World War II Database

1. Tom Black says:
7 Jun 2006 04:32:24 AM

Oldendorfs fame rests on the destruction of the Japanese Southern Force in the Surigao Strait during the battle of Leyte Gulf, where he crossed the T of the Japanese. This positional advantage greatly magnified the pre-existing superiority he enjoyed in numbers and quality of ships, leading to the almost complete annihilation of the enemy fleet.

He is reported to have commented to the effect, If the enemy insists on putting his head into a trap, why should I give him an even break?

Of course, Oldendorf was under the command of Kinkaid, who directed him to stop the Japanese attack, so Oldendorf did not have the option to go elsewhere, unlike Halsey, who abandoned a very similar position at the San Bernardino Strait, saying he considered it childish to occupy a static defensive position at the mouth of the strait.

It is arguable that if he had adopted Oldendorfs attitude, Halsey with the cream of the US battleships could have achieved against Kurita, with the main Japanese battle fleet, a victory of similar proportions to Oldendorfs: but on a distinctly greater scale.

Another interesting comment is that of Spruance at the Marianas, when he said, If we are doing something so important that we are attracting the enemy to us, then we can afford to let him come and take care of him when he arrives.

Here Spruance, like Oldendorf, was putting protection of the landing forces as priority number one, and exploiting the fundamental truth that this strategic offensive was forcing the numerically inferior Japanese fleet to come to battle. This gave Spruances airmen the advantage of close-range fighting against Japanese planes at the limit of their range (like the RAF against the Germans in the Battle of Britain), as well as enabling him to use the full AA firepower of the assembled Fifth Fleet. These factors, added to the individual superiority of the US planes and pilots, led to the huge scale of the air victory he achieved.

In both actions, the calm, ruthless exploitation of positional advantage greatly multiplied the effects of numerical and individual superiority.

My question: if Spruance gained the greatest naval air victory in history with his first action at the Marianas, is it true to say that Oldendorf at the Surigao Strait gained the most decisive victory ever of battle line against battle line in the proportion of losses inflicted?

2. Richard Jones says:
7 Dec 2007 11:15:37 PM

I am told through family stories that I am somewhat related to Admiral Oldendorf through the Gage family. If anyone has a
connection I would be greatly happy to hear from you, Thanks RCJ