 | This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(December 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Frank Jack Fletcher | |
|---|---|
 Fletcher in 1942 | |
| Nickname | Black Jack |
| Born | (1885-04-29)April 29, 1885 |
| Died | April 25, 1973(1973-04-25) (aged 87) |
| Place of burial | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch | United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1906–1947 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands |
|
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | |
| Relations | AdmiralFrank Friday Fletcher (uncle) |
Frank Jack Fletcher (April 29, 1885 – April 25, 1973) was anadmiral in theUnited States Navy duringWorld War II. Fletcher commanded five differenttask forces through the war; he was the operational task force commander at the pivotal battles of theCoral Sea andMidway, which collectively resulted in the sinking of five Japaneseaircraft carriers.
In 1914, then Lieutenant Fletcher was awarded theMedal of Honor for his actions in thebattle at Veracruz. He was the nephew of AdmiralFrank Friday Fletcher, who was also awarded the Medal of Honor for actions at Veracruz.
Fletcher was born inMarshalltown,Iowa, on April 29, 1885.
Appointed to theUS Naval Academy in 1902, he graduated on February 12, 1906, served two years at sea as required by law at the time, and was commissioned as anensign on February 13, 1908.[1]
Following graduation from the Naval Academy, he served on thebattleshipsRhode Island andOhio, operating in the Atlantic. After a year in the yacht-turned-gunboatEagle on special service, he reported to the battleshipMaine, of the Atlantic Fleet, in December 1908. In August 1909, he was assigned to the screw frigateFranklin, his duty drafting men for the Pacific Fleet and transporting them on board the armored cruiserTennessee toCavite in thePhilippines.[1]
In November 1909, he was assigned to thedestroyerChauncey, operating as part of the Asiatic Torpedo Flotilla. Fletcher assumed command of the destroyerDale in April 1910, and in March 1912, he returned toChauncey as her commanding officer. In December 1912, he was transferred to the battleshipFlorida. In April 1914, he was aboardFlorida, the flagship of his uncleFrank Friday Fletcher, during theoccupation of Veracruz, Mexico. He was awarded theMedal of Honor for the rescue of refugees on the transportEsperanza.[1]
Detached fromFlorida in July 1914, he served briefly inTennessee before reporting as aide andflag lieutenant on the staff of the Commander in Chief,US Atlantic Fleet in July 1914. After a year at this post, he returned to the Naval Academy for duty in the Executive Department.[1]
Following the outbreak ofWorld War I, he served as gunnery officer of the battleshipKearsarge until September 1917, after which he assumed command of yacht-turned-patrol vesselMargaret. He was assigned to the destroyerAllen in February 1918. He took command of the destroyerBenham in May 1918, receiving theNavy Cross for leading her through "important, exacting and hazardous duty".[1]
From October 1918 to February 1919, he assisted in fitting out the destroyerCrane, but was detached before hercommissioning. He then had similar duty with the destroyerGridley, and upon her commissioning on March 8, 1919, assumed command. He was relieved of that command in April 1919.
Returning toWashington, he was head of the Detail Section, Enlisted Personnel Division in theBureau of Navigation until September 1922.[1]
He returned to theAsiatic Station, having consecutive command of the destroyerWhipple, the gunboatSacramento, the submarine tenderRainbow, and the submarine base atCavite. Returning to the United States, he served at theWashington Navy Yards from March 1925 to 1927; became executive officer of the battleshipColorado; and completed the Senior Course at theNaval War College,Newport in 1929–30, followed immediately by theArmy War College in Washington, D.C., 1930–31, in preparation for strategic leadership responsibilities.[1]
Fletcher became chief of staff to the Commander in Chief,US Asiatic Fleet in August 1931. In the summer of 1933, he was transferred to the Office of theChief of Naval Operations. Following this assignment, he served from November 1933 to May 1936, as aide to theSecretary of the Navy, the HonorableClaude A. Swanson.[1]
He assumed command of the battleshipUSS 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 ofBureau of Navigation in June 1938. In November 1939, Fletcher was promoted to Flag Rank, Rear Admiral, and Commander Cruiser Division Three (Light Cruisers). In June 1940, Rear Admiral Fletcher was placed in command of Cruiser Division Six (Heavy Cruisers), the position he held on December 7, 1941. Fletcher was scheduled to become Commander, Cruisers, Scouting Force, in administrative charge of all heavy cruisers, but the events of December 7 changed those plans.[2]
RAdm Fletcher was serving as Commander Cruiser Division Six and at sea when theJapanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Admiral Kimmel, Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Fleet (CinC PAC), thought enough of Fletcher to put his name third on a short list of potential successors, if necessary. According to Rear Admiral Thomas Kincaid, although Fletcher was scheduled to become Commander, of Cruisers, Scouting Force, Admiral Kimmel postponed this change in order to place Fletcher in command of the Wake Island relief task force.[3]
Prior to December 7,Wake Island had received reinforcements, including aircraft for defense. At the time of Pearl Harbor, it was under the command of Commander Winfield Scott Cunningham and included a Marine Corps Defense Battalion, commanded by MajorJames Devereux. A day after Pearl Harbor, reports were received fromWake Island of a Japanese bombardment and subsequent invasion attempt. Kimmel expected Wake Island to hold out in the short run and on December 10, drafted an Operations Order for the relief of Wake. On December 15, Kimmel placed Fletcher in command of Task Force (TF) 14 for the relief of Wake, which consisted of the fleet carrierSaratoga, the fleetoilerNeches, theseaplane tenderTangier, three heavy cruisers (Astoria,Minneapolis,San Francisco), and eight destroyers: (Selfridge,Mugford,Jarvis,Patterson,Ralph Talbot,Henley,Blue,Helm).[4] Fletcher commanded the task force from the cruiserAstoria, while Rear AdmiralAubrey Fitch sailed aboardSaratoga. Events caused a delay in the departure of TF 14, as well as a delay in D-Day, the date of the actual relief effort. TF 14 sailed west towards Wake Island at less than 13 knots, as fast as the slowest ship could travel, with plans to arrive at Wake Island on December 24 (D-Day). Fletcher had been instructed to fuel prior to arriving at Wake Island. Underway refueling was still a work in progress which took time and required calm sea conditions.
However, certain events took place that had a drastic impact on the relief effort. The primary event was the relief of Kimmel as CinC PAC by AdmiralChester Nimitz. Since Nimitz was in Washington, D.C., Vice AdmiralWilliam Pye assumed the duties of CinC PAC on December 17, until Nimitz's arrival. Pye brought in personnel from his staff (he commanded the Pacific Fleet battleships), and debates began regarding the intelligence information being provided, primarily whether the Japanese Navy had moved aircraft carriers to Wake in support of their invasion. On December 22, the Japanese began another invasion attempt of Wake. Given the new assault and a lack of understanding regarding the disposition of Japanese naval forces in the area, Pye ordered TF 14 to return to Pearl Harbor on December 22, abandoning the relief effort. On the return trip, the equipment loaded onTangier was delivered to Midway Island.
On January 1, 1942, Fletcher took command ofTask Force 17, built around the carrierYorktown. Although a surface fleet admiral, he was chosen over more senior officers to lead the carrier task force. He learned air operations on the job while escorting troops to the South Pacific. He was the junior TF commander under the tutelage of the experts: Vice AdmiralWilliam Halsey during the Marshalls-Gilberts raids in February; Vice Admiral Wilson Brown attacking the enemy landings onNew Guinea in March; and he had aviation expert Rear AdmiralAubrey Fitch with him during the firstBattle of the Coral Sea.
On April 19, 1942, Fletcher was designated Commander Cruisers, Pacific Fleet, with additional duty as Commander Cruiser Division Four.[1]
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(December 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
In May 1942, Fletcher commanded the task forces during theBattle of the Coral Sea. This was the first carrier-on-carrier battle fought between fleets that never came within sight of each other. Fletcher with the aircraft carrierYorktown, Task Force 17, had been patrolling the Coral Sea and rendezvoused with Rear Admiral Aubrey Fitch with the aircraft carrierLexington, Task Force 11, and a tanker group. Fletcher finished refueling first and headed west. On hearing the enemy was occupyingTulagi, Task Force 17 attacked the landing beaches, sinking several small ships before rejoiningLexington and an Australian cruiser force under Rear AdmiralJohn Gregory Crace on May 5.
The next day, intelligence reported a Japanese invasion task force headed forPort Moresby, 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. His combat pilots sank the Japanese aircraft carrier Shōhō, escorting the enemy troop ships—"Scratch one flat top." radioed Lieutenant CommanderRobert E. Dixon flying back toLexington. That same day, Japanese carrier planes of Rear AdmiralChuichi Hara found the American tankerNeosho. Believing they had found a carrier, they severely damaged her after several all-out attacks, and sank her escorting destroyer,Sims; on May 11, the destroyerHenley located her, rescued the surviving crew, and sank her with naval gunfire.
On May 8, at first light, "round three opened." Fletcher launched 75 aircraft, Hara 69. Fitch had greater experience in handling air operations, and Fletcher delegated him that function, as he was to do again later with Noyes at Guadalcanal. The aircraft carrierShōkaku was hit, but not damaged below the waterline; it sailed away. Another carrier,Zuikaku, had earlier dodged under a squall. The Japanese attack put two torpedoes intoLexington, which was abandoned that evening.Yorktown was hit near her island, but survived. Hara failed to useZuikaku to achieve victory and withdrew. Now without air cover, the invasion fleet also withdrew, aborting the Port Moresby invasion.
Fletcher had achieved the objective of the mission at the cost of a carrier, a tanker, and a destroyer. In addition, hisGrumman F4F Wildcats had beaten Japanese air groups 52 to 35, and had damagedShōkaku; neither Japanese carrier would be able to join the fight at Midway the following month. This was the first World War II battle in which theImperial Japanese Navy had been stopped. In battles at Pearl Harbor, the East Indies, Australia, and Ceylon, they had defeated the British, Dutch, andAsiatic Fleets, and had not lost a fleet ship larger than aminesweeper orsubmarine.
| This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(December 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
In June 1942, Fletcher was the officer in tactical command at theBattle of Midway with two task forces, his usual Task Force 17—with a quickly repairedYorktown—plusTask Force 16, withEnterprise andHornet. Vice Admiral William Halsey normally commanded this task force, but had become ill and was replaced by Rear AdmiralRaymond A. Spruance. When aircraft from four Japanese carriers attackedMidway Island, the three American carriers—warned by cracked Japanese codes and waiting in ambush—attacked and sank three enemy carriers:Akagi,Kaga, andSōryū.
Enterprise andHornet lost 70 aircraft. Japanese attacks on June 4 severely damagedYorktown; repairs returned her to the battle until she was hopelessly disabled by a new round of attacks two hours later. Fletcher's scouts found the fourth enemy carrier,Hiryū, andEnterprise, withYorktown planes, then sank it. At dusk, Fletcher released Spruance to continue fighting with Task Force 16 the next day. During the next two days, Spruance found two damaged cruisers and sank one. The enemy transport and battle fleets retreated.
A Japanese submarine,I-168, found the crippledYorktown, under tow, on June 5 and sank her along with an escorting destroyer,Hammann. Japan had had seven large carriers—six at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack and one new construction. Four were sunk at Midway. This did not win the war, but evened the odds between Japanese and American fleet carriers. Following the battle, Fletcher was promoted to vice admiral and continued to command a carrier group at sea, after shifting his flag to the carrierSaratoga.
As the United States took the offensive in August 1942, Vice Admiral Fletcher commandedTask Force 61 during theinvasion of Tulagi and Guadalcanal by the1st Marine Division. Carrierclose air support was provided at Tulagi. The invasion of Guadalcanal was uncontested on the beach. Fletcher requested permission from AdmiralRobert L. Ghormley, the overall commander, to withdraw his carriers from the dangerous waters when they were no longer needed, claiming that his aircraft losses and fuel state due to maneuvering required him to leave.[5] Fletcher thought that the few American carriers should not be risked against multi-engine, land-based, torpedo bombers, when they were needed for combat against enemy carriers.[citation needed] Fletcher chose to withdraw on the evening of August 8, leaving light forces and many transport ships unprotected from the inevitable Japanese counterattack.
TheBattle of Savo Island occurred in early morning of August 9, 1942. Allied warships 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 AdmiralGunichi Mikawa. One Australian and three American heavy cruisers were sunk, and another American cruiser and two destroyers were damaged in this lopsided Japanese victory. As Crutchley notes, the transports were not touched. Fletcher is sometimes criticized[by whom?] because his carriers were at the far end of their nightly withdrawal, steaming back for the morning, yet too far away to seek revenge.
Rear AdmiralRichmond K. Turner's offloading of supplies did not go as well as expected because of Japanese air raids. He had to withdraw the transports on the evening of August 9, after Fletcher left and most of his cruisers were sunk,[6] over the strenuous objections of the ground commander, Marine GeneralAlexander Vandegrift. The Marines refer to this as the "Navy Bugout", because the reserve Marine regiment and the division's 155 mm (6.1 in) heavy artillery, much of its ammunition and also most of its medical supplies and rations had yet to be unloaded. The Navy's withdrawal left the Marines ashore initially completely unprotected against Japanese land-based air raids from Rabaul and from nightly shelling by Imperial Japanese Navy cruisers and battleships that came down the "Slot" from their large naval and air base at Rabaul.
| This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(December 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Fletcher fought a superior Japanese fleet intent on counter-invasion in the aircraft carrierBattle of the Eastern Solomons. He initiated the engagement, and the force under his command sank the carrierRyūjō. The ensuing battle was essentially a giant aerial dogfight interspersed with shipborne anti-aircraft fire. The United States lost 20 aircraft; the Japanese lost 70.Enterprise was hit by three bombs; the Japanese seaplane tenderChitose was nearly sunk, but survived. The enemy withdrew without landing troops on Guadalcanal and had to resort to theTokyo Express: the overnight delivery of a few hundred troops and supplies by destroyers.
Fletcher was criticized by theChief of Naval Operations, AdmiralErnest King, for not pursuing theCombined Fleet as it withdrew.[citation needed] This criticism may have affected the decision to not return Fletcher to his command after his flagship carrier,Saratoga, was torpedoed and damaged by a Japanese submarine on August 31, 1942. Fletcher himself suffered a gash to his head in the attack, for which he received the Purple Heart. He was relieved of command, sent on leave (his first leave after eight months of continuous combat), and subsequently sent to Alaska.
From November 1942 – 1945, Fletcher commanded naval forces in the North Pacific from the Alaskan island of Adak.[7] In November 1942, he became commandant ofThirteenth Naval District and commander ofNorthwestern Sea Frontier. He was relieved as commandant in October 1943, but continued to serve as commander Northwestern Sea Frontier until April 15, 1944, when the Northwestern Sea Frontier was abolished and the Alaskan Sea Frontier established. He then became Commander of the latter, with additional duty as Commander North Pacific Force and North Pacific Ocean Area. It was revealed in July 1945 thatTask Force 90, under his overall command, had made the first penetration through theKurile Islands in theSea of Okhotsk on March 3 and 4, 1945, and the same task force on February 4, 1945, bombardedParamushir in the first sea bombardment of theKurile.[1]
In September 1945, following the cessation of hostilities in theFar East, he proceeded to Ōminato, Japan, with the North Pacific Force (consisting of about sixty vessels) for the emergency naval occupation of Northern Japan. He remained there until ordered to return to the United States, and on December 17, 1945, was appointed to theNavy's General Board. On May 1, 1946, as Senior Member of that Board he became Chairman, and continued to serve in that capacity until relieved of all active duty for his retirement on May 1, 1947,[1] with the rank of full admiral. He retired to his country estate,Araby, in Maryland.Many of Fletcher's papers were lost in combat. He declined to reconstruct them from Pentagon archives or to be interviewed bySamuel Eliot Morison, who was writing theHistory of United States Naval Operations in World War II. In return, he received no consideration by Morison, an attitude picked up by later authors. At least one author felt Fletcher did not get enough credit for forces under his command sinking six Japanese carriers.[8]
Fletcher died on April 25, 1973, four days before his 88th birthday, at theBethesda Naval Hospital inBethesda, Maryland. He is buried inArlington National Cemetery.[9] His widow, Martha Richards Fletcher (born 29 March 1895, atKansas City, Missouri), whom Fletcher married in February, 1917, died seventeen months later, on 14 September 1974. She was buried next to her husband.
 | |||
 |  |  | |
 |  |   | |
 |  |   | |
 |  |  | |
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.
For distinguished service [in WWI] as Commanding Officer of the USSBenham engaged in the important, exacting and hazardous duty of patrolling the waters infested with enemy submarines and mines, in escorting and protecting vitally important convoys of troops and supplies through these waters, and in offensive and defensive action, vigorously and unremittingly prosecuted against all forms of enemy naval activity.[1]
Fletcher (DD-992), aSpruance-classdestroyer, the second ship to bear the name, was named for Frank Jack Fletcher. The first,Fletcher (DD-445), thelead ship of theFletcher-classdestroyer, commissioned June 30, 1942, was named for his uncle,Frank Friday Fletcher.
The 1976 movieMidway depicted Fletcher (played byRobert Webber) as somewhat confused and hesitant during the battle.Charlton Heston, who played a fictional naval officer working with Fletcher, wrote in his personal journals that this portrayal was based on the advice of some Navy veterans critical of Fletcher, and he said he and Webber tried to make it as subtle as possible.[citation needed]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
