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Pars, look at the title of this forum you have this question in. Did you notice it's supposed to be about WWII Generals, not Admirals?Best Or Most Competent WWII Admiral - By Nationality
My choices would be
IJN - Ozawa (Tanaka a very close second)
USN - Nimitz (Mitscher a close second. I also like Spruance and Turner)
Britain - Cunningham (Vian Ramsay Horton all honourably mentioned with Fraser mentioned because of his sheer doggedness and determination in the face of an extremely hostile ally)
Germany - Donitz (with Marschall as their best fleet or surface admiral)
I would suggest:
One of the most important fronts of the war, success in the Atlantic was critical for the Allied cause. Citing its importance, Prime Minister Winston Churchill later stated: "The Battle of the Atlantic was the dominating factor all through the war. Never for one moment could we forget that everything happening elsewhere, on land, at sea or in the air depended ultimately on its outcome..."
Admiral Sir Percy Noble, RN
Admiral Sir Max Horton, RN
On his return to Britain, Admiral Noble was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches Admiral Noble commanded Western Approaches from his headquarters at Derby House, Liverpool, during a period stretching from early 1941 to November 1942. His work in reorganising escort groups, and revamping escort training methods are widely regarded as having been crucial foundational elements of the eventual success of the Allied navies in the Atlantic theatre. Noble was remembered by those who worked with him at Derby House as an easygoing commander, and an easy person to work with. Always conciliatory, Noble was an expert at building consensus around his chosen courses of action. Noble was, although not forced, certainly pushed out of Western Approaches to make room for Admiral Max Horton, whose combative personality and experience in the submarine service made him the ideal candidate in the eyes of some to take the war to the U-boats.
Cheers
John
John,
Do you mean that Horton (who I know little about except what has been written here) was combative in the sense of confrontational with colleagues and subordinates or with the Kriegsmarine? Or both?
Hi John
To maximize your voting effect, I will interpret your answer as Horton being your primary vote, and Noble as your "number 2". if I do that, both guys would get a vote from you. If I take Noble as your primary vote, I cannot add a vote for Horton, since I have already used his "honourable mention" vote.
Let me know if you have any objection to the way I interpreted your submission.
On the assumption you accept what I have done, the votiung tally changes to the following
USN: Nimitz (2), Scott, Mitscher, Turner, Spruance, Lee
IJN: Tanaka, Ozawa(2) Yamaguchi , Tsukuhara
RN Cunningham (2), Horton (3), Somerville, Vian, Ramsay, Fraser, Noble
KM Donitz (2), Raeder, Marschall
On that basis, Horton is the admiral currently in the lead
Combative in the sense 'if they want a fight I'll fight harder' sense.
His role is often over looked I feel as is the whole NA battle.
Regards
John
The North Atlantic was indeed the one critical battle that had to have been won (and could have been lost) for an Axis defeat. USN mythology suggests, without denying the critical role of effective ASW as practiced by the RN you describe above, that three other factors came into play with the US coming in to the war. 1. The eventual use of the Azores Air Base (1943?) to close the black hole by B-24/PB4Y, 2. the advent of large numbers of escort carriers with H-K teams of radar equipped A/C to suppress U-Boat surface time and last but not least, the implementation of lighter than air escort. My understanding is the battle reached its peak with significant Nazi successes during the winter/spring of 1942 but U-boat effectiveness declined fairly dramatically thereafter. How does that play out on your end? This is not to suggest the RN didn't do the heavy lifting in the NA, just some additional factors that contributed to the campaign.