Everything about Frank Jack Fletcher totally explained
Frank Jack Fletcher (
April 29 1885 –
April 25 1973) was an admiral in the
United States Navy during
World War II. Fletcher was the operational commander at the pivotal Battles of
Coral Sea and of
Midway. He was the nephew of Admiral
Frank Friday Fletcher.
Early life and early Navy career
Fletcher was born in
Marshalltown,
Iowa on
April 29,
1885. Appointed to the
U.S. Naval Academy from his native state in
1902, he graduated from Annapolis on
February 12,
1906 and commissioned an
Ensign on
February 13,
1908 following two years at sea.
The early years of his career were spent on the
battleships
Rhode Island,
Ohio, and
Maine. He also spent time on
USS Eagle and
USS Franklin. In November
1909 he was assigned to
USS Chauncey, a unit of the
Asiatic Torpedo Flotilla. He assumed command of
USS Dale in April
1910 and March
1912 returned to
Chauncey as Commanding Officer. Transferred to
USS Florida in December
1912 he was aboard that battleship during the occupation of
Verz Cruz,
Mexico, in April
1914. For distinguished conduct in battle at Vera Cruz he was awarded the
Medal of Honor (see citation below).
World War I and post-War period
Fletcher became Aide and Flag Lieutenant on the staff of the Commander in Chief,
U.S. Atlantic Fleet in July 1914. After a year at this post, he returned to the Naval Academy for duty in the Executive Department. Upon the outbreak of
World War I he served as Gunnery Officer of
USS Kearsarge until September
1917, after which he assumed command of
USS Margaret. He was assigned to
USS Allen in February
1918 before taking command of
USS Benham in May
1918. For distinguished service as Commanding Officer USS
Benham, engaged in the important, exacting, and hazardous duty of patrolling
European waters and protecting vitally important convoys, he was awarded the
Navy Cross.
From October 1918 to February
1919 he assisted in fitting out
USS Crane at
San Francisco. He then became Commanding Officer of
USS Gridley upon her commissioning. Returning to
Washington, he was head of the Detail Section, Enlisted Personnel Division in the
Bureau of Navigation from April 1919 until September
1922.
Interwar service
He returned to the
Asiatic Station, having consecutive command of the
USS Whipple,
USS Sacramento,
USS Rainbow, and Submarine Base,
Cavite. He served at the
Washington Navy Yards from March
1925 to
1927; became Executive Officer of
USS Colorado; and completed the Senior Course at the
Naval War College,
Newport in June
1930.
Fletcher became Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet in August
1931. In the summer of
1933 he was transferred to the Office of the
Chief of Naval Operations. Following this assignment he'd duty from November 1933 to May
1936 as Aide to the
Secretary of the Navy, the Honorable
Claude A. Swanson. He assumed command of
USS New Mexico, flagship of Battleship Division THREE in June
1936. In December
1937 he became a member of the
Naval Examining Board, and became Assistant Chief of Bureau of Navigation in June
1938. Returning to the
Pacific between September
1939 and December
1941 he became Commander Cruiser Division THREE; Commander Cruiser Division SIX; Commander Cruiser's Scouting Force; and Commander Cruiser Division FOUR.
World War II
Wake Island — December 8 - December 23, 1941
Responding to reports from US Marines on Wake Island of Japanese bombardment and a subsequent invasion attempt in the first week after Pearl Harbor, Fletcher was sent west with the carrier Saratoga (Task Force 11) to provide relief. On December 22 Fletcher was recalled by a nervous
Admiral Pye, who was "keeping the sea warm" until
Admiral Nimitz could arrive at Pearl and take over as Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet. The next day the Japanese successfully invaded Wake Island. Fletcher was one day away from engaging any enemy forces attacking Wake Island. He is often criticized for not arriving on station at Wake in time to defend the island. His desire to maintain "frequently refueling operations" for his destroyers to keep them ready for "high speed chase" is often cited as the critical delaying factor. Both Fletcher and Pye have been criticized as exhibiting "poor seamanship and decision making".
January - April 1942
On January 1, 1942, Rear Admiral Fletcher took command of Task Force 17 built around the carrier
USS Yorktown (CV-5). He, a surface fleet admiral, was chosen over more senior officers to lead a carrier task force. He learned air operations on the job.
He also learned to establish strategically vital bases on South Pacific islands. He was junior TF commander under tutelage of the experts, Vice Admiral
William Halsey on raids in the
Gilbert Islands in February; Rear Admiral
Aubrey Fitch attacking the enemy landings on
New Guinea in March; and Admiral
Chester Nimitz in the
Coral Sea in April.
Coral Sea — May 4 - May 8, 1942
In May 1942, he commanded the task forces during the
Battle of the Coral Sea. This battle is famous as the first carrier-on-carrier battle fought between fleets that never came within sight of each other.
Fletcher with
Yorktown, Task Force 17, had been patrolling the Coral Sea and rendezvoused with Rear Admiral
Aubrey Fitch with
USS Lexington, Task Force 11, and a tanker group. Fletcher finished refueling first and headed West. On hearing the enemy was occupying
Tulagi, TF 17 attacked the landing beaches sinking several small ships before rejoining
Lexington and an Australian cruiser force under Rear Admiral
John Gregory Crace on May 5.
The next day intelligence reported a Japanese invasion task force headed for
Port Moresby,
Papua New Guinea, and a Carrier Strike force was in the area, The morning of May 7 Fletcher sent the Australian cruisers to stop the transports while he sought the carriers. But first he sank Japanese aircraft carrier
Shōhō, escorting the enemy troop ships, -- "Scratch one flat top." Meanwhile, Japanese carrier planes of Rear Admiral
Chuichi Hara found the American tanker,
USS Neosho (AO-23), and sank it with its destroyer,
Sims.
The Japanese launched a dusk patrol of 27 bombers that found nothing, but was detected on radar and attacked by Wildcats that shot down nine ; eleven more splashed while attempting night landing.
On 8 May, at first light, "round three opened." Fletcher launched seventy-five aircraft, Hara sixty-nine. Fitch had greater experience in handling air operations, and Fletcher had him direct that function, as he was to do again later with Noyes at Guadalcanal.
Shokaku was hit, but not damaged below waterline; it slunk away.
Zuikaku had earlier dodged under a squall. The Japanese attack put two torpedoes into
Lexington, which was abandoned that evening.
Yorktown was hit near her island, but survived. Hara failed to use
Zuikaku to achieve victory and withdrew. The invasion fleet without air cover, also withdrew, thereby halting the Port Moresby invasion. Fletcher had achieved the objective of the mission at the cost a carrier, tanker, and destroyer. In addition, his Wildcats had beaten Japanese air groups, 52 to 35, and had damaged
Shokaku,; neither Japanese carrier would be able to join the fight at Midway the following month.
This was the first time the Imperial Japanese Navy had been stopped.
In their rampage across the Pacific from Pearl Harbor, East Indies,
Australia, Ceylon; they defeated the British, Dutch, and Asiatic Fleets; and hadn't lost a fleet ship larger than mine sweepers and submarines — until they met Fletcher.
Midway — June 4 - June 7, 1942
In June 1942, he was the Officer in Tactical Command at the
Battle of Midway with two task forces, his usual TF 17 with quickly repaired
Yorktown, plus TF 16 with
USS Enterprise and
USS Hornet. Vice Admiral
William Halsey normally commanded this task force, but became ill and was replaced by Rear Admiral
Raymond Spruance. When aircraft from four Japanese carriers attacked
Midway Island, the three U.S. carriers, warned by broken Japanese codes and waiting in ambush, attacked and sank three enemy carriers –
Akagi, Kaga, Soryu. Enterprise and
Hornet lost seventy aircraft. Return attack damaged
Yorktown. Fletcher's scouts found the fourth carrier and
Enterprise with
Yorktown planes then sank
Hiryu. At dusk, Fletcher released Spruance to continue fighting with TF 16 the next day. During the next two days, Spruance found two damaged cruisers and sank one. The enemy transport and battle fleets got away. A Japanese submarine,
I-168, found crippled
Yorktown and sank her and an adjacent destroyer,
USS Hammann. Japan had had seven large carriers (six at Pearl Harbor and one new construction) – four were sunk at Midway. This didn't win the war, but evened the odds between Japanese and American fleet carriers.
Landing at Guadalcanal — August 7 - August 9, 1942
As the U.S. took the offensive in August 1942, Vice Admiral Fletcher commanded the invasion of
Tulagi and
Guadalcanal. Close air support was provided at Tulagi. The invasion of Guadalcanal was uncontested, Fletcher withdrew his carriers from dangerous waters when they were no longer needed. Rear Admiral
Richmond K. Turner's offloading of supplies didn't go as well as expected, he didn't tell Fletcher, and then had to withdraw the transports after Fletcher left. The Marines refer to this as the 'Navy Bugout', but the 17,000 Marines were in little danger from a construction battalion. The few US carriers couldn't be risked against multi-engine, land based, torpedo bombers, when they were needed for combat against carriers. He chose to withdraw on the third morning to prepare for the inevitable Japanese counterattack.
A separate incident must be mentioned : the
Battle of Savo Island - 9 August 1942.
» : Allied warships under Rear Admiral
Victor Crutchley, RN, screening the transports were surprised at midnight and defeated in 32 minutes by a Japanese force of seven cruisers and one destroyer, commanded by Japanese Vice Admiral
Gunichi Mikawa. One Australian and three U.S. heavy cruisers were sunk, and one other U.S. cruiser and two destroyers were damaged in this lopsided Japanese victory. However, as Crutchley notes, the transports were not touched. Fletcher is sometimes criticized because his carriers were at the far end of their nightly withdrawal, steaming back for the morning, yet too far to away to seek revenge.
East Solomons - August 24 - August 25, 1942
Fletcher used the carriers he'd saved two weeks later when he fought a superior Japanese fleet intent on counter-invasion in the carrier aircraft
Battle of the Eastern Solomons. He started the engagement and sank his sixth carrier,
Ryujo, The ensuing battle was essentially a giant aerial dog fight interspersed with ship borne antiaircraft fire. The U.S. lost 20 planes, the Japanese lost 70.
Enterprise took a couple of bombs and
Chitose was nearly sunk, but survived. The enemy withdrew without landing troops on Guadalcanal. They had to resort to the
Tokyo Express : overnight delivery of a few hundred troops and supplies by destroyers. Fletcher, as always, was second guessed by non-combatants, and was criticized by Admiral
Ernest King, in Washington, for not pursuing the
Combined Fleet as it withdrew. This criticism may have affected the decision to not return Fletcher to his command after his flagship, the carrier
Saratoga (CV-3), was torpedoed and damaged by a Japanese submarine on
August 31,
1942. Fletcher himself was slightly injured in the attack on
Saratoga, suffering a gash to his head and was given his first leave after eight months of continuous combat. His successors lost two carriers in two months for no victories, such that in the first week of November there were
no active US carriers in the Pacific.
Northern
In November 1942, he became Commander, Thirteenth Naval District and Commander, Northwestern Sea Frontier to calm the public fear of invasion from the north. A year later, he was placed in charge of the whole Northern Pacific area, holding that position until after the end of World War II, when his forces occupied northern Japan.
Postwar and final days
Vice Admiral Fletcher's final duty was as Chairman of the General Board of the Navy, and he was advanced to the rank of Admiral upon retirement in May 1947.
Fletcher declined to reconstruct his papers (many were lost in combat) and sit with Morison who was writing the naval history of World War II, and in return received no consideration by Morison, an attitude picked up by later authors.
Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher died on
April 25,
1973, four days before his 88th birthday at the
Bethesda Naval Hospital in
Bethesda, Maryland. He is buried in
Arlington National Cemetery.
Medal of Honor citation
Citation: » For distinguished conduct in battle, engagements of Vera Cruz, 21 and 22 April 1914. Under fire, Lt. Fletcher was eminent and conspicuous in performance of his duties. He was in charge of the Esperanze and succeeded in getting on board over 350 refugees, many of them after the conflict had commenced. Although the ship was under fire, being struck more than 30 times, he succeeded in getting all the refugees placed in safety. Lt. Fletcher was later placed in charge of the train conveying refugees under a flag of truce. This was hazardous duty, as it was believed that the track was mined, and a small error in dealing with the Mexican guard of soldiers might readily have caused a conflict, such a conflict at one time being narrowly averted. It was greatly due to his efforts in establishing friendly relations with the Mexican soldiers that so many refugees succeeded in reaching Vera Cruz from the interior.
Legacy
In opinions favoring Fletcher, he was one of three carrier admirals during the critical eight months after Pearl Harbor, a period during which the U.S. Navy rebounded far more rapidly than anyone viewing the situation on 8 December would have thought possible when the odds were ten enemy battleships to none and ten aircraft carriers to three. Fletcher's supporters assert that his sailing orders in those first eight months were to protect the carrier and harass the enemy when possible until larger forces could be brought to bear.
Opposing this viewpoint, both Americans and Japanese agree Fletcher was as cautious as Admiral Halsey was aggressive. His detractors assert that the other two carrier admirals, Halsey and Brown (later Fitch) had the same orders but it's only Fletcher who has been criticized for taking his orders to protect the carriers too much to heart, worrying more about refueling at inappropriate moments when the battle was about to be engaged (Wake Island, Battle of Savo) or maintaining the disposition of his carrier task group as if it were a battleship formation (at the Battle of Midway, Fletcher was ordered to close to 200 miles of Midway but stopped 260 miles away and then had to fight prevailing winds during aircraft launches). Admiral Spruance, operating "practically an independent command during the critical days of 4-6 June", is generally given credit for sinking the four Japanese carriers at Midway.
USS Fletcher (DD-992) is named in honor of Admiral Fletcher.
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