R. A. Spruance
Spruance, Raymond Ames (1886–1969), a United States naval officer. He was one of the ablest and most successful naval commanders of World War II. A brilliant tactician, Spruance first distinguished himself at the Battle of Midway (1942), in which he commanded one of the aircraft carrier task forces that defeated the Japanese. He was then made chief of staff under Admiral Chester Nimitz. Beginning in 1943, Spruance led successful invasions of the Gilbert and Marshall island groups.
As commander of the Fifth Fleet (1944–45), Spruance directed operations against the Marianas (where the Japanese fleet suffered huge losses of aircraft in the Battle of the Philippine Sea), Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. For a short time after the war he was commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet. He was president of the Naval War College, 1946–48, then retired from the navy.
Spruance was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1906. He became a full admiral in 1944. Spruance served as ambassador to the Philippines, 1952–55.