The 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Leyte Gulf this week got me thinking about how it might’ve been different if Admiral Raymond Spruance instead of Adm. “Bull” Halsey had been there. Halsey infamously took the bait and led his Third Fleet against the Japanese “fake” attack from the north, which left the American landing forces in Leyte Gulf exposed to a devastating Japanese attack that they heroically fended off with heavy losses and by the skin of their teeth.
Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, both as Pacific commander Adm. Chester Nimitz’s most trusted colleague and a brilliant independent commander in his own right, unfortunately is far too often overlooked. (Naval historian Thomas Buell has written the definitive biography of Spruance titled The Quiet Warrior.) A few facts of interest:
1. Spruance was born in Baltimore and grew up in Indianapolis, attending public school there and then the Naval Academy at Annapolis, from which he graduated in 1907. He then immediately sailed around the world for the next two years as part of the “Great White Fleet” that Pres. Theodore Toosevelt sent abroad as America’s first international display of its emerging naval power.
2. Before WW II, Spruance had a number of sea commands on destroyers, heavy cruisers, and battleships. He was well-respected by his peers and colleagues as being particularly cool under pressure. One time, when a subordinate reported to him in panic "Captain, we've just dropped a depth charge over the stern!,” Spruance casually replied "Well, pick it up and put it back."
3. He was heavily involved in the Naval War College as a student and then as an instructor in the 1920s and ‘30s. He became a rear admiral in 1939, shortly before the outbreak of the war. In the first few months of the war in 1942, he commanded a heavy cruiser force under Halsey on hit-and-run raids on Japanese island outposts and for the surprise Doolittle carrier-based air raid on Tokyo. Although their command styles and personalities could not have been more different, Spruance and Halsey were close friends.
4. In May 1942, when naval intelligence detected that the Japanese fleet was planning the attack on the American base on Midway Island, Nimitz gave command of the American fleet to Halsey. But shortly before the fleet was to depart Pearl, Halsey had to be hospitalized with a severe case of shingles, and Spruance was given overall command to Halsey’s chagrin, but also upon his enthusiastic recommendation.
5. During the battle of Midway, Spruance handled his ships brilliantly, showing cool restraint in fully committing the smaller American fleet when the Japanese presence first became known. A hard charging commander like Halsey might have reacted much more aggressively, which is what Japanese Adm. Yamamato was anticipating. Famed Harvard naval historian and commander Samuel Eliot Morison later said: "Spruance's performance was superb. Calm, collected, decisive, yet receptive to advice; keeping in his mind the picture of widely disparate forces, yet boldly seizing every opening. Raymond A. Spruance emerged from the battle one of the greatest admirals in American Naval history.”
6. After serving as Nimitz’s chief of staff during the middle part of the war, in 1944 Spruance successfully commanded the American fleet in the campaign against the huge Japanese base at Truk and during the Battle of Philippine Sea/”Marianas Turkey Shoot” and Saipan landings in 1944, when his forces virtually destroyed Japan’s naval aviation capability. The “brown shoe” naval aviators like Halsey and Marc Mitscher chafed at Spruance’s reluctance to go after the Japanese fleet more aggressively, but Spruance knew his first job was to protect the Saipan landing forces. In contrast, Halsey fell for the Japanese carrier fleet’s feint at the Battle of Leyte Gulf a few months later, which resulted in heavy losses when a portion of the Japanese fleet broke through, almost destroying the American landing forces there.
7. Spruance’s flagships were hit several times later in the war by kamikaze attacks, and on one of those occasions he was even seen manning a fire hose on deck with his men. He also received the Navy Cross, the second-highest decoration for service in combat, for outstanding command at Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
8. When the Japanese surrendered in August 1945, Nimitz insisted that Spruance not attend the official surrender ceremony with Nimitz, Halsey, and Gen McArthur aboard the U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Nimitz told Spruance in the unlikely event of Japanese treachery and the rest of them were killed or captured, he wanted Spruance commanding the fleet going forward.
9. After the war, Spruance served as president of the Naval War College and as U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines. Following their deaths, Spruance and his wife at their request were buried in the impressive Golden Gate National Cemetery alongside their closest friends and WWII naval colleagues Adm. Chester Nimitz, Adm. Kelly Turner, Adm. Charles Lockwood, and their wives. (That cemetery is about a five minute drive from the San Francisco airport if you're ever interested in seeing it when you're out there.)
10. Spruance was a physical fitness obsessive and his reputation for modest understatement was legendary. After his retirement, in typical self-deprecating fashion he commented — LOL — "When I look at myself objectively, I think that what success I may have achieved through life is largely due to the fact that I am a good judge of men. I am lazy, and I never have done things myself that I could get someone to do for me. I can thank heredity for a sound constitution, and myself for taking care of that constitution." He also famously said "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. My mind is blank." Ha.
A true American badass.
Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, both as Pacific commander Adm. Chester Nimitz’s most trusted colleague and a brilliant independent commander in his own right, unfortunately is far too often overlooked. (Naval historian Thomas Buell has written the definitive biography of Spruance titled The Quiet Warrior.) A few facts of interest:
1. Spruance was born in Baltimore and grew up in Indianapolis, attending public school there and then the Naval Academy at Annapolis, from which he graduated in 1907. He then immediately sailed around the world for the next two years as part of the “Great White Fleet” that Pres. Theodore Toosevelt sent abroad as America’s first international display of its emerging naval power.
2. Before WW II, Spruance had a number of sea commands on destroyers, heavy cruisers, and battleships. He was well-respected by his peers and colleagues as being particularly cool under pressure. One time, when a subordinate reported to him in panic "Captain, we've just dropped a depth charge over the stern!,” Spruance casually replied "Well, pick it up and put it back."
3. He was heavily involved in the Naval War College as a student and then as an instructor in the 1920s and ‘30s. He became a rear admiral in 1939, shortly before the outbreak of the war. In the first few months of the war in 1942, he commanded a heavy cruiser force under Halsey on hit-and-run raids on Japanese island outposts and for the surprise Doolittle carrier-based air raid on Tokyo. Although their command styles and personalities could not have been more different, Spruance and Halsey were close friends.
4. In May 1942, when naval intelligence detected that the Japanese fleet was planning the attack on the American base on Midway Island, Nimitz gave command of the American fleet to Halsey. But shortly before the fleet was to depart Pearl, Halsey had to be hospitalized with a severe case of shingles, and Spruance was given overall command to Halsey’s chagrin, but also upon his enthusiastic recommendation.
5. During the battle of Midway, Spruance handled his ships brilliantly, showing cool restraint in fully committing the smaller American fleet when the Japanese presence first became known. A hard charging commander like Halsey might have reacted much more aggressively, which is what Japanese Adm. Yamamato was anticipating. Famed Harvard naval historian and commander Samuel Eliot Morison later said: "Spruance's performance was superb. Calm, collected, decisive, yet receptive to advice; keeping in his mind the picture of widely disparate forces, yet boldly seizing every opening. Raymond A. Spruance emerged from the battle one of the greatest admirals in American Naval history.”
6. After serving as Nimitz’s chief of staff during the middle part of the war, in 1944 Spruance successfully commanded the American fleet in the campaign against the huge Japanese base at Truk and during the Battle of Philippine Sea/”Marianas Turkey Shoot” and Saipan landings in 1944, when his forces virtually destroyed Japan’s naval aviation capability. The “brown shoe” naval aviators like Halsey and Marc Mitscher chafed at Spruance’s reluctance to go after the Japanese fleet more aggressively, but Spruance knew his first job was to protect the Saipan landing forces. In contrast, Halsey fell for the Japanese carrier fleet’s feint at the Battle of Leyte Gulf a few months later, which resulted in heavy losses when a portion of the Japanese fleet broke through, almost destroying the American landing forces there.
7. Spruance’s flagships were hit several times later in the war by kamikaze attacks, and on one of those occasions he was even seen manning a fire hose on deck with his men. He also received the Navy Cross, the second-highest decoration for service in combat, for outstanding command at Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
8. When the Japanese surrendered in August 1945, Nimitz insisted that Spruance not attend the official surrender ceremony with Nimitz, Halsey, and Gen McArthur aboard the U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Nimitz told Spruance in the unlikely event of Japanese treachery and the rest of them were killed or captured, he wanted Spruance commanding the fleet going forward.
9. After the war, Spruance served as president of the Naval War College and as U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines. Following their deaths, Spruance and his wife at their request were buried in the impressive Golden Gate National Cemetery alongside their closest friends and WWII naval colleagues Adm. Chester Nimitz, Adm. Kelly Turner, Adm. Charles Lockwood, and their wives. (That cemetery is about a five minute drive from the San Francisco airport if you're ever interested in seeing it when you're out there.)
10. Spruance was a physical fitness obsessive and his reputation for modest understatement was legendary. After his retirement, in typical self-deprecating fashion he commented — LOL — "When I look at myself objectively, I think that what success I may have achieved through life is largely due to the fact that I am a good judge of men. I am lazy, and I never have done things myself that I could get someone to do for me. I can thank heredity for a sound constitution, and myself for taking care of that constitution." He also famously said "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. My mind is blank." Ha.
A true American badass.
