff to Spruance at the Naval War College.

Captain R. C. Parker, a Naval Academy classmate of Spruance, and an operations analyst on the Staff of CincPac.

Comdr. R. G. Haxton, who served under Spruance when both were junior officers.

Rear Admiral E. M. Eller, Director of Naval History, who made the documents and source materials of his office available, and who has patiently reviewed the text, guided its development, and given valuable advice.

The following named Foreign Service Officers, who served in the Embassy at Manila during Spruance’s ambassadorship there, and who commented generously on his problems and activities at that post:

Hon. Julian F. Harrington, Deputy Chief of Mission, 1952.

Hon. William S. B. Lacy, Deputy Chief of Mission, 1952–54.

Mr. Richard R. Ely, Foreign Service Officer.

Source material has also come from personal letters and interviews which elicited recollections from members of the Spruance staffs and others of his associates, from official

Reviews for Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, USN; A Study In Command

[Richard kaczmarek · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An overall good biography of an individual virtually unknown
by most individuals who have some knowledge of the
Paciific War. His cool handling of military affairs was
overshadowed by the boisterous Halsey and pompous
MacArthur.

Spruance's career from midshipman to four star admiral
was treated in a fairly detailed manner. In combat,
the author related Spruance's reasoning which was
almost never reversed by his superiors. He had
an excellent staff which he trusted and accepted
its plans without hesitation.

Spruance was invited to the Japanese surrender
ceremony by MacArthur.. He hesitated , thinking
that Admiral Nimitz should have requested him.
Nevertheless, Nimitz assigned him a task and he
was not present.

As the author has stated, Spruance did not write
a memoir nor did he pass on any comments
which could be regarded as lessons learned
or suggestions for future leaders.