Spruance, Admiral Raymond A. (1886–1969),US naval officer who commanded the Fifth US Fleet in some of the most crucial campaigns of the
Pacific war.
As a rear admiral Spruance commanded the cruiser division which acted as the surface screen for
Halsey's carrier task force during the first months of the war. When Halsey fell ill Spruance took his place commanding one of the carrier groups which ambushed the Japanese force advancing on
Midway which, after the fall of
Wake Island, was the Americans' most westerly Pacific outpost. Spruance emerged from this turning-point of the Pacific war with the reputation of being one of the foremost fighting and thinking admirals the US Navy had ever produced.
He then served for fourteen months as chief of staff to the C-in-C of the Pacific Fleet,
Nimitz, being for part of that time deputy C-in-C. He was promoted vice-admiral and in August 1943 was named Commander Central Pacific Force (later designated Fifth Fleet, called Third Fleet when commanded by Halsey). He put together a talented team which included Rear-Admirals Marc Mitscher (see
Task Force 58) and Kelly
Turner, and Maj-General Holland Smith (1882–1967) of the US Marine Corps; and later the British Pacific Fleet,
Task Force 57, served under him.
After planning the capture of
Tarawa atoll, accomplished in November 1943, he planned the seizure of the
Marshall Islands, and his success there gained him promotion to admiral. Then came the capture of the
Mariana Islands and finally
Iwo Jima and
Okinawa. After the
Philippine Sea battle in June 1944 he was criticized for failing to follow up his success during it, but posterity has largely exonerated him as his primary task was to protect the
Saipan landings, which he did.
‘Power of decision and coolness in action were perhaps Spruance's leading characteristics,’ wrote the US Navy's official historian. ‘He envied no one, rivaled no man, won the respect of almost everyone with whom he came in contact and went ahead in his quiet way, winning victories for his country’ ( S. E. Morison,
History of US Naval Operations in World War Two, Vol. 8, Boston, 1953, pp. 235–6).
Bibliography
Buell, T. , The Quiet Warrior (Boston, 1974).
Larrabee, E. , Commander in Chief: Franklin D. Roosevelt, His Lieutenants, and Their War (New York, 1987).
