The Admirals: Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy, and King--The Five-Star Admirals Who Won the War at Sea
Walter R. Borneman
Language: English
Pages: 608
ISBN: 0316097837
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
How history's only five-star admirals triumphed in World War II and made the United States the world's dominant sea power.
Only four men in American history have been promoted to the five-star rank of Admiral of the Fleet: William Leahy, Ernest King, Chester Nimitz, and William Halsey. These four men were the best and the brightest the navy produced, and together they led the U.S. navy to victory in World War II, establishing the United States as the world's greatest fleet.
In THE ADMIRALS, award-winning historian Walter R. Borneman tells their story in full detail for the first time. Drawing upon journals, ship logs, and other primary sources, he brings an incredible historical moment to life, showing us how the four admirals revolutionized naval warfare forever with submarines and aircraft carriers, and how these men-who were both friends and rivals-worked together to ensure that the Axis fleets lay destroyed on the ocean floor at the end of World War II.
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victory. But around the conference table, the air remained clouded by an atmosphere of mutual suspicion over strategic goals. Marshall and his fellow American chiefs had become skeptical about the British commitment to invade Europe directly at any time. Chief of the Imperial General Staff Sir Alan Brooke, and his British cohorts begrudged King every PT boat, landing craft, and soldier, sailor, airman, or marine sent to the Pacific. Brooke blamed Pacific operations—a “diversion” in his mind—not
Douglas MacArthur, fearing a route that would bypass the Philippines, was among those not cheering.35 By all accounts, the Battle of the Philippine Sea was an American victory. Japanese airpower sustained huge and irreplaceable losses. The beachhead on Saipan was safe, and landings would soon occur on Guam. In Japan, Tojo’s government fell as he called the loss of Saipan “an unprecedentedly great national crisis.”36 But what continued to nag at many American naval commanders were the six
(New York: William Morrow, 1997). Kimmel, Husband E. Admiral Kimmel’s Story (Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1955). King, Ernest J., and Walter Muir Whitehill. Fleet Admiral King: A Naval Record (New York: W. W. Norton, 1952). Lamar, H. Arthur. I Saw Stars: Some Memories of Commander Hal Lamar, Fleet Admiral Nimitz’ Flag Lieutenant, 1941–1945 (Fredericksburg, Tex.: Admiral Nimitz Foundation, 1985). Larrabee, Eric. Commander in Chief: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, His Lieutenants and Their War (New York:
armor plating around its sides and thinner armor for its gun turrets and decking. The ship also had two other distinct advantages: it was fast for the time—twin screws delivered better than fifteen knots—and its spacious coal bunkers provided a range of more than six thousand miles. Heavily armed, well protected, speedy, and long-range, Oregon and its class were clearly the advent of a new generation of naval warfare. They could boast of being the first modern-era battleships of the U.S. Navy.
of their service, and for the rest of his life, Michael regularly attended meetings of veterans’ groups and marched in Fourth of July parades. After his discharge, Michael studied law at the University of Michigan and earned his degree in 1868. Briefly forsaking Wisconsin, he began to practice law in the small town of Hampton, Iowa, where a Wisconsin girl thirteen years his junior, Rose Mary Hamilton, caught his eye. They married and were still living in Hampton when William Daniel Leahy, the
