


Marc Mitscher
Surname | Mitscher |
Given Name | Marc |
Born | 26 Jan 1887 |
Died | 3 Feb 1947 |
Country | United States |
Category | Military-Sea |
Gender | Male |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseMarc Andrew Mitscher was born in Hillsboro, Wisconsin, United States, but moved to Washington, DC when he was fairly young. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland in 1910. In the next few years he served aboard cruisers, gunboats, destroyers, as well as holding on-shore posts. In Sep 1915 he was assigned to aviation training aboard the battleship North Carolina and officially became an aviator in Jun 1916 and transferred to Pensacola, Florida. In May 1919, he participated in the trans-Atlantic flight attempt; his plane, NC-3, landed in heavy fog near the Azores, thus failing to achieve the flight like NC-4 had. Nevertheless, he received the Navy Cross for his attempt. In the 1920s, he served at various posts, including seeing through that the carrier Saratoga received proper funding. He also served as officer aboard the carriers Langley and Saratoga, commanded the seaplane tender Wright, and led the Patrol Wing 1 of the Navy. Immediately before United States entered WW2, he served as the Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics.
ww2dbaseIn Oct 1941 Mitscher became the commanding officer of USS Hornet. In Apr 1942, about five months after the United States entered WW2, carrier Hornet was charged with launching James Doolittle's raiders against Tokyo and other targets. Two months later, Hornet participated in the Battle of Midway, though her pilots' battle record for this event was less than desired. He was taken away from the carrier on 30 Jun 1942, instead assigned to lead Patrol Wing 2 and other naval air units in the South Pacific as a rear admiral. In this role, he commanded naval air units during the Guadalcanal and Solomons campaigns. After commanding Carrier Division 3 during the Marshalls campaign, Mitscher was promoted vice admiral on 21 Mar 1944 and commanded the fast carriers of Task Force 58 (also known as TF 38). With the crushing air power in hand, he was responsible for strikes across remaining Japanese defenses all across the Pacific, including attack on the Japanese home islands near the end of the war. The war ended with Mitscher in the role of Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Air. He received two Gold Stars to his Navy Cross and the Distinguished Service Medal with two Gold Stars.
ww2dbaseAfter the war, he first became the commander of the 8th Fleet then served as the Commander-in-Chief of United States Atlantic Fleet. He passed away from a heart attack in Feb 1947 at Norfolk, Virginia, United States while still in uniform. Arleigh Burke who served under Mitscher during WW2 recalled:
ww2dbaseSources: Naval Historical Center, Wikipedia.
Last Major Revision: Jan 2006
Marc Mitscher Interactive Map
Photographs
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Marc Mitscher Timeline
26 Jan 1887 | Marc Mitscher was born. |
25 Jul 1943 | US Army Major General Nathan Twining replaced US Navy Rear Admiral Marc Mitscher as Commander, Aircraft, Solomons. |
6 Jan 1944 | The Fast Carrier Task Force 50 was renumbered TF 58 and put under the command of Rear Admiral Marc A. Mitscher, one of the US Navy's most skilled aviators. With new carriers coming forward in such numbers it was now possible to provide the Task Force with six fleet carriers and six light fleet carriers with over 700 aircraft. Screened by six battleships and six cruisers it was the most powerful fleet in the world. |
25 Oct 1944 | Off northeastern Luzon, Philippines, aircraft from US Navy Task Force 38 attacked the Japanese carrier force consisted of fleet carrier Zuikaku and light carriers Zuiho, Chitose, and Chiyoda in the Battle off Cape Engaño. The Japanese force was escorted by two battleship-carrier hybrids (Hyuga and Ise; aircraft-less on this date), three light cruisers (Oyodo, Tama, and Isuzu), and nine destroyers at about 0830 hours, 26 minutes after those planes were detected by Zuikaku's radar. The overwhelmingly larger American force, under Admiral William Halsey, centered around fleet carriers USS Lexington, USS Intrepid, USS Essex, USS Franklin, USS Enterprise, further bolstered by a great many light carriers, battleships, cruisers, and destroyers. Zuikaku was damaged by skilled damage control teams extinguished the fires and corrected the listing by 0850 hours. Chitose was fatally damaged by the first attack wave, sinking at 0937 hours. At 0953 hours, a second attack wave struck, fatally damaging Chiyoda, leaving her dead in the water to be sunk by American destroyers later at 1655 hours. The second wave also damaged Zuiho's flight deck, the last functional flight deck of Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa's force; Japanese combat air patrol planes in the air would need to ditch when they ran out of fuel. At 1032 hours, Ozawa transferred his flag from the damaged Zuikaku to Oyodo. At 1308, the Japanese sighted an incoming third wave of American aircraft. Six torpedoes struck Zuikaku, causing massive flooding and several fires in the hangar; the commanding officer addressed the surviving crew, ordered the lowering of the ensign, and gave the abandon ship order at 1358 hours; Zuikaku sank by the stern at 1414 hours. Zuiho suffered two torpedo, two bomb hits, and a great many near-misses during the third attack wave, and she was dead in the water at 1445 hours. At 1455 hours, a fourth wave struck, sealing the doom of Zuiho with ten near-misses, leading to Zuiho's commanding officer giving the abandon ship order; she sank at 1526 hours. |
28 May 1945 | Vice Admiral John S. McCain, Sr. relieved Marc Mitscher as the commanding officer of US Navy Task Force 38; USS Shangri-La remained McCain's flagship. |
3 Feb 1947 | Marc Mitscher passed away. |
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Captain Henry P. Jim Crowe, Guadalcanal, 13 Jan 1943

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15 Nov 2009 04:51:06 PM
i am interested to know if patrol wing 2 under marcs command participated in the battle of the santa cruz islands.