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National Archives #80-CF-8005-1
Cropped by author
Thomas L. Sprague was born in Ohio and graduated
from the Naval Academy in 1917. He served convoy duty during the First
World War and commanded a destroyer
after the war. He took flight
training in 1921 and held numerous staff
and sea postings, including superintendent of Naval Air Training in
1937-1940. He was executive officer of Ranger during the Neutrality Patrol
of 1940-1941.
Sprague helped commission escort carrier Charger in February to December 1942 and Intrepid in August 1943. He commanded Intrepid in raids against the Marshalls and Truk. Promoted to rear admiral and command of Carrier Division 22 in June 1944, he covered the invasions of Guam and Morotai before commanding Task Group 77.4.1 at Leyte Gulf. His unit was far enough south to escape damage when Kurita broke through San Bernardino Strait and attacked Clifton Sprague's division further north. (The two men were not related.)
Sprague briefly commanded training carriers before taking command of Carrier Division 3, a fast carrier division, off Okinawa in April 1945. He became chief of the Bureau of Naval Personnel after the war, was promoted to vice admiral, and commanded Air Force Pacific Fleet until his retirement in 1952. He briefly returned to active duty in 1956-1957 to help negotiate base agreements with the Philippine government.
| 1894-10-2
|
Born at Lima, Ohio |
|
| 1917 |
Ensign
|
Graduates from Naval Academy,
standing 19th in a class of 199. Assigned to CL Cleveland |
| 1918-4 |
DD Montgomery |
|
| 1920 |
Lieutenant |
Commander, DD Montgomery |
| 1921 |
Flight training |
|
| 1931 |
Commander, Scout Squadron 6 |
|
| 1937 |
Superintendent, Naval Air
Training, Pensacola |
|
| 1940-6 |
Commander
|
Executive officer, CV Ranger |
| 1941-6 |
Captain |
Commander, AV Pocomoke |
| 1942-3-3 |
Commander, CVE Charger |
|
| 1942-12 |
Chief of staff, Naval Air Force,
Atlantic Fleet |
|
| 1943-3-8 |
Acting commander, Naval Air
Force, Atlantic Fleet |
|
| 1943-8-16 |
Captain |
Commander, CV Intrepid |
| 1944-3-28
|
|
Commander, Alameda Naval Air Station |
| 1944-7-27 |
Rear admiral | Commander, Carrier
Division 22 |
| 1944-12-16
|
Commander, Carrier Division 11 |
|
| 1945-2 |
|
Commander, Carrier Division 3 |
| 1945-12 |
Deputy chief, Bureau of Naval
Personnel |
|
| 1947 |
Chief, Bureau of Naval Personnel |
|
| 1949-8 |
Vice admiral |
|
| 1949-10 |
Commander, Naval Air, Pacific |
|
| 1950-2-1 |
Commander, 1 Fleet |
|
| 1952-4-1 |
Admiral |
Retires |
| 1956 |
Recalled to active duty to help negotiate base agreements with the Philippine government | |
| 1972-9-17 |
Dies at Chula Vista, California |
References
Morison
(1958)
Naval
Historical
Center (accessed 2008-6-21)
Pettibone (2006)
Tuohy
(2007)
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007-2009 by Kent G. Budge. Index
