I believe that this alignment, this combination of ability and luck, will never be sufficiently valued in its true value. The right man in command wins or loses battles, wars, which determine the course of nations and continents.
I have already had the opportunity to mention the peculiarities of some soldiers capable of changing the history of military operations, with their analytical skills, their courage, their determination: there is no need to remember them again here.
For this writer, USN Admiral Raymond Spruance is part of this very restricted number of commanders.
When you want to write about a man who dedicated much of his life to serving his country's Navy, during two world wars, you usually list the clashes and battles he took part in. In the case of Ray Spruance, it would be the classic mistake of looking at the finger and not the Moon.
Many people know him by reflection: the US Navy dedicated an important class of destroyers to him (in the following photo he USS. Spruance in 1987) during the Cold War.
Spruance's name is linked to the Battle of Midway, a turning point of the 2a World War II but, as usual, Hollywood has recently indicated more “heroic” figures to remember. For those who instead evaluate films only for what they are, Midway “simply” determined the end of the combined fleet of Yamamoto and Nagumo and, in fact, allowed the defeat of the Japanese empire in three years.
I would like to clarify that, in my opinion, Japan fought alone when it chose an "offensive" strategy based on the desire to force the Americans to negotiate after having hit them at Pearl Harbor: a contradiction in terms such as absurd to the point of even seeming ridiculous. Hitler would have thought something similar, too, who, it is said, wanted to come to terms with the English. It is said that birds of a feather flock together…
I underlined three years because this of the time and resources employed to obtain the victory is the real added value that makes the difference between a military-politician, who sometimes is not even a career soldier, but something else (any reference to Putin is intentional) and a strategist.
The strategist, despite his tactical determination, never forgets to see in perspective the strategic outcome of the battle, its costs and its future developments. The military-politician always puts "his" tactical victory before any strategic consideration: examples galore in history, even recent.
If we go back to what happened in the days of Midway, we can only thank all the gods of war, and not only them, for the psoriasis that struck Admiral Halsey in the previous days, Spruance's commander until that moment, who however must be given credit for having indicated him to Nimitz as his replacement in command. But not without raising many doubts, given that he was not a naval aviator but a pure sailor, a commander of cruisers, frigates and destroyers escorting aircraft carriers, precisely. Yet Halsey, who not a few in the fleet called a a somewhat dull prima donna, nicknamed "Bull," pointed it out to Nimitz without hesitation, thus substantially determining the outcome of the battle. Perhaps without even being aware of it.
I have always wondered why he did it. Perhaps he considered him a less “heavy” competitor than Frank Fletcher and the other aircraft carrier commanders. We will never know. In any case, for this alone, a monument should be erected to him. It must be said, however, that Halsey had the opportunity to demonstrate his contradictory command and control skills in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, where many analysts, and several of his former colleagues, defined him, very unfriendly, substantially An idiot.
Reading about Spruance, the various biographies, the studies dedicated to him by the naval academies, the interviews with the men under his command, the figure of a simply extraordinary man emerges. Extraordinary also in his reserve, education, kindness.
As often happens when looking at these men, his appearance was anything but that of the classic warrior. Dressed in an almost humble way, his voice low and the pauses he took analyzing the questions that were asked of him, before answering politely to the interlocutor.
His reserve, I believe innate, was however the result of the backlash suffered by the US Navy in the years in which various admirals had risen to the honor of the news pushed by the newspapers that wrote about the Spanish-American War, in search of heroes to propose as future politicians. An image disaster that the US Navy will take years to heal.
His kindness and education were certainly the fruit of his intelligence.. A trait common to several men exceptional.
From the interviews with his men, what emerges above all is the constant character trait that everyone refers to: his incredible capacity for concentration and analysis of the tactical situation, his ability to configure in his mind the battle plans and deployments, calculating the possible variables approximated to the data that were provided to him by the various command centers and his relative trust in the reconnaissance and decryption capabilities of Japanese radio traffic.
They say that, once informed, he observed the expanse of the sea from his command chair, while all around him fell silent, while everyone waited for “Electric Brain” (this was his nickname), at a certain point to speak, giving the orders elaborated by his mind. When this happened, the evening after the sinking of three of the four Japanese aircraft carriers participating in the battle, compared to the loss of “only” one American, a result far beyond what had even been hoped for until a few hours before, the turning point in the air-naval war in the Pacific was determined.
Although Nimitz had advised him to carefully evaluate the possibility of engaging in direct clashes with the Japanese aircraft carriers, which were then superior both in number and in the quality of aircraft on board and, it was thought, for the superiority demonstrated in their tactical use, in what went down in history as Calculated Risk Letter, since at that time his naval group was the only force to contain a possible attack and invasion of the US metropolitan territory, on the west coast, unlikely but still possible.
Yet this did not dissuade Spruance from communicating (ordering) to his and all the commands that they would immediately and resolutely go on the hunt for the fourth Japanese aircraft carrier, at that moment undecided whether to attempt what would have been an almost suicidal but still possible attack, and a retreat.
Three carriers sunk, nearly all planes and valuable expert pilots shot down, did not mean that Spruance had won: he had... overwhelmingFrom that moment on, the entire strategy could have been set up practically from scratch, the initiative passed into the hands of the USA.
Searching for the fourth aircraft carrier was, even for many of its commanders, a gamble and even a violation of Nimitz's indication (order?) to calculate, evaluate, tactical and strategic risk. But Spruance, with his usual rational calm, his hyper-concentrated mind, which can be defined substantially as the ability to see, to be able to read the future, he imposed his choice.
And the war in the Pacific, not the Battle of Midway, if you draw a red thread between all the subsequent naval clashes, practically it was won at that precise moment.
How many American lives did Admiral Raymond Spruance save, and how much did his determination at that moment strategically impact the United States in the years to come in the Asia-Pacific?
The right man, in the right place, at the right time.
One of the few.
Sources:
Admiral Raymond at Spruance Usn to Study in Command.
The Quiet Warrior: A Biography of Admiral Raymond A. Spruance.
Photo: web / US Navy
