The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
|
| Previous: Office of Strategic Services | Table of Contents | Next: Oga Shigeru |
Ralph Ofstie was a naval aviator who set three air
speed records in 1924. He later served as naval
attaché to Japan
and was the first captain of the Essex.
By late
1944 he was a rear admiral in command of an escort carrier
division, Carrier
Division 26. His division participated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf and suffered some of
the first kamikaze attacks of
the war, which sank St. Lo and inflicted damage on Kitkun
Bay.
Postwar, Ofstie conducted many of the interrogations of former Japanese naval officers for the United States Strategic Bombing Survey. He was later entangled in the "Revolt of the Admirals", testifying before Congress on 11 October 1949 that
Strategic air warfare, as
practiced in the past and as proposed for the future, is militarily
unsound and of limited effect, is morally wrong, and is decidedly
harmful to the stability of a post-war world.
Ofstie later commanded carrier task forces off Korea during the Korean War.
| 1897-11-16
|
Born at Eau Claire, Wisconsin |
|
| 1918-6 |
Ensign |
Graduates from Naval Academy |
| 1918-8 |
Lieutenant junior
grade |
DD Whipple |
| 1918 |
CL Chattanooga |
|
| 1919 |
DD O'Bannon |
|
| 1920 |
Flight training |
|
| 1922 |
VF-1 |
|
| 1924 |
Lieutenant |
Commander, VS-6 |
| 1927 |
CL Detroit |
|
| 1929 |
Flight Test Division, Naval Air
Station Anacostia |
|
| 1933 |
Commander, VF-6, CV Saratoga |
|
| 1935 |
Lieutenant
commander |
Assistant naval attache, Japan |
| 1938 |
CV Enterprise |
|
| 1939 |
CV Saratoga | |
| 1940 |
CV Enterprise | |
| 1940 |
CV Yorktown | |
| 1941 |
Commander |
Assistant naval attache, Britain |
| 1942 |
Staff, Pacific Fleet |
|
| 1943-11-6 |
Captain |
Commander, CV Essex |
| 1944-8-7 |
Rear
admiral |
Commander, Carrier Division 26 |
| 1945-2 |
Commander, Carrier Division 23 |
|
| 1945-4 |
Chief of staff, Air Force,
Atlantic Fleet |
|
| 1945-8 |
U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey | |
| 1946 |
Joint Chiefs of Staff Evaluation
Broup, Operation CROSSROADS |
|
| 1950 |
Commander, Task Force 77, Korea |
|
| 1953 |
Vice admiral |
Deputy Chief of Naval Operations
for Air |
| 1955 |
Commander, 6 Fleet |
|
| 1956 |
Retires |
|
| 1956-11-19 |
Dies in Maryland |
References
Morison
(1958)
Naval
Historical
Center (accessed 2008-6-17)
Pettibone
(2006)
The Battle
Off
Samar (accessed 2008-6-17)
Tuohy (2007)
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2006, 2008-2009 by Kent G. Budge. Index
