Thomas Lamison Sprague (October 2, 1894 – September 17, 1972) was a vice admiral of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, who served during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as commander of the aircraft carrier and took part in the battles of

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

Leyte Gulf Leyte Gulf is a gulf in the Eastern Visayan region in the Philippines. The bay is part of the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, and is bounded by two islands; Samar in the north and Leyte in the west. On the south of the bay is Mindanao Isl ...

and

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Naval Academy and World War I

Born in

Lima, Ohio Lima ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northwest Ohio along Interstate 75 in Ohio, Interstate 75 approximately north of Dayton, Ohio, Dayton, southwest of Toledo, Ohio, T ...

, Sprague graduated from the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

in 1917 (although no relation to Admiral Clifton "Ziggy" Sprague, the two both attended the Naval Academy, later graduating from the same class). He served aboard the protected cruiser assigned to the trans-

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

convoy from June 1917 until April 1918 and, after serving on shore duty for a brief period, Sprague assisted in the official commission of the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

in July. As a member of the ship's anti-submarine patrol, Sprague would eventually come to command ''Montgomery'' from January to November 1920.

Inter-war years

After participating in naval flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Sprague served as a staff officer under Pacific Air commander Admiral H.V. Butler from 1921 to 1923. In 1926, Sprague was transferred to the

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

serving with Observation Squadron 1 for two years before being stationed at the

Naval Air Station San Diego Naval Air Station North Island or NAS North Island , at the north end of the Coronado peninsula on San Diego Bay in San Diego, California, is part of the largest aerospace-industrial complex in the United States Navy – Naval Base Coronado (NBC ...

in 1928. Between 1931 and 1936, Sprague served as commander of Scouting Squadron 6, director of the Aeronautical Engine Laboratory at the

Naval Aircraft Factory The Naval Aircraft Factory (NAF) was established by the United States Navy in 1918 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was created to help solve aircraft supply issues which faced the Navy Department upon the entry of the U.S. into World War I. ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, and air officer on board the aircraft carrier before being reassigned as to Pensacola as superintendent of Naval Air Training from 1937 to 1940.

World War II

Serving as executive officer on board the aircraft carrier on the Neutrality Patrol in the Atlantic for a year, Sprague helped commission the

escort carrier The escort carrier or escort aircraft carrier (U.S. hull classification symbol CVE), also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the United States Navy (USN) or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft ...

and commanded the vessel during training missions in the

Chesapeake Chesapeake often refers to: *Chesapeake people, a Native American tribe also known as the Chesepian * The Chesapeake, a.k.a. Chesapeake Bay *Delmarva Peninsula, also known as the Chesapeake Peninsula Chesapeake may also refer to: Populated plac ...

from February to December 1942. After serving staff duty from January to June 1943, Sprague commissioned the aircraft carrier in August, and commanded the ship in raids against the Truk and

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...

during the first two months of 1944. Promoted to rear admiral in June, Sprague commanded Carrier Division 22, which covered the assault on

from July–August and

Morotai Morotai Island ( id, Pulau Morotai) is an island in the Halmahera group of eastern Indonesia's Maluku Islands (Moluccas). It is one of Indonesia's northernmost islands. Morotai is a rugged, forested island lying to the north of Halmahera. It ha ...

in September. In command of Task Group 77.4 and Task Unit 77.4.1 ("Taffy 1") during the

Battle of Leyte Gulf The Battle of Leyte Gulf ( fil, Labanan sa golpo ng Leyte, lit=Battle of Leyte gulf; ) was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. It was fou ...

from October 24–25, Sprague briefly commanded Pacific training carriers under Carrier Division 11, before leading Carrier Division 3 off

from April–June 1945. He commanded Task Force 38.1 during the final air operations against Japan by the war's end.

Post-war career and death

Sprague was named deputy chief, then chief, of the

Bureau of Naval Personnel The Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS) in the United States Department of the Navy is similar to the human resources department of a corporation. The bureau provides administrative leadership and policy planning for the Office of the Chief of Nava ...

in 1946, serving until his promotion to vice admiral in August 1949. Appointed commander of the Pacific Fleet Air Force in October, Sprague would hold this post until his retirement in April 1952. In 1950, he also commanded the First Task Fleet between the retirement of Vice Adm. Gerald Bogan at the beginning of February and the arrival of Vice Adm. Calvin Durgin in March. He briefly returned to active duty to negotiate with the

Philippine The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

government over the status of U.S. air bases in 1956. Sprague died at

Chula Vista, California Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the Largest cities in Southern California, seventh largest city in Southern California, the List of largest California cities by population, fifteenth largest city ...

on September 17, 1972.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Reynolds, Clark G. ''Famous American Admirals''. New York, 1978. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sprague, Thomas 1894 births 1972 deaths United States Naval Aviators United States Navy vice admirals United States Navy World War II admirals United States Naval Academy alumni People from Lima, Ohio Recipients of the Navy Cross (United States) Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Legion of Merit