"The Quiet Warrior" Admiral Raymond A. Spruance - Rear Admiral John W. Bitoff U.S. Navy (Retired) Friends of the National World War II Memorial February 2022 Virtual Education Conference
Excellent presentation. Thank you. As an amateur student of WWll US Naval history no one earned my respect and admiration more than did Admiral Spruance. When I was a young boy my grand parents owned a home on 17 Mile Drive in Pacific Grove just three doors down from the Admiral and Mrs Spruance. I so wanted just to knock and meet him but never had the courage. I regret that to this day.
I enjoyed reading Spruance biography. Indeed he was a great man. The US was going through a fortunate period when there were more than a few great leaders, unlike today. Spruance, Eisenhower, Marshall, Patton and Macarthur spring to mind.
My father served in the Army Air Corp in Britain during the war. He led a team of B-24 engine mechanics in the 389th Bomb Wing, mighty 8th. but when i was growing up in the mid-50's he made me watch every episode of Victory at Sea because he believed the Pacific War was far more important to our future.
In all my explorations about US WWII naval commanders I have come to quietly appreciate Raymond Spruance - as the descriptions of Samuel Elliot Morrison portrayed him he was never eager for public fame, only to drive a stake into the heart of the military forces opposing him. He did this with skilled purposeful deadly efficiency. That is the purpose of a military commander and his one true goal. As his personality shows, he did not relish any public acclaim for this, only to defend his country. And he did so with quiet unassuming efficiently in battle after battle. I want to assume that he derived no pleasure from the destruction of his enemy. Only to secure victory for his beloved country, I am in awe of this man and his capabilities and his single minded purpose to fulfill his obligation to the USA.
BZ sir! Outstanding video I am supremely proud to be part of the surface warfare community. I believe ADM Spruance was the finest all around fighting admiral. CDR King, SW, USNR RET
I have been enjoying learning about these wonderful Naval officers who were so instrumental in defeating the Japanese during WW II. Thank you for another interesting presentation about one of these heroes.
My family home was in Los Angeles area, during ww2 , many family members for some reason in military units were in the pacific and so most of the information you are sharing is and was familiar to us. It is good to hear you talk about this. Thank you Sir.
Such an excellent Presentation by Rear Admiral Bitoff! He clearly expounded on Admiral Spruance's Military history, and role during WW2. Admiral Spruance truly was an unsung Hero of the Pacific Theatre! It is my belief that Admirals Nimitz and Spruance were two of the greatest US Military Commanders of all time!
AWESOME JOB ADM BITOFF!!!! I read the entire "Two Ocean War" when I was in the Navy and I was blown away by the depth and hardship it took for our Navy to sustain, let alone win. And along the way these amazing Navy leaders Came up and excelled in the most dark of days. Time has moved on and I lost all those volumes Of Samuel Morison's "Two Ocean War". Who was that CO (likely a dd), where Morison spent an entire chapter, that his ship never pulled into port spick and span. But his boys never lost a fight and the moral was always high. WHO WAS THIS MAN? He clearly would never make flag in the scheme of things, but that whole chapter struck me like a fist and I'll be damned that I forgot his name. I so much want to research him. The shadow of that WW2 CO, I felt in one of my CO's. He was very soft spoken, I was always a little gruff, but a high performing navigator/ ship handler. But his confidence in me made me unwavering in serving under him. He was the excellence of a good, solid and moral man. In closing, if you could shed light on who that WW2 CO was who let the boys pass on polishing brass all day, but trained, trained and trained again to make them cheerful warriors. That would make my day. Thank you so much for your service, Adm Bitoff. Go Navy, beat Army!!!
King hated Fletcher. I believe Fletcher got a raw deal. Admiral Turner got drunk on his ship all the time. Turner and USMC bowling mad smith relieved Ralph Smith on Siapan. Neither man was on Saipan and didn't know what the army was against.
@@briancooper2112 You need to read The Amphibians Came to Conquer: The Story of Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner and Coral and Brass. Please, please read these two books (composed of three volumes total) before writing off R. Kelly Turner and Marine General Holland M. "Howlin' Mad" Smith. Andrew McKane, Maunaloa, Hawaii.
Military history has always been of great interest to me. I spent my youth reading about the actions of all the services during WWII. I particularly spent more time with books and novels about the war in the Pacific. So when this YT video came to my attention I watched it all. I am also a videographer with my own YT channel. Hence I know the value of commenting and adding a 👍. And I am 👍 #440.
Excellent bio for those of us who didn't read the book. Adms Spruance and Fletcher had the immense honor of victory at Midway, on par with Nelson at Trafalgar. Who needs five stars when they own Midway.
If they came up with the you plan for Midway, maybe. Nelson broke away from the traditional way of naval fighting and did something different. The unsung hero for Midway is joe rochefort. He is just so important.
Thank you, Admiral, for this really well told biography! (As a weekend sailor/history teacher) I really enjoyed it. Your video filled in many of the missing puzzle pieces about this humble man.
I am now reading "The Quiet Warrior" for the second time and came across your fine video. I've been searching for more about the Admiral in his retirement and appreciate your stories. Do you think the extent of delegation by Spruance to his staff was typical? Maybe this helped keep his head clear for more strategic matters. Thank you!
Thanks INDEED for this video. I've just finished the second volume of Ian Toll's Trilogy, and thus my interest in Spruance. In particular, I was so impressed by his decisions made in the Phillipine Sea affair. Thanks again for your video and insights.
Spruance made two critical decisions at Midway: when because of an elevator problem the Enterprise was slow to launch. he sent the aircraft that were already up instead of keeping them together in order to not lose the element of surprise. Brutal and pragmatic and it worked. The Torpedo planes took off first and go there first drawing all the Japanese CAP down to the surface; allowing the dive bombers a free shot. This resulted in the massacre of the outdated Devastators TBD's. What was only suspected at the time was later proven which was the torpedoes were defective and no hits occurred. So if it had been planned, you would have sent them in first anyway instead of the planned dive bomber attack coming first. HIs second critical decision was pulling back to midway after the last Japanese carrier was left burning. Thus avoiding a possible night battle with the vastly superior Japanese support ships. He was viciously criticised afterwards for too much caution and actually pretty much beached. Until the intelligence showed he had done exactly the right thing,
The admirals of the USN stand in great contrast with the axis leaders who were rigid, determined by traditional thinking, and had a hierarchical bureaucracy. Spruance gave the American forces the flexibility and freedom of action to win the war
While I think that Admiral Spruance was indeed a leading naval leader in WWII. I admire him greatly. I don't think he was the greatest naval leader. I believe, without doubt, that was Admiral Nimitz. I doubt enough can be said about how lucky the USA was to have men like Nimitz and Spruance.
This is a main reason why hundreds of our fast attack aircraft carriers were decommisiond as well as battle ships like the finishing of the Montana class battle ships. It was like our Navy was decommissioned and our ships were sold for scrap way before they should have been. We were in another war within a decade and we could have realy used some of those important ships in the pacific theater yet because we did not have upper level admirals in the white house administrations. Why can't we learn from our military history!? This decomissioning and and selling for scrap practically new, just produced brand new ships the Navy needed in the N.Korean war in the mid 1950's. Was a political and military situation, why did our Joint Chief of Staff not have a admiral in the leadership role such as in charge of the Joint Chief Of Staff position!? We did have hiring of commandants of the Marine Corps but they were not privy to the Navy, just the marines! Looking back, I would hope the U.S. Navy would see this and make the correction on hiring eventually a 5 star admiral! We have only had three 5 star admiral and generals, he was brave & brilliant indeed! As we over time needed to keep the Navy power structure fresh and prevalent, this really did not happen, therefore the Navy did not have the correct power structure they needed on the Joint Chief's Of Staff over the years unless we were at war!
Admiral Bitoff's presentation is disappointing. Please ignore the factual errors recounting Spruance accompanying Halsey's task force at the Coral Sea. While they were steaming in the direction of Coral Sea, that battle concluded without either Enterprise nor Hornet taking part, much less Spruance's cruiser division. Worse is Bitoff's aping of Walter Lord, Gordon Prange, and S. E. Morrison in the setup for Midway. Were this recorded even as late as the 1990s, perhaps this description of "overwhelming" disadvantage would be forgivable. Ray Spruance's record of achievement in prosecuting the war in the Pacific was unmatched. While William Halsey was the perfect man to take the reigns from Ghormley in late 1942, Halsey was overmatched by the scope of the war from 1944 and beyond. Halsey's great contribution was matching temperaments with MacArthur. Spruance grew into the command of the expanding scope of the war. The swapping of 3rd Fleet designation under Halsey and 5th Fleet under Spruance was not as awkward as some have cast it. It really did take 6 months to plan, then another 6 months to execute the drive across the Pacific in 1944 and 1945. But the successes of Spruance and near disasters under Halsey should be noted. One last thought on how Halsey's shadow falls on Spruance. Fleet Admiral; five stars; only four men earned the honor in 1945. Two Washington men were Earnest J(esus} King and William Leahy. Chester Nimitz of all deserved his fifth star, despite James Forrestal's interference. William Halsey was the fourth man so honored - but on media merit alone. Ray Spruance's reticence, despite being heads, if not shoulders, above Halsey's merit for Fleet Admiral, set the fifth star out of his deserving reach. One thing among Admiral Bitoff's wandering opening remarks caught my attention when (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="372">6:12</a>) he tells us his interest in Ray Spruance came in his study of Chester Nimitz. I remembered that before the time Admiral Bitoff met Admiral Spruance (ret.) in 1963, FADM Chester Nimitz declined a spot in Arlington National Cemetery. He instead chose Golden Gate National Cemetery as his final resting place (1966). His close friends Ray Spruance (1969) and Charles Lockwood (1967) chose adjoining plots. Even Kelly Turner, hearing of this plan before his death in 1961, chose Golden Gate National Cemetery to be closer to the most valiant souls who preceded him in death under the Pacific sky.
You sir are conveying a false impression about the battle of Midway. The last Japanese carrier, the Hiryu, was attacked by dive bombers from Enterprise and Yorktown at 1705 hrs and rendered a burning hulk at that time. Fletcher transferred tactical command to Spruance at 1811 hrs. Spruance's major contribution to the battle was his decision to refuse a night battle with the Japanese fleet. After the battle, only Fletcher was promoted, receiving his third star, at the insistence of Admiral Nimitz. It was Fletcher who was the victor of the battle of Midway and, as you indicated by his ( Spruance's) comment to Elliot Morrison, Spruance knew it. As you know, Fletcher went on to win the Battle of the Eastern Solomons. Spruance went on to command the fleet in 1944, but it was a vastly different fleet. All that being said, it seems to me that Fletcher and Spruance ware cut from the same cloth: Willing to take only calculated risks and willing to follow orders from Admiral Nimitz.
I prefer "experts" who speak off the cuff instead of reading prepared text. It lends more credibility to them. Furthermore. its boring watching somebody recite from text.
Raymond Spruance was cheated out of his fifth star by a US Senator who was a butt boy of Halsey and never wanted Spruance mentioned in the same breath. I think it was Lodge but cannot remember. Between Leyte Gulf and the typhoons, Halsey should have been retired.
Hier der Pegasus Galaktica 7 Cyborg Darcho Jandreoski - Jahr 1992 sagten die Battlefield Weltraum Raumschiffe ansonnstens Formatiere ich selber die Raster Computer Meldestellen Zentralen Sektor EUROPA dann müssen die ARMY HQ 4 aufschreiben wiewiel Geld die Menschen besitzten - ist spät geworden für mich Darcho Jandreoski Pegasus Galaktica 7 Cyborg wollte auch mit eine Dame 15 Jahre verbringen habe gestanden
SPRUANCE committed a major error off Saipan when he pulled his major naval assets east after the Turkey Shoot. Instead, he should have given serious chase westwards and the Decisi ve Battle - constantly so voraciously vowed by IJN - would have happened there and then - not 5 months apres off Samar ... Source : Reynolds - The Fast Carriers - NIP (1983).
@@tristanrainey5080 LEE who ? Ching-Chong or Robert E. Suggest read the section from the Reynolds criticism. A quality study, not outdated @ ALL . Pages upon req. Oer & out.
Spruances primary responsibility was to protect the bridgehead and the invasion fleet. You are saying he should have done what Halsey did at Leyte Gulf moron
