In between, Spruance learned high-speed shiphandling under Commander William F. The first was the destroyer Bainbridge as lieutenant junior grade, and the last was USS Mississippi when he was promoted to rear admiral. The third foundation of Spruance’s greatness was his experience in command at sea. Strange to say, Kalbfus neither lost his respect for Spruance nor changed his mind. Captain Spruance told him a process could not be an end in itself, but was an aid to apprehending both the breadth and essence of each operation in all its distinctive complexity. Kalbfus wanted a recipe of a universally applicable decision process. Kalbfus he felt compelled to tell the president that his pet project, the doctrinal publication Sound Military Decision, was an elaborate cookbook of form over substance. In the second tour under Rear Admiral Edward C. Recognized for his aptitude for electrical engineering, he served in three engineer officer tours afloat and three other technical tours in the Bureau of Engineering.Īlmost too late, Spruance had to argue his way back to his first love, command at sea.Ī second foundation to prepare Spruance for war was two tours at the Naval War College. As an ensign he wangled a year at General Electric. One foundation to prepare Spruance for his wartime exploits was his technical experience. But there were many heroes in that battle, so I’m going to describe a different one in which Spruance was unequivocally in command.įirst, some background. If things go badly I am to withdraw and let them have Midway, because they can’t hold it and we will get it back.” Spruance made his name on June 4, 1942, by sinking four Japanese carriers. a written order to meet and defeat the Japs. On the way back to his flagship Spruance said to his aide, “It appears. warships would be outnumbered four to one by the Japanese fleet. Nimitz told Spruance that William Halsey was sick, that Halsey had recommended him to take command of Task Force 16, that there would be a battle with 100% certainty, and the U.S. Nimitz’s office just before the Battle of Midway. I think Spruance’s greatness first struck me when, as a lieutenant teaching naval history, I read about his arrival at Admiral Chester W. In the short description of The Fleet at Flood Tide, which includes contributions from Raymond Spruance, author James Hornfischer closes with this declaration: “Spruance should forever be remembered as the greatest operational naval commander of World War II.” I agree and believe he meant the greatest in any navy. Only a whisker separates the rankings of my dream team, but I present them in order of my love for each.

Perhaps fortunately, I was only shot at twice, once by friendly forces. You may take that for what it is worth, but in my own case, growing up in Illinois I was caught up in the romance of the sea and dreamed of winning battles. The second oddity is that none came from a coast nor grew up in a seagoing family. Their technological background and prowess were value adds in different ways because technology and tactics are two sides of a single coin. The four flag officers on my personal list of great American naval leaders have, in addition to the usual attributes, two odd things in common.įirst, each of them was steeped in technology, to the point that Raymond Spruance and Arleigh Burke had to fight the naval engineering community to get to the Pacific War.

Battle group spruance