As the war progressed it moved out of the South Pacific and into the Central Pacific. richard halsey best cause of death richard halsey best cause of death. The mission was a stunning success, so damaging the cruiser force at Rabaul as to make them no longer a threat. He suffered a stress-induced skin rash, variously describes as shingles and psoriasis. On December 11, 1945, he took the oath as Fleet Admiral, becoming the fourth and still the most recent naval officer awarded that rank. Hickman, Kennedy. Thomas Alexander Hughes. Halsey's four-star insignia were welded together from two-star rear admiral insignia, which promptly replaced his vice admiral's stars which he sent to the relatives of those who contributed greatly to the campaign.[29][30]. Fleet Admiral William Frederick Halsey Jr. U.S. officers holding five-star rank never retire; they draw full active duty pay for life. Following this promotion, Halsey began a long series of command assignments aboard torpedo boats and destroyers beginning with the USS DuPont. With increasingly heavy seas the fleet still attempted to maintain stations. As Richard Frank commented in his account of the Battle for Guadalcanal: Halsey said he gave this order to conform to Army practice and for comfort. 8 What did William Halsey do in World War 1? Altogether, some 35,000 parachute and glider troops were involved in the operation. [24][25][26] Nimitz made his decision to change the South Pacific Area commander while Halsey was en route. Late on the 24th, Halsey's scouts sighted Ozawa's carriers. He retired from active service in March 1947, but as a Fleet Admiral, he was not taken off active duty status. [53][54] Halsey is also the great-uncle of actor Charles Oliver Hand, known professionally as Brett Halsey, who chose his stage name as a reference to him.[55]. The threat was greatest to the fleet's destroyers, which did not have the fuel reserves of the larger ships and were running dangerously low. The son of U.S. Navy Captain William Halsey, he spent his early years in Coronado and Vallejo, California. On 16 August 1959, less than a month after the death of Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, another five-star admiral, William F. Halsey, Jr., at the age of seventy-six died of a heart attack at Fishers Island, New York. Halsey punctiliously made it clear he did not plan to withdraw the Marines. In May, Halsey assumed command of the USS Shaw and continued to operate from Ireland. Admiral Nimitz, CINCPAC, was in attendance at the court, Vice Admiral John H. Hoover presided over the Court, with admirals George D. Murray and Glenn B. Davis as associate judges. He played an important role in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle of the war. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (December 1941), Halseys task force was virtually. That's why I sent Pete Mitscher up there. manning. Halsey died on August 16, 1959 while holidaying on Fishers Island, New York. In response, on 28 November 1941 Admiral Kimmel ordered Halsey to take USSEnterprise to ferry aircraft to Wake Island to reinforce the Marines there. During World War II and up until 1950, the Navy used the one star commodore rank for certain staff specialties. 29, 1945, on the starboard veranda deck of Halseys flagship the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, Japan formally surrendered to the United States. "I thought it better to be able to fly the aircraft itself than to just sit back and be at the mercy of the pilot," said Halsey at the time. [45] Halsey had worked well with MacArthur and did not mind saying so. The following day Third Fleet's aircraft carriers launched strikes against Kurita's Center Force, sinking the battleship Musashi and damaging the heavy cruiser Myk, causing the force to turn westward back towards its base. In moving Third Fleet northwards, Halsey failed to advise Admiral Thomas Kinkaid of Seventh Fleet of his decision. After his return from the Great White Fleet's circumnavigation of the globe and upon his promotion to the rank of full lieutenant he was able to persuade her to marry him. 544 Pages. The symbol of the white horse caught the American imagination. Admiral Halsey left the South Pacific in May 1944, as the war surged toward the Philippines and Japan. With the landing in the balance, Halsey sent his two carriers to steam north through the night to get into range of Rabaul, then launch a daybreak raid on the base. Admiral William F Halsey, Commander of Allied Naval Forces in the South Pacific, poses for a photograph with a junior officer who is serving under him. Meanwhile, the major part Third Fleet continued to close on Ozawa's Northern Force, which included one fleet carrier (the last surviving Japanese carrier of the six that had attacked Pearl Harbor) and three light carriers. Seventh Fleet intercepts of organizational messages from Halsey to his own task group commanders seemed to indicate that Halsey had formed a task force and detached it to protect the San Bernardino Strait, but this was not the case. > August 17, 1959 > Image 1. He felt a "kinship" with his ancestors, including Captain John Halsey of colonial Massachusetts who served in the Royal Navy in Queen Anne's War from 1702 to 1713 where he raided French shipping. In November, Halsey's willingness to place at risk his command's two fast battleships in the confined waters around Guadalcanal for a night engagement paid off with the U.S. Navy winning the battle, the decisive naval engagement of the Guadalcanal campaign that doomed the Japanese garrison and wrested control from the Japanese. Above all else, he wanted to regain the initiative and take the fight to the Japanese. He was widely considered the U.S. Navy's most aggressive admiral, and with good reason. Halsey and Bryan, Admiral Halsey's Story, p. 161. Resuming command in late May, Halsey made a series of carrier attacks against the Japanese home islands. "William Halsey" redirects here. Hickman, Kennedy. In late October, the Third Fleet was assigned to provide cover for the landings on Leyte and to support Vice Admiral Thomas Kinkaid's Seventh Fleet. Visibility dropped to near zero. Edward's son Burt Best, born in California in 1878 would later be the father of Richard H. Best. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The promotion put Halsey into sustained public spotlight for the first time, appearing on the cover of Time magazine's November 1942 issue[28] which quoted Halsey from his superior Nimitz as "professionally competent and militarily aggressive without being recklessly foolhardy" and that his promotion by the President was something "he richly deserves". (2021, July 31). Halsey elected to enroll as a cadet for the full 12-week Naval Aviator course rather than the simpler Naval Aviation Observer program. He accumulated numerous honors, including the Navy Cross, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal. He attended kindergarten in Coronado, California, public schools in Vallejo, California, Pingry School, St. John's . To distract Halsey, Toyoda sent his remaining carriers, under Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa, to the north with the goal of drawing the Allied carriers away from Leyte. [13] Aviation proponents, however, imagined bringing the fight to the enemy with the use of air power. Ghormley had been unsure of his command's ability to maintain the Marine toehold on Guadalcanal, and had been mindful of leaving them trapped there for a repeat of the Bataan Peninsula disaster. [3] He took part in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle of the Second World War and, by some criteria, the largest naval battle in history. The entire Third Fleet steamed northward. [20] Nimitz met with Halsey, who recommended his cruiser division commander, Rear Admiral Raymond Spruance, to take command for the upcoming Midway operation. Halsey and Enterprise slipped back into Pearl Harbor on the evening of December 8. He took command of the aircraft carrier USSSaratoga in 1935 after completing a course in naval aviation, and was promoted to the rank of rear admiral in 1938. Diplomacy in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict by Geoffrey Aronson February 4, 2023. 8 Nov 1942. At the time of Halsey's promotion to rear admiral, both rear admirals lower half (O-7) and rear admirals upper half (O-8) wore two stars. application of binomial distribution in civil engineering eames replica lounge chair review eames replica lounge chair review For this command, he received the Navy Cross. In 1934, the chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics, Navy Rear Admiral Ernest King, offered Halsey command of the aircraft carrier USSSaratoga, subject to completion of the course of an air observer. [51] They married on December 1, 1909, at Christ Church in Norfolk. [10] Torpedoes and torpedo boats became specialties of his, and he commanded the First Group of the Atlantic Fleet's Torpedo Flotilla in 1912 through 1913. [2] In 1943 he was made commander of the Third Fleet, the post he held through the rest of the war. Following Japan's surrender in 1945 Halsey was promoted to fleet admiral and assigned what were essentially public relations duties until his retirement in April 1947. Halsey was aggressive and a risk taker. Halsey would die of a heart attack, alone in his room, at age seventy-six. The Japanese Navy conserved itself in port and would sortie in force to engage the enemy. All of his ancestors came to America from England and all of them emigrated from England to New England in the early 1600s. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Leadership Academy, List of United States military leaders by rank, "Home Town Roars Salute to Halsey; The Commander of the Third Fleet Returns to His Hometown in New Jersey", "An Interview with Joseph Jacob 'Joe' Foss", "William Bull Halsey: Legendary World War II Admiral", "Following Advance for Use Sunday, Aug. 16", "Admiral William F. Halsey Jr. Home; About Us. As a part of the long view of winning the war taken by Nimitz, upon its arrival at Fiji the group was given new orders to return stateside and be broken up, its pilots to be used as instructors for pilot training. Meeting him before he could board the flagship, the lieutenant handed over a sealed envelope containing a message from Nimitz: "You will take command of the South Pacific Area and South Pacific forces immediately."[2]. Last year, during the time of the Massachusetts Death with Dignity ballot initiative, I learned about Rear Adm. Chester W. Nimitz Jr. and his wife, Joan, from a brief article . Where was Frederick A Halsey born and raised? Returning home Halsey was asked about General MacArthur, who was not the easiest man to work with, and vied with the Navy over the conduct and management of the war in the Pacific. "[15] Enterprise searched south and west of the Hawaiian islands for the Japanese attackers, but did not locate the six Japanese fleet carriers then retiring to the north and west. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. A Navy court of inquiry was again convened, this time recommending that Halsey be reassigned, but Admiral Nimitz declined to abide by this recommendation, citing Halsey's prior service record, despite that record including a previous instance of negligently sailing his fleet through a typhoon.[47]. He became a naval aviator in 1935 and reached the rank of vice admiral in 1940. Highly anxious of being spotted and then jumped by the Japanese carrier force, Halsey gave orders to "sink any shipping sighted, shoot down any plane encountered." Halsey's command now included all ground, sea, and air forces in the South Pacific area. Rather than avoid the storm, Halsey remained on station and lost three destroyers, 146 aircraft, and 790 men to the weather. Between 11:00a.m. and 2:00pm, the typhoon did its worst damage, tossing the ships in 70-foot (21m) waves. FISHERS ISLAND, N. Y., Aug. 16 -- Fleet Admiral William F. Halsey, one of the Navy's top leaders in World War II, was found dead in bed here today at the Fishers Island Country Club, where he was . did james cagney have a limp in real life did james cagney have a limp in real life (No Ratings Yet) . George Halsey Jr. was diagnosed with cancer in 2016 and died from the disease on December 16, 2017, at the age of 70. Halsey's headquarters had been counting on the air group for their operations up the Solomons chain. Promoted directly to lieutenant on February 2, 1909, Halsey was one of a few ensigns who skipped the rank of lieutenant (junior grade). It was two days after Halsey had taken command in October 1942 that he gave an order that all naval officers in the South Pacific would dispense with wearing neckties with their tropical uniforms. "World War II: Fleet Admiral William Halsey Jr." ThoughtCo, Jul. Six years of war brought many changes to familiar festive rituals. The outcome became the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. Halsey was one of the few officers who was promoted directly from ensign to full lieutenant, skipping the rank of lieutenant (junior grade). Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Halsey graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1904. He set about assessing the situation to determine what actions were needed. If you are interested in the full range of licenses available for this material, please contact the Media Sales & Licensing Team. As a first to last combatant of the Pacific War, he launched aircraft into the Sunday surprise on December 7, 1941, and forty-five months later stood witness to the end of Imperial Japan on the deck of the battleship Missouri. Japanese naval aviation proved to be formidable during the Solomon campaign. Where was Frederick A Halsey born and raised? This addition only helped to fill some of the serious holes and was insufficient to sustain the battle of itself. It was thought this fleet would largely come into being by late 1943, early 1944. bombardment of a number of Japanese coastal cities, International Telephone and Telegraph Company, Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Admiral William F. Halsey Jr. During World War II, the Allies devised a strategy known as island hopping, moving from island to island, using each as a base for capturing the next. William Frederick "Bull" Halsey Jr. (October 30, 1882 August 16, 1959) was an American Navy admiral during World War II. FLEET ADMIRAL WILLIAM FREDERICK HALSEY, JR. William Frederick Halsey, Jr., was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on October 30, 1882, the son of the late Captain William F. Halsey, U. S. Navy. Then seriously he added "He's a very fine man. The world wonders". He was involved in a number of efforts to preserve his former flagship USSEnterprise as a memorial in New York Harbor. At Rabaul the force refueled in preparation for the coming night battle. Kinkaid and his staff failed to confirm this with Halsey, and neither had confirmed this with Nimitz. These forces were built around the remaining strength of the Japanese Navy, and comprised a total of 7 battleships and 16 cruisers. Richard H. Best was born in New Jersey in 1910. A court of inquiry recommended that he be reassigned; however, Nimitz overruled the judgment and allowed Halsey to keep his post. He hauled down his flag on November 22, 1945, and was assigned special duty in the Office of the Secretary of the Navy. The requirement for . "[12] He went on to command the USS Saratoga, and later the Naval Air Station Pensacola at Pensacola, Florida. Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., in 1904, Halsey served as a destroyer commander in World War I. Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, determined to take the opportunity to engage them. Halsey considered airpower an important part of the future navy, commenting, "The naval officer in the next war had better know his aviation, and good." . 16. 2016. On the eve of the turning point of World War II in the South Pacific, the U.S. Navy's most experienced aircraft carrier commander, Admiral William F. "Bull" Halsey, lay in a hospital bed in Hawaii with a severe case of dermatitis. February 27, 2023 new bill passed in nj for inmates 2022 No Comments . "World War II: Fleet Admiral William Halsey Jr." ThoughtCo. psoriasis At that time, the destroyer and the torpedo boat, through extremely hazardous delivery methods, were the most effective way to bring the torpedo into combat against capital ships. Halsey attended the Pingry School. All available aircraft from the two carriers were committed to the raid itself. Critical reaction to 'Bull' Halsey's performance at the Battle of Leyte Gulf has threatened his stature as the United States' most admired World War II fighting admiral. A subsequent court of inquiry found that Halsey had erred, but did not recommend any punitive action. The Northern Force of Admiral Jisabur Ozawa was built around the remaining Japanese aircraft carriers, now weakened by the heavy loss of trained pilots. At Leyte Gulf. For over two hours Halsey turned a deaf ear to these calls. The following October, Admiral Chester Nimitz appointed Halsey commander of the South Pacific forces and the South Pacific area. [4][5] Through his father he was a descendant of Senator Rufus King, who was an American lawyer, politician, diplomat, and Federalist. A graduate of the U.S . After a brief assignment in the Office of Naval Intelligence, Halsey, now a commander, was sent to Berlin as the U.S. Gaunt and having lost 20 pounds (9.1kg), he was medically ordered to the hospital in Hawaii and was successfully treated. His heart was Navy blue and gold, and it pumped salt water each of his seventy-six years. By 10:00a.m. the next morning the barometer on the flagship was noted to be dropping precipitously. Following a one-year tour as executive officer of the USS Wyoming, Halsey returned to the Naval Academy, where he served until 1930. In the immediate wake of the attack upon Pearl Harbor, Admiral Kimmel named Halsey "commander of all the ships at sea. Halsey was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on October 30, 1882. Contributor: David Stubblebine ww2dbase In Dec 1944, elements of Admiral William Halsey's United States Third Fleet sailed into Typhoon Cobra where three warships and 790 lives were lost. Halsey briefly outlines the advantages and disadvantages of the day-work plan, the piece-work plan, and the profit-sharing plan, and then describes the premium plan as used by himself, citing specific instances illustrating the working of the method. He was 91. Many of the smaller ships had already been forced to do so. Traditional naval doctrine envisioned naval combat fought between opposing battleship gun lines. At the end of World War II, Halsey's U.S. 3rd Fleet flagship, the Iowa-class battleship USS Missouri (BB 63), was the location of the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay Sep. 2, 1945. . The refueling cost a two and a half-hour further delay. Rather than move Third Fleet away, Halsey chose to remain on station for another day. His wife, Frances Grandy Halsey, is buried with him. Alerted to the critical situation, Halsey turned his ships south and made a high-speed run back toward Leyte. He was 91. 26 May 1942. [21] Nimitz considered the move, but it would mean stepping over Rear Admiral Frank Fletcher of Task Force 17, who was the senior of the two men. He wanted to follow his admiral father's footsteps to Annapolis. The loss of his most aggressive and combat experienced carrier admiral, Halsey, on the eve of this crisis was a severe blow to Nimitz. oregon rainfall totals 2021 / tatum ranch golf membership cost / doris avis albro best Battleships Washington, South Dakota, and assorted cruisers had been transferred to the Central Pacific to support the upcoming invasion of Tarawa. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. After the Leyte Gulf engagement, December found the Third Fleet confronted with another powerful enemy in the form of Typhoon Cobra, which was dubbed "Halsey's Typhoon" by many. The American commander's exhortation to his forces was vintage Halsey: "Strike, repeat, strike!". At this time, officers selected for carrier command were required to have aviation training and King recommended that Halsey complete the course for aerial observers, as it would fulfill the requirement. jim martin death couples massage class san diego beaver falls football did james cagney have a limp in real life. Did Bull Halsey have shingles or psoriasis? Bill's siblings were Georgia V., Iowa Texas, Juanita Delores, Joseph Benjamin, Emory Scott Jr., Elizabeth Gwendollen, and Earl John West (d.y.). Halsey returned to Pearl Harbor from his last raid on May 26, 1942, in poor health due to the extremely serious and stressful conditions at hand. He was a vice admiral on death but was posthumously promoted to . The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". 16-20 August 1959. It does not store any personal data. At the start of the War in the Pacific (19411945), Halsey commanded the task force centered on the carrier USSEnterprise in a series of raids against Japanese-held targets. Richard Halsey Best (March 24, 1910 - October 28, 2001) was a dive bomber pilot and squadron commander in the United States Navy during World War II. [42] The inquiry found that though Halsey had committed an error of judgement in sailing the Third Fleet into the heart of the typhoon, it stopped short of unambiguously recommending sanction. We get a call halfway there, wailing in the background. Mistaking the escort carriers for Halsey's fleet carriers, and fearing entrapment from the six battleships of the Third Fleet battleship group, he decided to withdraw back through the San Bernardino Strait and to the west without achieving his objective of disrupting the Leyte landing. 14. After being medically approved to return to duty, Halsey was named to command a carrier task force in the South Pacific Area. PDF Version [34.1MB] William Frederick Halsey was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on 30 October 1882, son of the late Captain William F. Halsey, US Navy, and Mrs. (Anne Masters Brewster) Halsey. The Northern Force was meant to lure the covering U.S. forces away from the Gulf while two surface battle-groups, the Center Force and the Southern Force, were to break through to the beachhead and attack the invasion shipping. His operations officer protested, "Goddammit, Admiral, you can't start a private war of your own! William Halsey Jr./Cause of death Four days after the Japanese . The fiery Halsey threw his hat on the deck of the bridge and began cursing. After commanding the destroyers Lamson, Flusser, and Jarvis, Halsey went ashore in 1915 for a two-year stint in the Executive Department of the Naval Academy. With the U.S. entry into World War I, he took command of the USS Benham in February 1918 and sailed with the Queenstown Destroyer Force. Desperate to block the Allied invasion of the Philippines, the commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Admiral Soemu Toyoda, devised a daring plan that called for most of his remaining ships to attack the landing force. William Frederick "Bull" Halsey Jr. (October 30, 1882 - August 16, 1959) was an American Navy admiral during World War II.He is one of four officers to have attained the rank of five-star fleet admiral of the United States Navy, the others being William Leahy, Ernest King, and Chester W. Nimitz.. Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Halsey graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1904. Despite the stunning Allied successes in the battles around Leyte, Halsey's failure to clearly communicate his intentions and his leaving the invasion fleet unprotected damaged his reputation in some circles. Said Halsey: "I knew we'd probably catch hell from the Japs in the air. 2 Did Admiral Halsey lose a son in the war? Ask a Librarian; Digital Collections; Library Catalogs; Search. Thomas Alexander Hughes's recent biography of Bill Halsey examines the life and career of one of the most famous military men . Psoriasis covered a great deal of his body and caused unbearable itching, making it nearly impossible for him to sleep. He retired on March 1, 1947, and worked in business until 1957. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. Death and burial ground of Halsey, William Frederick "Bull". The skin condition soon receded but Halsey was ordered to stand down for the next six weeks and relax. Brother of Margaret Bradford Halsey. He died on Aug. 16, 1959. The Center Force commanded by Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita was located October 23 coming through the Palawan Passage by two American submarines, which attacked the force, sinking two heavy cruisers and damaging a third. What the hell's the matter with you? The remarkable resistance of the screening ships of Taffy 3 against Kurita's battle-group remains one of the most heroic feats in the history of the U.S. Navy. did admiral halsey's son died in wwii. [59], Halsey never held the rank of lieutenant (junior grade), as he was appointed a full lieutenant after three years of service as an ensign. On 16 August 1959, less than a month after the death of Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, another five-star admiral, William F. Halsey, Jr., at the age of seventy-six died of a heart attack at Fishers Island, New York. [15], With tensions high and war imminent, U.S. Did Admiral Halsey lose a son in the war? Here, instead of landing near the Japanese airfields and taking them away against the bulk of the Japanese defenders, Halsey landed his invasion force of 14,000 Marines in Empress Augusta Bay, about halfway up the west coast of Bougainville. 13. That September, his ships provided cover for the landings on Peleliu, before embarking on a series of damaging raids on Okinawa and Formosa. Seventh Fleet carried out General Douglas MacArthur's major landings on the island of Leyte in the Central Philippines. To save Halsey's career, Nimitz claimed that there was nothing wrong with Halsey's health. On the evening of December 17 Third Fleet was unable to land its combat air patrol due to the pitching and rolling decks of the carriers. [15] The planes flew off her deck on December 2. 15. After leading Carrier Division 2 and Carrier Division 1, Halsey became Commander of Aircraft Battle Force with the rank of vice admiral in 1940. . Naval intelligence had strongly ascertained that the Japanese were planning an attack on the central Pacific island of Midway. What happened to Admiral Halsey son? The Japanese would be opposed by Halsey's Third Fleet and Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid's Seventh Fleet. . Posted on June 8, 2022 ; in pete davidson first snl episode; by [19][incomplete short citation] In the early months of the war, as the nation was rocked by the fall of one western bastion after another, Halsey looked to take the fight to the enemy. The ensuing eulogies captured the myth of the man much more than they did the complicated man that lay somewhere beneath the image he and others had crafted during the war. Halsey joined the New Jersey Society of the Sons of the American Revolution in 1946. In fairness, he received conflicting information from Pearl Harbor and his own staff. This is not just 20/20 hindsight. Naval Attach in 1922. Above all else, he was an energetic and demanding leader who had the ability to invigorate the U.S. Navy's fighting spirit when most required. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". Later in the war, he commanded TF-38 (part of Admiral Halsey's Third Fleet) during the drive into the Philippines, the capture of Okinawa, and the surrender of Japan. Other than the surprise raid at Pearl Harbor, no mission against such a target had ever been accomplished with carrier aircraft. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. With the neutralization of Rabaul, major operations in the South Pacific Area came to a close. Let It Bleed (50th Anniversary Edition) is out now: https://abkco.lnk.to/LetItBleed "Sympathy For The Devil" by The Rolling Stones Composers: Mick Jagger and Keith . Louis Morton, The United States Army in World War II, The War in the Pacific, Strategy and Command: the First Two Years (Washington, DC: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, 1962), p. 509. A single straggling destroyer was caught by Halsey's advance cruisers and destroyers, but the rest of Kurita's force was able to escape. Answer (1 of 3): Admiral Halsey and son. During this time, he again sailed through a typhoon, though no ships were lost. The same attributes that made Halsey an invaluable leader in the desperate early months of the war, his desire to bring the fight to the enemy, his willingness to take on a gamble, worked against him in the later stages of the war. The operation brought about the Battle for Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle of the Second World War and, by some criteria, the largest naval battle in history. His fearlessness in carrier raids against Japan, his steely resolve at Guadalcanal, and his impulsive blunder at the Battle of Leyte Gulf made him the "Patton of the Pacific" and . After he was ordered home in August 1918, Halsey oversaw the completion and commissioning of the USS Yarnell.