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Not counting "overseer" leaders like Admirals King and Nagano, but thinking of the admirals who actually lead their fleets, either in a strategic role (e.g. Admirals Nimitz and Yamamoto) or a tactical role (e.g. Admirals Fletcher, Halsey, Spruance, Nagumo, Ozawa, Kurita, etc.), which do you think were the best at leading their forces, inflicting losses against their enemy, and advancing their national cause? Which do you think were the worst? In other words, which one(s) do you think did the most to win the war (or, in Japan's case, to forestall losing it), versus the one(s) who did the least (or made the most mistakes)?
Halseys story is mostly that America needed a hero. Just like today, the media makes things up as they go. Halsey was brilliant and yet stupid. He was brilliant in the media, stupid in reality. Spruance certainly belongs on the top 10 list. I think some of it comes down to opportunity. Take Admiral Jesse Oldendorf at Leyte. He had the Japanese by the yang and dealt them a pretty hard knock. But had the Japanese put all of their forces together into the northern group, he would have been sitting in vacant waters. Oldendorf is one of my favorite stories to come out of the Pacific war.
Nimitz is the best admiral that the United States produced during World War II. He was curteous and respectful to all, but that demeanor masked an iron will. He was open to input from others but made his own decisions. He shunned personal publicity in stark contrast to the vainglorious general MacArthur.
I have nothing but admiration for Nimitz, and most historians of the Pacific War seem to agree, such as British writer Max Hastings in "Retribution" and Ronald Spector in "Eagle Against the Sun".
Spruance was also excellent. Quiet but cerebral, he shunned bombast. A true professional.
Nagumo for worst admiral on the Japanese side. He learned nothing from Coral Sea and did nothing for hours in hostile waters at Midway. He was also very stingy with scouting operations, using only float planes and no carrier based torpedo bombers.
Nagumo for worst admiral on the Japanese side. He learned nothing from Coral Sea and did nothing for hours in hostile waters at Midway. He was also very stingy with scouting operations, using only float planes and no carrier based torpedo bombers.
An interesting and often very critical look at Japanese admirals from Japanese eyes can be found in the book "Japanese Destroyer Captain" by Captain Tameichi Hara. He was a destroyer skipper for a while and in April, 1945, was the skipper of the light cruiser which sailed in the screen for battleship Yamato on its suicide sortie. His light cruiser was sunk and he ended up swimming, but was picked up and survived the war.
I say Kurita would be in the running for worst Japanese admiral with Nagumo.
COMSUBPAC Vice Admiral Lockwood. His forces were arguably the decisive units.
Yes, Lockwood deserves to be added to my earlier nominations of Nimitz and Spruance.
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