Some folks---Halsey certainly was one of them---do a vastly better job at measuring up to the great challenges than other man (or women) do or are capable of doing.
Exactly. There are so many people with the talents to be us president but only a few candidates can compete. Life is unfair that not everyone gets a chance
Only four Fleet Admiral promotions were authorized by Congress and they went King, Leahy, Nimitz, and Halsey. A fifth should have gone to Ray Spruance.
This was mainly down to Rep. Carl Vinson, the Navy's congressional advocate; for no obvious reason he vetoed Spruance's fifth star, insisting that it went to Halsey. Despite their very different personalities Spruance and Halsey were good friends and Halsey always thought Spruance deserved a fifth star.
If not for the shingles I don't think midway would have ended in favor of the americans. After Spruance dealt that knockdown blow by sinking four of their carriers he was wise enough not to pursue and give the japanese the chance of engaging his remaining carriers with their superior battleships. the only screen vessels the americans had were destroyers and ineffective treaty cruisers that were little more than pretty yachts. Had the japanese fleet gotten within 20 miles of the american one it would have turned into a massacre. I doubt Halsey would have been wise enough to quit while he was ahead. It was said the only reason he didn't loose his command after leyte was because he was so popular with the press.
When Halsey sailed into Pearl Harbor after the attack. He said "when we get done with them, the only place Japanese will be spoken is hell." He also sailed into Tokyo Bay with all Mark 50 16" guns locked and loaded for the formal surrender of Japan because he didn't trust them
Im going to screw this up , but I remember one quote by Halsey . It went something like this , there are no great men just ordinary men who are thrust into extraordinary circumstances who do great things.
Also during the Japanese surrender ceremony, if you find pictures where all these Cruisers, Battleships in Tokyo Bay, note that none of the Aircraft Carriers were there. "Just in case."
The sailors of Taffy 3 should be as celebrated in the USA as the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae were in Greece, sadly the dispute over Halsey's actions at Leyte Gulf have overshadowed the extraordinary courage of the sailors on the escort carriers, destroyers and escort destroyers of Taffy 3.
My grandfather was on the first aircraft carrier to ever be sunk by kamikaze, during the Battle off Samar. It was a tragic yet epic experience as he relayed it, and he lost a lot of friends. But he spoke of it with pride.
Halsey's absence at Midway was a key component to victory, the Japanese had planned on Halsey's aggressive style and not a calculated Risk Strategy. The US surprised them and fought the battle using unexpected tactics.
Not really simply because the tactical approach was to trick the Japanese, regardless of carrier commander, what Halsey is waiting for, is his chance to be unleashed which means he will go at them and indeed all the harder for it, but its like the title says, he was a raging bull, an attack dog waiting to be set free, maybe the risk would be him sending too many planes too abruptly at most likely
My father met and worked out problems with him. My father, a mere Chief Petty Officer, confered with Halsey at Noumea, New Caledonia, or possibly in the Solomons, Details vary. Halsey got my dad everthing he needed for his men, and thanked him for bringing the issue to Halsey. He was a great leader!
@@emilymcfadden4360 there's a great video here on TH-cam explaining just how big a screw-up MacArthur was. He managed to get every bit as ransacked by the Japanese in the Philippines as Kimmel at Pearl harbor, and with 7 hours extra notice. Then he moves his men away from their supplies down to bataan. and this is just the beginning. The only reason he didn't get fired right along with Kimmel is political connections. Nimitz's Pacific strategy made a lot more sense than his, but again, politics MacArthur s plan just to keep his Philippine grandstanding promise got a lot of people unnecessarily killed His firing by Harry Truman was about 10 years overdue
James D. Hornfischer's work in "The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors" is an absolutely phenomenal recounting of the battle. As an anecdote, my grandfather was actually serving aboard the USS Essex in Halsey's Third Fleet during the Battle of Leyte Gulf and rode out the typhoon. He still spoke with pride of his time under Halsey, despite his mistakes, even 50 years later.
I wish I had been mature enough/old enough during the 90's/early 2000's to have conversed more with that generation! I know you cherish your grandfather's first-hand accounts and stories of those times and I hope he still felt appreciated and loved during the twilight of his life. I know that may sound too personal for a YT comment, but when I see stories of senior neglect or think about the many that are just forgotten in homes during their final years, I always try to remember that anyone one of them could have incredible stories of sacrifice, survival, and triumph that absolutely deserve to be heard and respected! So cheers to you and your family, and may we never have to face a war of that scale ever again!
@@extragoogleaccount6061 Nah dude I get it, it's good. And he definitely wasn't, he knew he was loved and appreciated. I grew up listening to him tell stories from the war. He was a globe trotter who lived a helluva life. He was in London during the Blitz in 1940 after getting in touch with some of our relatives in Cornwall, then joined the Navy in 41, served on the USS Ranger in the North Atlantic on convoy escort, in Operation Torch and Operation Leader. Transferred to the Essex and the Third Fleet in 44 and was on the deck underneath a 40mm mount when she was hit by a kamikaze in November of 44. He was about 100 feet away from the point of impact. After the war he went to work for Lockheed Martin and helped train pilots on the use of the Bullpup missile in the 60s, then rounded out his career as Chief Engineer on the Martin Marietta/Lockheed Martin MK 41 VLS project in 70s and 80s. Decided to retire after the completion of the VLS. "I knew it was time to ride out on my laurels, it doesn't get better than this." (Job title on the VLS might be wrong, I remember that his team basically took the initial designs and made it workable for implementation aboard ship and "wrote the manual.") Then he dealt with my crazy self from 93 to 04 when he passed. It's funny how much I've forgotten about my youth, but his stories I still retain almost verbatim.
Yes it is an excellent book, at times when I read it l found myself choking up when reading about the courage of young sailors such as Paul Carr. 'For Crew and Country' by John Wukowits, about 'USS Samuel B Roberts' is very good as well.
Why no mention of Halsey's participation in the Doolittle Raid? USS Enterprise participated in that action. Halsey took some medals he received on a previous tour to Japan in earlier years and tied them to the bombs that Doolittle dropped on Tokyo. Halsey was NOT joking when he said he didn't want to stop until the Japanese language was spoken only in Hell.
while halsey was not tactically the best commander in the pacific his greatest contribution to the war was moral. It is difficult to understand today the blow that the japanese dealt at pearl harbor. It was thought by the brass and the public at large that war in the pacific would be won and lost by the battleships. After pearl harbor the army, navy, and the public at large assumed that america had no capacity to wage war in the pacific. Americans weren't only afraid for the hawaiian islands but the entirety of the mainland pacific coast. People were very afraid. Then along came halsey. Speaking of victory, being brash and confident when nobody was confident, nor had any real logical reason to feel that way. His effect on moral in the navy cannot be underestimated. Especially among naval aviators. I once read that under most admirals that pilots were afraid that they would be expended much like shells out of a deck gun. They trusted halsey to close the range and only authorize a launch when they could perform the mission and have a reasonable chance at returning. Because halsey was one of their own, a real naval aviator. Despite all his real faults he kept fighting spirit alive at a critical juncture. That is why we remember his name today.
So did that raid actually happen? I saw a Hollywood movie about it (very old) I think what happened was someone in Congress called for such a raid but the idea was scrubbed because it would have distracted from rebuilding the Fleet and blunting the Imperial Japanese advance. Remember, we had the Battle of Midway not long after Pearl Harbor. I think Hollywood (I call Hollywood's movie production at the time "Jollywood" because their movies were meant to build up civilian morale and military morale, omitting mistakes and blunders made by the Higher-ups.) The idea was a good one and the movie was great but it didn't happen. Usually when an event is not mentioned by military historians, it is because it was just a Hollywood movie.
@@christianfreedom-seeker934 Bruh, of course it did. I don't know what military historian covering the early war in the Pacific would fail to mention it. Doolittle Raid- April 1942. Battle of the Coral Sea- May. Midway- June.
While understandably tough to get the entire life of a major war hero condensed into 18 minutes, one rather important oversight was the fact the Halsey commanded Task Force 16 on the Doolittle Raid of Tokyp in April 1942. It had a far greater strategic effect on the course of the entire War than did his directing the hit and run raids on the Gilberts. FYI. But thanks for doing this piece about Adm. Halsey.
U.S.S. Samuel B. Roberts didn't do so bad either. She just wasn't so lucky, because ships that fought her realised, that this is just a destroyer and swtched from Armour Piercing shells (that just flew through the ship) to High Explosive, that actually did a lot more damage. Also this battle was mostly won, because Kurita sucked as commander and made so many mistakes, that the only explanation for his behaviour would be, that he was an American saboteur or spy.
I love the picture of Halsey at 9:15. For me it kind of sums the man up. He's got this smile on his face and he looks happy and like the king of the world and at the same time you know that he would stab you in the heart with that same smile on his face.
@@Gunners_Mate_Guns So very true my friend. I'm just turned seventy and missed WW2 by miles. Our generation is so so lucky and we owe so much to our fathers.
Even without the padding, Nimitz's message to Halsey re: TF34 was still a stinging rebuke. According to Ian W. Toll in his book "Twilight of the Gods", Nimitz said after the war that he knew exactly where TF34 was. It was also one of the few times Nimitz interjected into an active battle.
A junior naval officer suggested to Nimitz's face that he was partly to blame by adding to Halsey's orders the possibility of destroying the enemy's fleet. Nimitz was visibly displeased and changed the subject. The young officer was Chester Nimitz Jr !
Taffy 3 really deserve it’s own video, first and only time I heard about them was years ago and idr the video. But shocked they weren’t really talked about for how impressive the fight was
I read that the debilitating skin condition that Halsey suffered with was Psoriasis, and being a sufferer myself, I can appreciate that the outbreak of this condition, and his stay in hospital at that crucial time, was probably due to the highly stressful circumstances that he found himself in. The condition is exacerbated by stress, which can cause an outbreak that can incapacitate even the strongest man if it is serious enough, and can affect large areas of the body in a serious outbreak. In such circumstances it means the sufferer cannot effectively function due to the pain caused by large areas of skin becoming hard and rough to the touch. Skin cracks and bleeds without treatment, and is very painful. In severe cases hospitalisation for treatment is the only course of action for treatment. The condition has no known cure, and is largely a hereditary disease. My father was also a sufferer, as were a few of his relatives on his mother’s side of the family. I myself have had this condition since my late teens. I am now sixty eight years old and I am still trying to control it with topical treatment, using steroid based ointments. It is a losing battle. Apart from from anything else, it must have been very galling and frustrating for this warrior to be away from his command at that particular time, with what some of his detractors unkindly described as a ‘skin rash’.
Halsey was one of my ALL TIME heroes. He turned a page in Naval history by demonstrating the value of aggressive leadership as opposed to being political operative. I served in the Navy for 18 years and Halsey was the model I hoped to find in my commanding officers. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. But even as an enlisted man I emulated his style of "get the damn job done" and I didn't concern myself with politics. Thank you William Halsey for your inspiration.
One of my favourite quotes from Halsey was when he heard a sailor say "I'd go through hell for that old son of a bitch", after which he went over and told the sailor and his friend "Right here, I want to tell you that I object to being called old." There is also a story of Halsey throwing himself flat on deck during an attack and afterwards rebuking an ensign stifling a laugh with the words (from memory): "What the hell are you laughing at? You don't have rank enough to laugh at an admiral. I'm going to make you chief petty officer. That will look better."
0:30 "No officer in the United States typified the tactical commander better than Admiral William Halsey". No disrespect meant for Admiral Halsey, but I think General George Patton might strenuously dispute that claim.
@@carsongeye1462 My thinking is both were military in WWII (the Navy is merely the Army at sea in some ways), and unlike Halsey Patton never lost a battle or made any key mistakes involving troop movements in the war. His biggest blunders were basically political; the soldier he face-slapped, his insults to the Russian allies, and so on had nothing to do with tactics; Halsey's mistakes were. Whenever Patton failed to accomplish his goals (wehich was rarely) it was usually because he was not given the supplies (such as gasoline) he needed to achieve them. Patton was not as high ranking but made key tactical decisions that many times were truly brilliant. The Nazis feared him more than they did any other military leaders we had. Yes they were in different theaters of the war in different services, but Simon never made that distinction introducing his video.
@@jimcronin2043 No reason, really. Other than that Simon apparently did. But if we just stipulate that the best tactical commander *in the U.S. Navy* was Halsey, then I am quite satisfied. :-)
It is so cool to find out that I have a weird link to Admiral Halsey. He was in charge of the Pacific Third Fleet, and I was ship's company on The Commander Third Fleet USS Coronado (AGF-11). Now THAT'S some shared history I can relish in.
I was on the Coronado right after 9/11 when I came out of the reserves and back on active duty. They had Halsey's portrait, uniform coat and other items on display in the wardroom.
I know Admiral Halsey hated us(Japanese) not undeservedly I will admit. But he was a wonderfully aggressive commander. Far less risk-averse than any IJN Admiral, he never gave anything but his best and maximum aggression, How can anyone not carry greatest respect for this hero of the United States.
Ever since Midway, what IJN commander in their right mind would try to be risk averse after losing MOST of the whole navy's carriers? Even the USN paused for a while after Santa Cruz since they only had one operational fleet carrier and had to borrow HMS Victorious from the RN...
@Max Smith In the words of Drachinifel. 'I wonder how the captains of those ships felt knowing that their ships were sunk by effectively a cripple.' Enterprise entered the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal with bomb damage on her decks. Her forward elevator jammed and leaking fuel oil.
I have read that enlisted men were proud to serve under Adm. Halsey but officers preferred Adm. Spruance because his orders were clear, consistent and on time. Adm. Halsey had a less-disciplined approach. It might be said that each commander had his finest hour et the point that his abilities were most needed. Certainly if not for Halsey Guadalcanal would have been lost and that would have changed the course of the Pacific War.
I'm doubling up what another comment said. You need to do a video on Chesty Puller. Marines are required to be able to say all of his medals in boot camp. We all are brought to a memorial during the crucible( The last phase to become a marine. ) in his honor. Every Marine knows about him. People doing their last pull up to engaging an enemy usually say "This is for chesty!" Or "Do it for chesty." You just gottah do it man.
Taffy 3 deserves its own video really. I have rarely heard of such incredible valour and courage in the face of overwhelming odds. I have a note on my desk which simply reads; "Taffy 3". Not only in memory of those brave sailors, but also as a reminder that, if they could do what they did, I can fight through the comparatively small little battles I have. I salute Taffy 3
A personal request as an Indian Simon, please do a biographics video on Field Marshall Sam ‘Bahadur’ Manekshaw, possibly one of the greatest officers in the History of the Indian Army.
The Battle Off Samar - the one with Taffy 3 vs the Yamato and Centre Force during the Battle of Leyte Gulf - is well worth reading or watching a blow-by-blow of - Drachinifel has done a particularly good video on it. The misidentification of Taffy 3 as the main US fleet happened right at the start of the battle, and is a key part of why Taffy 3 was not summarily obliterated by the vastly superior Japanese fleet. Navel cannons of the day used one of two types of ammunition for firing on targets (there's also stuff like star shells for making light at night and such, but...): High explosive rounds and armour piercing rounds. High Explosive rounds were suitable for lightly armoured targets, and would detonate on contact with the ship. These were the appropriate ammunition for the escort carriers and destroyers of Taffy 3, and when used with the Yamato's big guns, they would have ripped through them like a hot knife through butter. These rounds are precisely WHY destroyers don't fight battleships. Armour piercing rounds are used on large, heavily armoured targets, like the fleet carriers and battleships that the Japanese Centre Force had identified Taffy 3 as. These shells effectively detonate when they come to rest, using as much kinetic energy as possible to embed themselves in or penetrate through the target's armour. When you mix up the type of ammo you're using, you get impressively pathetic results. High explosive rounds on heavy armour are about as effective as trying to punch out a car. Dramatic, but spectacularly useless. Armour piercing rounds on under-armoured targets, on the other hand, are much more interesting. The round keeps going until it hits something dense enough to make it stop...which means it punches a nice 8 inch (or whatever caliber the round is) hole through the entire ship, eventually finds the ocean somewhere on the far side, and blows up whatever sea life was unfortunate enough to be in the area. This is still a problem for those ships - getting multiple holes that big punched in your ship is not conducive to staying afloat if you don't fix that problem, but it's much less problematic than ripping the entire side of the ship off, which the high explosive round would have done. And for the excellent damage control teams of the US Navy in WWII, it was, effectively, a manageable problem. The result of this is a bunch of destroyers and escort carriers getting shot to pieces by a vastly superior battleship force and...effectively shrugging it off and going toe to toe with them. This is by no means to say that the crews of Taffy 3 were anything less than ridiculously brave in their fighting. Indeed, the USS Johnston, one of the Destroyers, managed to badly maim several of the Japanese cruisers (an intermediate designation that is much bigger than a destroyer but significantly smaller than a battleship) pretty much single handed, while the air crews from all of the carriers (as well as those of Taffy 1 and 2, similarly outmatched units that were out of gunnery range but within range to add their air power to the cause.) And all in all, as noted, the fight they put up overall was so fierce that the Japanese commander elected to withdraw, fearing the destruction of his fleet. But it is that early misidentification that makes it all possible in the first place.
I will not stop asking. Please make more videos covering the people in the American Civil War, for example; Thomas Jackson, better known as Stonewall General William T. Sherman, who I really couldnt say anything about without someone getting pissed Confederate President Jefferson Davies Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, who commanded the first African-American Regiment in the Civil War Ulysses S. Grant, who needs no introduction Etc. I just wish there were more videos that tackled the people in the Civil War on your channel
Three actors that portrayed Halsey: James Cagney "The Gallant Hours" (war movie with no battle scenes but good), James Witmore "Tora Tora Tora", Robert Mitchum "Midway" . Cagney looked the closest to Halsey but I think he was shorter. Thank you Simon and crew for another informative video.
I have lost count how many "The Gallant Hours" DVDs I've distributed to subordinates. You're correct in your description as a war movie without battle scenes. As a note: "The Gallant Hours" is reportedly one of the most historically accurate movies ever filmed in the U.S. That said, it's one of the greatest resources of situational leadership I've seen. We've spent millions on programs over the years but for the cost of a movie you can get a really good example. Thanks for your comment.
Admiral Halsey notified me He had to have a berth or he couldn't get to sea I had another look and I had a cup of tea and butter pie (butter pie) The butter wouldn't melt so I put it in the pie
He was the right man for right time during World War 2 .Since the Naval battles in the Pacific were some the worst in World War 2 ,so again he the right commander fro Pacific Fleet .
Direct quote from the script of the Hunt For Red October: Ramius : "What books did you write?" Ryan: "I wrote a biography on Admiral Halsey called The Fighting Sailor, about naval combat tactics." Ramius: "I know this book. Your conclusions were all wrong, Ryan. Halsey acted stupidly." That about sums it up
The story that is told of Halsey as to why he was so loved (even if he was a profane blowhard some of the time). Two newly-minted Ensigns (bottom-rung officers) had just reported aboard the Flagship, and decided to hit the geedunk (the ice cream bar). When there they saw the line was quite long (the Geedunk was separate from the mess and first-come first-served), and decided to pull rank and cut in front, only to hear a "BELAY THAT" from further back in line. At which point they Noticed the Admiral, standing in line with all the rest. What exactly they were assigned to next, is not reported, but was surely unpleasant.
Really great video! Maybe it's because I've got WW2 on the brain but it would be nice to see Bill Slim sometime. My grandpa fought under him and I have photos of them together.
Would love a video of Taffy 3. only saw one video about them many years ago, and it was the most interesting and badass thing I’ve heard in a while that I almost never hear about.
For a better perspective than 'several times larger'- The displacement of the USS Johnston (destroyer) 2700 tons, the displacement of the IJN Musashi (battleship) 63,000 tons.
Yikes! My own destroyer (Charles F. Adams-class ship) had a displacement of just a bit over 4500 tons fully loaded. The Johnston was almost exactly the same size as the McCloy, a frigate that I saw many times in Norfolk that always struck me as almost ridiculously small whenever we were parked across the pier from her.
@@athras8822 You basically just repeated what Steve Homier already said, considering Yamato and Musashi were sister ships and roughly the same displacement. Good job repeating things *Correction* My error, I had a different comment in my head about this. Leaving the post to display my moment of idiocy
I once read that Halsey's nickname, "Bull" was actually fed to the reporter by a member of his staff. The reason was (as the story goes) that Halsey was implausibly well endowed. Having never seen the man in a state of nature, I have no idea whether the story or its basis is true.
"Hauling ass with Halsey." I love that they included that in Midway. I also just realized that despite the movie being named Midway and the battle of Midway being the movies climax Admiral Spruance the US Naval commander that lead their fleet at Midway doesn't get a 'the actors and the real person' text blurb at the end of the movie.
FADM Halsey is also the only officer to be promoted to a five-star rank during peacetime. Marshall, MacArthur, Eisenhower, and Arnold were promoted to General of the Army during WWII. Leahy, King, and Nimitz were promoted to Fleet Admiral during WWII. Omar Bradley was promoted to General of the Army during the Korean War. Halsey was promoted to Fleet Admiral after WWII, and when Nimitz had been promoted to Chief of Naval Operations.
My uncle was a gunnery officer (40 mm's) on an escort carrier in TAFFY 2 (the Natoma Bay)--who's planes pursued the retreating Japanese battleships and crusiers after they broke off their attack on TAFFY 3.
“There aren’t any great men. There are just great challenges that are ordinary men like you and me are forced by circumstances to meet”
William Halsey
Some folks---Halsey certainly was one of them---do a vastly better job at measuring up to the great challenges than other man (or women) do or are capable of doing.
Exactly. There are so many people with the talents to be us president but only a few candidates can compete. Life is unfair that not everyone gets a chance
I remember that.
Movie made after Admiral Halsey's death was The Galkant Hours. The story revolves around those words. You may ave seen it.
@@daleeasternbrat816 Touche' (smile)
Only four Fleet Admiral promotions were authorized by Congress and they went King, Leahy, Nimitz, and Halsey. A fifth should have gone to Ray Spruance.
Spruance over Halsey.
This was mainly down to Rep. Carl Vinson, the Navy's congressional advocate; for no obvious reason he vetoed Spruance's fifth star, insisting that it went to Halsey. Despite their very different personalities Spruance and Halsey were good friends and Halsey always thought Spruance deserved a fifth star.
But he got 4 star admiral pay for the rest of his life
@@rachaelsdaddontdrink no.
If not for the shingles I don't think midway would have ended in favor of the americans. After Spruance dealt that knockdown blow by sinking four of their carriers he was wise enough not to pursue and give the japanese the chance of engaging his remaining carriers with their superior battleships. the only screen vessels the americans had were destroyers and ineffective treaty cruisers that were little more than pretty yachts. Had the japanese fleet gotten within 20 miles of the american one it would have turned into a massacre. I doubt Halsey would have been wise enough to quit while he was ahead.
It was said the only reason he didn't loose his command after leyte was because he was so popular with the press.
Halsey's motto was literally
"Hit Hard. Hit Fast. Hit Often"
Sums up his command style perfectly
I'd Like "Attack Repeat Attack"
I actually have his coin that says this, it was passed down to my grandpa
When Halsey sailed into Pearl Harbor after the attack. He said "when we get done with them, the only place Japanese will be spoken is hell."
He also sailed into Tokyo Bay with all Mark 50 16" guns locked and loaded for the formal surrender of Japan because he didn't trust them
Im going to screw this up , but I remember one quote by Halsey . It went something like this , there are no great men just ordinary men who are thrust into extraordinary circumstances who do great things.
There’s a reason he was called “Bull” Halsey. Absolute respect for the men and women of that era.
Also during the Japanese surrender ceremony, if you find pictures where all these Cruisers, Battleships in Tokyo Bay, note that none of the Aircraft Carriers were there.
"Just in case."
@@slapdaddyj Or one reporter made a typo and it stuck. :)
Thanks for the additional info.
Taffy 3 showed the very best of American resolve.
Tin can sailors are the best in the fleet.
American Kamikaze facing the largest Battleship with a couple of destroyers and light carriers.
I remember reading that Japanese sailors giving a salute to the men in one if Taffy 3''s sinking destroyers
The sailors of Taffy 3 should be as celebrated in the USA as the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae were in Greece, sadly the dispute over Halsey's actions at Leyte Gulf have overshadowed the extraordinary courage of the sailors on the escort carriers, destroyers and escort destroyers of Taffy 3.
GO DAWGS! 👌🏻
My grandfather was on the first aircraft carrier to ever be sunk by kamikaze, during the Battle off Samar. It was a tragic yet epic experience as he relayed it, and he lost a lot of friends. But he spoke of it with pride.
Halsey's absence at Midway was a key component to victory, the Japanese had planned on Halsey's aggressive style and not a calculated Risk Strategy. The US surprised them and fought the battle using unexpected tactics.
I’d say it was naming Raymond Spruance as Task Force 16 (Enterprise and Hornet) Commander.
Not really simply because the tactical approach was to trick the Japanese, regardless of carrier commander, what Halsey is waiting for, is his chance to be unleashed which means he will go at them and indeed all the harder for it, but its like the title says, he was a raging bull, an attack dog waiting to be set free, maybe the risk would be him sending too many planes too abruptly at most likely
@@ph89787 Gotta give Fletcher some credit also
@@josephkool8411 true.
@@adamscott7354 bit late. But was this opinion based on what he did at Leyte Gulf?
My father met and worked out problems with him. My father, a mere Chief Petty Officer, confered with Halsey at Noumea, New Caledonia, or possibly in the Solomons, Details vary. Halsey got my dad everthing he needed for his men, and thanked him for bringing the issue to Halsey. He was a great leader!
Footnote: The Navy Despised General MacArthur, and revered William F. Halsey.
@@emilymcfadden4360 there's a great video here on TH-cam explaining just how big a screw-up MacArthur was.
He managed to get every bit as ransacked by the Japanese in the Philippines as Kimmel at Pearl harbor, and with 7 hours extra notice.
Then he moves his men away from their supplies down to bataan.
and this is just the beginning.
The only reason he didn't get fired right along with Kimmel is political connections.
Nimitz's Pacific strategy made a lot more sense than his, but again, politics MacArthur s plan just to keep his Philippine grandstanding promise got a lot of people unnecessarily killed
His firing by Harry Truman was about 10 years overdue
My great grandfather is bull Halsey
James D. Hornfischer's work in "The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors" is an absolutely phenomenal recounting of the battle.
As an anecdote, my grandfather was actually serving aboard the USS Essex in Halsey's Third Fleet during the Battle of Leyte Gulf and rode out the typhoon. He still spoke with pride of his time under Halsey, despite his mistakes, even 50 years later.
I wish I had been mature enough/old enough during the 90's/early 2000's to have conversed more with that generation! I know you cherish your grandfather's first-hand accounts and stories of those times and I hope he still felt appreciated and loved during the twilight of his life. I know that may sound too personal for a YT comment, but when I see stories of senior neglect or think about the many that are just forgotten in homes during their final years, I always try to remember that anyone one of them could have incredible stories of sacrifice, survival, and triumph that absolutely deserve to be heard and respected! So cheers to you and your family, and may we never have to face a war of that scale ever again!
@@extragoogleaccount6061 Nah dude I get it, it's good. And he definitely wasn't, he knew he was loved and appreciated. I grew up listening to him tell stories from the war. He was a globe trotter who lived a helluva life. He was in London during the Blitz in 1940 after getting in touch with some of our relatives in Cornwall, then joined the Navy in 41, served on the USS Ranger in the North Atlantic on convoy escort, in Operation Torch and Operation Leader. Transferred to the Essex and the Third Fleet in 44 and was on the deck underneath a 40mm mount when she was hit by a kamikaze in November of 44. He was about 100 feet away from the point of impact. After the war he went to work for Lockheed Martin and helped train pilots on the use of the Bullpup missile in the 60s, then rounded out his career as Chief Engineer on the Martin Marietta/Lockheed Martin MK 41 VLS project in 70s and 80s. Decided to retire after the completion of the VLS. "I knew it was time to ride out on my laurels, it doesn't get better than this." (Job title on the VLS might be wrong, I remember that his team basically took the initial designs and made it workable for implementation aboard ship and "wrote the manual.") Then he dealt with my crazy self from 93 to 04 when he passed. It's funny how much I've forgotten about my youth, but his stories I still retain almost verbatim.
Yes it is an excellent book, at times when I read it l found myself choking up when reading about the courage of young sailors such as Paul Carr. 'For Crew and Country' by John Wukowits, about 'USS Samuel B Roberts' is very good as well.
My Dad served on the USS Essex during WW2.
Have you read ‘Halsey’s Typhoon’ great book also
The Bull was Patton on the sea.
I love that! Im going to tweak it a tiny bit and call him "Patton of the Sea!" (Get the reference?)
Patton was the commander of the 3rd Army. Halsey was the commander of the 3rd Fleet. Coincidence?
Patton had 2 blunders, slapping a soldier and task force Baum operations
Halsey had 3 blunders, Taffy 3, Typhoon Cobra and Typhoon Connie
@@ramal5708 Yup
Why no mention of Halsey's participation in the Doolittle Raid? USS Enterprise participated in that action. Halsey took some medals he received on a previous tour to Japan in earlier years and tied them to the bombs that Doolittle dropped on Tokyo. Halsey was NOT joking when he said he didn't want to stop until the Japanese language was spoken only in Hell.
fkn metal
I thought he compleatly missed it. I want to know who wrote this up and how the hell they "missed" it.
while halsey was not tactically the best commander in the pacific his greatest contribution to the war was moral.
It is difficult to understand today the blow that the japanese dealt at pearl harbor. It was thought by the brass and the public at large that war in the pacific would be won and lost by the battleships. After pearl harbor the army, navy, and the public at large assumed that america had no capacity to wage war in the pacific. Americans weren't only afraid for the hawaiian islands but the entirety of the mainland pacific coast. People were very afraid.
Then along came halsey. Speaking of victory, being brash and confident when nobody was confident, nor had any real logical reason to feel that way.
His effect on moral in the navy cannot be underestimated. Especially among naval aviators. I once read that under most admirals that pilots were afraid that they would be expended much like shells out of a deck gun. They trusted halsey to close the range and only authorize a launch when they could perform the mission and have a reasonable chance at returning. Because halsey was one of their own, a real naval aviator.
Despite all his real faults he kept fighting spirit alive at a critical juncture. That is why we remember his name today.
So did that raid actually happen? I saw a Hollywood movie about it (very old) I think what happened was someone in Congress called for such a raid but the idea was scrubbed because it would have distracted from rebuilding the Fleet and blunting the Imperial Japanese advance. Remember, we had the Battle of Midway not long after Pearl Harbor. I think Hollywood (I call Hollywood's movie production at the time "Jollywood" because their movies were meant to build up civilian morale and military morale, omitting mistakes and blunders made by the Higher-ups.) The idea was a good one and the movie was great but it didn't happen. Usually when an event is not mentioned by military historians, it is because it was just a Hollywood movie.
@@christianfreedom-seeker934 Bruh, of course it did. I don't know what military historian covering the early war in the Pacific would fail to mention it. Doolittle Raid- April 1942. Battle of the Coral Sea- May. Midway- June.
While understandably tough to get the entire life of a major war hero condensed into 18 minutes, one rather important oversight was the fact the Halsey commanded Task Force 16 on the Doolittle Raid of Tokyp in April 1942. It had a far greater strategic effect on the course of the entire War than did his directing the hit and run raids on the Gilberts. FYI. But thanks for doing this piece about Adm. Halsey.
I agree. They should have given that operation a minute or two in the video.
Because the Doolittle raid forced Japan to attack Midway where Spruance became a hero and the tide of the war turned.
Bull Halsey is my distant cousin so I'm glad you are doing a video on him
U.S.S Johnson the little destroyer to angry to die.
Johnston's captain was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
A shame it was posthumously awarded. His courage, devotion to duty and love of country went well beyond the highest traditions of the US Navy
U.S.S. Samuel B. Roberts didn't do so bad either. She just wasn't so lucky, because ships that fought her realised, that this is just a destroyer and swtched from Armour Piercing shells (that just flew through the ship) to High Explosive, that actually did a lot more damage.
Also this battle was mostly won, because Kurita sucked as commander and made so many mistakes, that the only explanation for his behaviour would be, that he was an American saboteur or spy.
@@Volnas97 agreed and I think he had to be on ourside nobody could be that incompetent and or stupid
please see my above comment
I love the picture of Halsey at 9:15. For me it kind of sums the man up. He's got this smile on his face and he looks happy and like the king of the world and at the same time you know that he would stab you in the heart with that same smile on his face.
I can’t imagine using my fading years to wage war instead of enjoying freedom.
I can never thank these hero’s enough
No doubt, a true patriot.
@@Gunners_Mate_Guns So very true my friend. I'm just turned seventy and missed WW2 by miles. Our generation is so so lucky and we owe so much to our fathers.
You should do a video on Chesty Puller. He was an marine corp officer. He is one of the most decorated officer in American history.
I believe it was Chesty Puller that when first presented with a flamethrower derisively asked "Where do you put the bayonet?", truly a Marines Marine.
Hell yeah! Give me some Chesty! I would like to see something about John Paul Jones as well.
I've been asking for both of those guys for a loooong time
Yes.
God bless Chesty Puller and his Marines
The Halsey Biography, the Gallant Hours, with James Gagney as Halsey, is considered one of the best military Biographies ever made.
Even without the padding, Nimitz's message to Halsey re: TF34 was still a stinging rebuke. According to Ian W. Toll in his book "Twilight of the Gods", Nimitz said after the war that he knew exactly where TF34 was.
It was also one of the few times Nimitz interjected into an active battle.
A junior naval officer suggested to Nimitz's face that he was partly to blame by adding to Halsey's orders the possibility of destroying the enemy's fleet. Nimitz was visibly displeased and changed the subject. The young officer was Chester Nimitz Jr !
LONG LIVE TAFFY-3!! There oughta be whole video on taffy and it’s commander !
Taffy 3 really deserve it’s own video, first and only time I heard about them was years ago and idr the video. But shocked they weren’t really talked about for how impressive the fight was
Search TH-cam for the Battle of Samar.
I read that the debilitating skin condition that Halsey suffered with was Psoriasis, and being a sufferer myself, I can appreciate that the outbreak of this condition, and his stay in hospital at that crucial time, was probably due to the highly stressful circumstances that he found himself in.
The condition is exacerbated by stress, which can cause an outbreak that can incapacitate even the strongest man if it is serious enough, and can affect large areas of the body in a serious outbreak.
In such circumstances it means the sufferer cannot effectively function due to the pain caused by large areas of skin becoming hard and rough to the touch. Skin cracks and bleeds without treatment, and is very painful. In severe cases hospitalisation for treatment is the only course of action for treatment.
The condition has no known cure, and is largely a hereditary disease. My father was also a sufferer, as were a few of his relatives on his mother’s side of the family. I myself have had this condition since my late teens. I am now sixty eight years old and I am still trying to control it with topical treatment, using steroid based ointments. It is a losing battle.
Apart from from anything else, it must have been very galling and frustrating for this warrior to be away from his command at that particular time, with what some of his detractors unkindly described as a ‘skin rash’.
Halsey was one of my ALL TIME heroes. He turned a page in Naval history by demonstrating the value of aggressive leadership as opposed to being political operative. I served in the Navy for 18 years and Halsey was the model I hoped to find in my commanding officers. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. But even as an enlisted man I emulated his style of "get the damn job done" and I didn't concern myself with politics. Thank you William Halsey for your inspiration.
One of my favourite quotes from Halsey was when he heard a sailor say "I'd go through hell for that old son of a bitch", after which he went over and told the sailor and his friend "Right here, I want to tell you that I object to being called old."
There is also a story of Halsey throwing himself flat on deck during an attack and afterwards rebuking an ensign stifling a laugh with the words (from memory): "What the hell are you laughing at? You don't have rank enough to laugh at an admiral. I'm going to make you chief petty officer. That will look better."
Thanks for the fire content Simon
0:30 "No officer in the United States typified the tactical commander better than Admiral William Halsey".
No disrespect meant for Admiral Halsey, but I think General George Patton might strenuously dispute that claim.
I’m not sure that totally counts. While you might be right, it’s hard to compare when they’re respective commands are basically polar opposites.
@@carsongeye1462 My thinking is both were military in WWII (the Navy is merely the Army at sea in some ways), and unlike Halsey Patton never lost a battle or made any key mistakes involving troop movements in the war. His biggest blunders were basically political; the soldier he face-slapped, his insults to the Russian allies, and so on had nothing to do with tactics; Halsey's mistakes were.
Whenever Patton failed to accomplish his goals (wehich was rarely) it was usually because he was not given the supplies (such as gasoline) he needed to achieve them. Patton was not as high ranking but made key tactical decisions that many times were truly brilliant. The Nazis feared him more than they did any other military leaders we had.
Yes they were in different theaters of the war in different services, but Simon never made that distinction introducing his video.
Why do we have to choose?
@@jimcronin2043 No reason, really. Other than that Simon apparently did. But if we just stipulate that the best tactical commander *in the U.S. Navy* was Halsey, then I am quite satisfied. :-)
What about Robert E. Lee? Before the Civil War he helped conquer the American South West for America.
Bull Halsey was my grandfathers twin cousin, my father and two of his brothers also served with him. My father's nickname also became Bull Halsey.
As a former US sailor I must say, smoking and coffee drinking is what keeps the fleet afloat.
It is so cool to find out that I have a weird link to Admiral Halsey. He was in charge of the Pacific Third Fleet, and I was ship's company on The Commander Third Fleet USS Coronado (AGF-11). Now THAT'S some shared history I can relish in.
I was on the Coronado right after 9/11 when I came out of the reserves and back on active duty. They had Halsey's portrait, uniform coat and other items on display in the wardroom.
Would love to see a Biographics or Geographics on the Battle of Samar/Taffy 3
Where is Halsey? The world wonders.
Much appreciation for this video. I admire both Halsey and Nimitz.
Love your work dude
It may surprise a lot of people but Admiral Halsey and General MacArthur actually got along well together
I know Admiral Halsey hated us(Japanese) not undeservedly I will admit. But he was a wonderfully aggressive commander. Far less risk-averse than any IJN Admiral, he never gave anything but his best and maximum aggression, How can anyone not carry greatest respect for this hero of the United States.
i cant. cause i think its wasteful and puts ur people in unknown jeopardy. it will win u some fights, but it will let u lose some fights too.
Ever since Midway, what IJN commander in their right mind would try to be risk averse after losing MOST of the whole navy's carriers? Even the USN paused for a while after Santa Cruz since they only had one operational fleet carrier and had to borrow HMS Victorious from the RN...
@Max Smith In the words of Drachinifel. 'I wonder how the captains of those ships felt knowing that their ships were sunk by effectively a cripple.' Enterprise entered the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal with bomb damage on her decks. Her forward elevator jammed and leaking fuel oil.
@Max Smith True.
I have read that enlisted men were proud to serve under Adm. Halsey but officers preferred Adm. Spruance because his orders were clear, consistent and on time. Adm. Halsey had a less-disciplined approach. It might be said that each commander had his finest hour et the point that his abilities were most needed. Certainly if not for Halsey Guadalcanal would have been lost and that would have changed the course of the Pacific War.
Such a great video!
So interesting! Thank you for doing these types of stories, enlightening me on the war heroes I heard about as a child.
I'm doubling up what another comment said. You need to do a video on Chesty Puller. Marines are required to be able to say all of his medals in boot camp. We all are brought to a memorial during the crucible( The last phase to become a marine. ) in his honor. Every Marine knows about him. People doing their last pull up to engaging an enemy usually say "This is for chesty!" Or "Do it for chesty."
You just gottah do it man.
we were not allowed to call him Chesty, it was General Puller in boot camp
Simper Fi Marine! Go Navy!
When I was a kid, I thought the Paul McCartney song was being sung from the POV of Admiral Yamamoto.
a reporter was talking to halsey and asked him if we and the japanese could share the pacific certainly he said the can have bottom well have the top
My dad, Lt. Commander in the Navy in WWII, always spoke of Leyte Gulf as the greatest sea battle.
Brilliant video Simon.
💜By narrowing the focus you've broadened my perspective. Thank you. !:-)💜
Excellent presentation.
Well done documentary! Thank you.
Great!THX°°as always
Taffy 3 deserves its own video really.
I have rarely heard of such incredible valour and courage in the face of overwhelming odds.
I have a note on my desk which simply reads; "Taffy 3". Not only in memory of those brave sailors, but also as a reminder that, if they could do what they did, I can fight through the comparatively small little battles I have.
I salute Taffy 3
Great video!!!
Your explanation is appreciated. Thank you
A personal request as an Indian Simon, please do a biographics video on Field Marshall Sam ‘Bahadur’ Manekshaw, possibly one of the greatest officers in the History of the Indian Army.
The Battle Off Samar - the one with Taffy 3 vs the Yamato and Centre Force during the Battle of Leyte Gulf - is well worth reading or watching a blow-by-blow of - Drachinifel has done a particularly good video on it.
The misidentification of Taffy 3 as the main US fleet happened right at the start of the battle, and is a key part of why Taffy 3 was not summarily obliterated by the vastly superior Japanese fleet. Navel cannons of the day used one of two types of ammunition for firing on targets (there's also stuff like star shells for making light at night and such, but...): High explosive rounds and armour piercing rounds. High Explosive rounds were suitable for lightly armoured targets, and would detonate on contact with the ship. These were the appropriate ammunition for the escort carriers and destroyers of Taffy 3, and when used with the Yamato's big guns, they would have ripped through them like a hot knife through butter. These rounds are precisely WHY destroyers don't fight battleships. Armour piercing rounds are used on large, heavily armoured targets, like the fleet carriers and battleships that the Japanese Centre Force had identified Taffy 3 as. These shells effectively detonate when they come to rest, using as much kinetic energy as possible to embed themselves in or penetrate through the target's armour.
When you mix up the type of ammo you're using, you get impressively pathetic results. High explosive rounds on heavy armour are about as effective as trying to punch out a car. Dramatic, but spectacularly useless. Armour piercing rounds on under-armoured targets, on the other hand, are much more interesting. The round keeps going until it hits something dense enough to make it stop...which means it punches a nice 8 inch (or whatever caliber the round is) hole through the entire ship, eventually finds the ocean somewhere on the far side, and blows up whatever sea life was unfortunate enough to be in the area. This is still a problem for those ships - getting multiple holes that big punched in your ship is not conducive to staying afloat if you don't fix that problem, but it's much less problematic than ripping the entire side of the ship off, which the high explosive round would have done. And for the excellent damage control teams of the US Navy in WWII, it was, effectively, a manageable problem.
The result of this is a bunch of destroyers and escort carriers getting shot to pieces by a vastly superior battleship force and...effectively shrugging it off and going toe to toe with them. This is by no means to say that the crews of Taffy 3 were anything less than ridiculously brave in their fighting. Indeed, the USS Johnston, one of the Destroyers, managed to badly maim several of the Japanese cruisers (an intermediate designation that is much bigger than a destroyer but significantly smaller than a battleship) pretty much single handed, while the air crews from all of the carriers (as well as those of Taffy 1 and 2, similarly outmatched units that were out of gunnery range but within range to add their air power to the cause.) And all in all, as noted, the fight they put up overall was so fierce that the Japanese commander elected to withdraw, fearing the destruction of his fleet. But it is that early misidentification that makes it all possible in the first place.
I will not stop asking. Please make more videos covering the people in the American Civil War, for example;
Thomas Jackson, better known as Stonewall
General William T. Sherman, who I really couldnt say anything about without someone getting pissed
Confederate President Jefferson Davies
Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, who commanded the first African-American Regiment in the Civil War
Ulysses S. Grant, who needs no introduction
Etc.
I just wish there were more videos that tackled the people in the Civil War on your channel
Love all your videos Simon! Could you do a segment on Edward Teller? Or perhaps Curtis LeMay?
Very well done! You did a great job of condensing complex story and enigmatic individual into a very entertaining and educational presentaion.
Yessss been waiting for this one!
Great article. Thank you Sir.
Whey you buy a bulldog, you can't be surprised at it's character.
its. the very very very few times posessive doesnt include an apostrephe.
Glad to see my family represented on this channel
Interesting video, I guess Halsey's version of latter events would be "We don't make mistakes, we make decisions."
But... MOAR BLAZE PLEASE!
since i was little i always thought of Halsey as a grizzled old man who was a fighter all his life
Three actors that portrayed Halsey: James Cagney "The Gallant Hours" (war movie with no battle scenes but good), James Witmore "Tora Tora Tora", Robert Mitchum "Midway" . Cagney looked the closest to Halsey but I think he was shorter.
Thank you Simon and crew for another informative video.
More recently Denis Quaid portrayed him in Midway (2019) and also did a great job, probably second to Cagney
I have lost count how many "The Gallant Hours" DVDs I've distributed to subordinates. You're correct in your description as a war movie without battle scenes. As a note: "The Gallant Hours" is reportedly one of the most historically accurate movies ever filmed in the U.S. That said, it's one of the greatest resources of situational leadership I've seen. We've spent millions on programs over the years but for the cost of a movie you can get a really good example. Thanks for your comment.
@@charleslarrivee2908 Yes, thank you. I thought of Midway and could not remember the actor and did not consult IMDB/Google.
Oh just great, now I have that Paul McCartney song stuck in my head, thanks a lot
Admiral Halsey notified me
He had to have a berth or he couldn't get to sea
I had another look and I had a cup of tea and butter pie (butter pie)
The butter wouldn't melt so I put it in the pie
Great video.
Please cover Vice admiral James Stockdale!!
Good video👍
He was the right man for right time during World War 2 .Since the Naval battles in the Pacific were some the worst in World War 2 ,so again he the right commander fro Pacific Fleet .
Direct quote from the script of the Hunt For Red October:
Ramius : "What books did you write?"
Ryan: "I wrote a biography on Admiral Halsey
called The Fighting Sailor, about naval combat tactics."
Ramius: "I know this book. Your conclusions
were all wrong, Ryan. Halsey acted stupidly."
That about sums it up
Thems fighting words
I literally just started a reaserch essay on Holsey. Thank You !
Its Halsey. Thank you very much
The story that is told of Halsey as to why he was so loved (even if he was a profane blowhard some of the time). Two newly-minted Ensigns (bottom-rung officers) had just reported aboard the Flagship, and decided to hit the geedunk (the ice cream bar). When there they saw the line was quite long (the Geedunk was separate from the mess and first-come first-served), and decided to pull rank and cut in front, only to hear a "BELAY THAT" from further back in line. At which point they Noticed the Admiral, standing in line with all the rest. What exactly they were assigned to next, is not reported, but was surely unpleasant.
You should do one on the Gray Ghost, USS Enterprise!
Yes.
Thank you
My Grandpa was in the battle of Leyte Gulf. Heros them all.
Such a great memory for an amazing relative
MacArthur, Nimitz, Halsey, Patton were all in their 60's. Eisenhower was just a young pup in his 50's in WW2.
Taffy 3 saved Halsey's ass.
Amazing that those ships didn't capsize due to the enormous weight of the balls of the men on them.
i just wanted to hear paul scream
HEEEAAAAAAAAADS ACROSS THE WATER (water)
HAAAAAANDS ACROS THE SKY
Admiral rickover would be an interesting video.
Hey, hey, hey, let's not be speaking ill of surviving on caffeine and nicotine!
Red bull and Pall Mall's has been getting me by for years.
The balanced breakfast of sailors!
That makes up 90% of my entire diet...I have to leave a little bit open for booze!
Really great video!
Maybe it's because I've got WW2 on the brain but it would be nice to see Bill Slim sometime. My grandpa fought under him and I have photos of them together.
If Halsey and Admiral Horatio Nelson of Britain lived during the same time and commanded ships against each other, who would win?
Nelson. Halsey was an idiot.
Would love a video of Taffy 3. only saw one video about them many years ago, and it was the most interesting and badass thing I’ve heard in a while that I almost never hear about.
I'd like to see a Biographics episode about Simon. Dude is a machine when it comes to youtube videos.
Thank you.
Neat. Thanks for showing some family history!
And one of the few men to get respect out of MacArthur
Not sure if the respect of WW2's answer to Zapp Brannigan is too much of a plus.
Only because he was the Navy's Macarthur An ass with a great pr machine
MacArthur was an egotistical narcissist
1:35 - Chapter 1 - Early life
4:30 - Chapter 2 - War begins
6:40 - Chapter 3 - Guadacanal
8:35 - Chapter 4 - 3rd fleet
10:30 - Chapter 5 - Battle of leyte gulf
15:45 - Chapter 6 - End of the war
For a better perspective than 'several times larger'- The displacement of the USS Johnston (destroyer) 2700 tons, the displacement of the IJN Musashi (battleship) 63,000 tons.
Yikes!
My own destroyer (Charles F. Adams-class ship) had a displacement of just a bit over 4500 tons fully loaded.
The Johnston was almost exactly the same size as the McCloy, a frigate that I saw many times in Norfolk that always struck me as almost ridiculously small whenever we were parked across the pier from her.
I believe one of the Yamato's 18in turrets massed more than a Fletcher-class DD like USS Johnston. As you say, perspective.
Better perspective, Yamato displaces more than the entirety of Taffy-3 combined
@@athras8822 You basically just repeated what Steve Homier already said, considering Yamato and Musashi were sister ships and roughly the same displacement. Good job repeating things
*Correction* My error, I had a different comment in my head about this. Leaving the post to display my moment of idiocy
@@aethyr6776 Such humility is admirable.
No, not being sarcastic or insulting at all.
So it turns out that Halsey attended Annapolis at the same time as my grandfather. They were probably not in the same class though.
I once read that Halsey's nickname, "Bull" was actually fed to the reporter by a member of his staff. The reason was (as the story goes) that Halsey was implausibly well endowed.
Having never seen the man in a state of nature, I have no idea whether the story or its basis is true.
This channel and mega projects are my two favorite Simon channels
You failed to mention those legendary eyebrows.
Awesome again 👍
The first 3 and 4 of first 6 channels on my feed are @simonwhistler channels! LOL keep up the good work, Sir!
Very good but you’ve left me wanting a more detailed look at task force 34 and their commander
can you do chaing kai shek next please.
"Hauling ass with Halsey." I love that they included that in Midway.
I also just realized that despite the movie being named Midway and the battle of Midway being the movies climax Admiral Spruance the US Naval commander that lead their fleet at Midway doesn't get a 'the actors and the real person' text blurb at the end of the movie.
FADM Halsey is also the only officer to be promoted to a five-star rank during peacetime. Marshall, MacArthur, Eisenhower, and Arnold were promoted to General of the Army during WWII. Leahy, King, and Nimitz were promoted to Fleet Admiral during WWII. Omar Bradley was promoted to General of the Army during the Korean War. Halsey was promoted to Fleet Admiral after WWII, and when Nimitz had been promoted to Chief of Naval Operations.
A great, great man, and, a fellow New Jerseyan.
Anyone who’s had shingles knows that is the worst
My uncle was a gunnery officer (40 mm's) on an escort carrier in TAFFY 2 (the Natoma Bay)--who's planes pursued the retreating Japanese battleships and crusiers after they broke off their attack on TAFFY 3.
Well done.
Really good video, but I have to confess my favorite part was the "Dude Wipes" commercial.