Spruance, Raymond Ames

Raymond Ames Spruance

was born in Baltimore, Maryland, July 3, 1886. Joined Naval Academy in Annapolis and ended it in 1907 as 24 of 209 and was immediately enlisted in the US Navy.


He specialized in the electrical equipment of warships and spent a year at General Electric Co. After World War I, he commanded the destroyers and studied at the Naval War Academy in Newport (1926-1927).


In 1938 he was given command of the battleship USS Mississippi and after two years later became commander of 10. Maritime Area in San Juan. In December 1940 he was promoted to Rear Admiral and two years later he was appointed commander of 5. Cruiser Division in the Pacific.


At the time when the United States entered World War II, he served under the command of William Frederic Halsey, commander Task Group 16. However, the skin disease caused that Halsey could not attend
The Battle of Midway and so the battle group was led by Spruance. He caused huge losses to the Japanese Navy in the battle.


When Halsey returned to service in June 1942, Spruance became chief
staff Chester William Nimitz, commander Pacific Fleet. The following year he was promoted
to the Vice Admiral and became Nimitz's deputy. In this post he played a major role in planning the role of the Navy in the Pacific War.


In September 1943 he became commander of 5. fleet on board USS Indianapolis and had a major
command of the attacks on Gilbert (November 20, 1943) and the Marshall Islands (January 31, 1944). In February 1944 he was promoted to admiral. He commanded the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944, where he defeated the Japanese fleet.


He also participated in the planning of the attack on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. After these successful
operations began preparing for an invasion of Japan, but the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki made these preparations unnecessary.


In 1946 he became rector of Naval War Academy.
In July 1948, he left the US Navy and became ambassador to the Philippines in 1952-55. He died in Pebble Beach in California on December 13, 1969 at the age of 83.



In his honor, a new class of destroyers was named after his name Spruance, including the first unit of this class ( USS Spruance). After the decommissioning of the vessel in 2005, a new destroyer was named a few years later in honor of the Admiral Arleigh Burke, USS Spruance in honor of this important admiral.



edited by: FiBe (02-JUL-2014)