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Posted by Simon Scheuer on May 5, 2026, 10:01:10, in reply to "If I had to compare Fletcher to Halsey I would say they were about even."
were already available but instead we made the 1.1 inch auto cannon and used the 50 cal machine gun. These could NOT shoot down anything in time.
As to King. Getting pissed off at your commanders over battle results is NOT LEADERSHIP. You already pointed out his early war blunders. Where was his ability to listen to "reason" then? He was an asshole in any sense. Personally, ran into quite a few of them.
Halsey's wild goose chase, among other actions of questionable utility, reduce the "successes" to the exercise of practical considerations.
Disagreements are expected. 
Previous Message
You may wish to study Halsey’s campaigns through the Solomons. Both admirals did very much with very little. And I would add both their records surpassed Spruance’s record who could work with only one objective at time regardless the cost.
As for King asshole no. He could be reasoned with as Nimitz /Marshall did numerous times Alcoholic, womanizer Anglophobe yes. He wanted what he wanted and weaker men bowed to him.
Lexington was heavily armed at Coral Sea . More so than any of the Yorktown classes. As you say maneuverability was her problem. Previous Message
..was tempered by the gravity of the situation. Not enough carriers. King may have been a great organizer...or at least was smart enough to imploy talented staff..but was in fact a flaming a$$whole. IMAGINE the roasting Fletcher would have gotten if he ran down his fuel at Coral Sea or lost a carrier at Guadalcanal to land based air attack. As lovely a carrier as Lexington was, she lacked maneuverability and defensive armament against air attack. This was not clearly understood at the time.
Most troubling is that even the most recent movie about Midway does NOT EVEN MENTION FLETCHER while the older Midway movie dismisses him. Previous Message
King blamed Fletcher for losing the Lexington , the brown shoes blamed him for being a black shoe, the Marines blamed him for Wake and Guadalcanal, he was worn out and Nimitz couldn't save him.
Then Morrison stuck another knife into him. Previous Message
I always have felt Admiral Fletcher did not get proper recognition for his role in Coral Sea and subsequently in Midway. A strategic win in Coral Sea and a decisive win at Midway. Add in a tactical win in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons. He must have done something right. It's unfortunate that King had it in for Fletcher. Previous Message
84th anniversary of the famous battle. With allied support, well done the United States Navy: "Scratch one flat top!"
Also, Star Wars day.
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