About Raymond A. Spruance
Raymond Ames Spruance was a United States Navy admiral during World War II. He commanded U.S. naval forces during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, one of the most significant naval battles of the Pacific Theatre. He also commanded Task Force 16 at the Battle of Midway, comprising the carriers Enterprise and Hornet. At Midway, dive bombers from American carriers sank four fleet carriers of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Most historians consider Midway the turning point of the Pacific War. Spruance's first duty assignment was aboard the battleship USS Iowa, an 11,400-ton veteran of the Spanish–American War. In the first months of World War II in the Pacific, Spruance commanded the four heavy cruisers and support ships of Cruiser Division Five from his flagship, the heavy cruiser USS Northampton. Armed with this information, Fletcher ordered Spruance to launch a strike at the Japanese with Enterprise and Hornet while holding Yorktown in reserve in case the other Japanese carriers were discovered.
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