The Best Admirals of WWII - According to Their Contemporaries

[Chantry]

This was compiled in early 1942.  Many names were unfamiliar to me and some of these admirals served with distinction on a staff or a critical support role.

 

USNI Link: https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2011/may/picking-winners

 

 

[Subdeacon Joe]

Have to wonder just what FDR expected from the Navy that early in the war after being blindsided in Pearl Harbor.  February 1942?  Barely time to figure out how to reorganize after the losses.

[Chantry]

Roosevelt was warned but choose to ignore the warning and "shoot" the messenger.

 

Admirals Yarnell & Richardson both predicted Pearl Harbor and Richardson got fired for pushing the issue in Washington DC.   

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_O._Richardson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_E._Yarnell

 

 

I've also read that Patton also predicted the attack on Pearl Harbor

[dannyd]

Every read how many Thousands of letters the Moms of dead Sailors and Marines sent Admiral Nimitz during and after World War 2 blaming him for their deaths.

 

It became so bad that the Navy had to setup a special postal unit just to handle all the letters.

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

A list compiled in early 1942 would shed little light on the subject, ultimately.

 

Prediction is not preparation. Everybody predicted it; nobody was prepared for it. Prediction is reasoning, preparedness is an emotional state, so to speak.

 

Of course, within a few months, all was changed.

[Subdeacon Joe]

1 minute ago, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said:

Of course, within a few months, all was changed.

 

For practical purposes Japan lost the war at the Battle of Midway.   Unfortunately it took Japan close to three and a half years to understand that.

 

Yamamoto called it almost exactly with his six months to a year statement.  The Battle of Midway, almost exactly  months from the attack on Pearl Harbor, inflicted losses on the Japanese Navy that she had no hope of replacing.
 

[Chantry]

11 hours ago, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said:

A list compiled in early 1942 would shed little light on the subject, ultimately.

 

Prediction is not preparation. Everybody predicted it; nobody was prepared for it. Prediction is reasoning, preparedness is an emotional state, so to speak.

 

Of course, within a few months, all was changed.

 

I disagree, the list was composed of those pre-war admirals who were senior enough to be expected to provide competent service and leadership during wartime.  Looking at the list most of them failed to meet the those expectations.

 

The US Army ran into similar problems where pre-war generals who were considered to be good to very good generals until war broke out and they failed to live up to their pre-war expectations.  Lloyd Fredendall is a notable example:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_Fredendall