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Battleship Commander: The Life of Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee Jr.
This is the first-ever biography of Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee Jr., who served a key role during World War II in the Pacific. Recognizing the achievements and legacy of one of the war's top combat admirals has been long overdue until now.Battleship Commander explores Lee's life from boyhood in Kentucky through his eventual service as commander of the fast battleships from 1942 to 1945. Paul Stillwell draws on more than 150 first-person accounts from those who knew and served with Lee from boyhood until the time of his death. Said to be down to earth, modest, forgiving, friendly, and with a wry sense of humor, Lee eschewed the media and, to the extent possible, left administrative details to others. Stillwell relates the sequential building of a successful career, illustrating Admiral Lee's focus on operational, tactical, and strategic concerns. During his service in the Navy Department from 1939 to 1942, Lee prepared the U.S. Navy for war at sea, and was involved in inspecting designs for battleships, cruisers, aircraft carriers, and destroyers. He sent observers to Britain to report on Royal Navy operations during the war against Germany and made plans to send an action team to mainland China to observe conditions for possible later Allied landings there. Putting his focus on the need to equip U.S. warships with radar and antiaircraft guns, Lee was one of the few flag officers of his generation who understood the tactical advantage of radar, especially during night battles. In 1942 Willis Lee became commander of the first division of fast battleships to operate in the Pacific. During that service, he commanded Task Force 64, which achieved a tide-turning victory in a night battle near Guadalcanal in November 1942. Lee missed two major opportunities for surface actions against the Japanese. In June 1944, in the Marianas campaign, he declined to engage because his ships were not trained adequately to operate together in surface battles. In October 1944, Admiral William Halsey's bungled decisions denied Lee's ships an opportunity for combat. Continuing his career of service near the end of the war, Lee, in the summer of 1945, directed anti-kamikaze research efforts in Casco Bay, Maine. While Lee's wartime successes and failures make for compelling reading, what is here in this biography is a balanced look at the man and officer.
350 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 15, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 12, 2023
"Battleship admiral". In naval circles, since WW2, it's been a pejorative term with connotations akin to Great Britain and France's "horse generals" of the 1930s and 1940s whose hidebound, outdated notions of warfare led both nations to disaster in the opening of WW2. However, the life of VADM Lee puts such a notion to an end, whose ability to apply new technologies and tactics to presumably outdated battleships and their supporting destroyers such that these were applied to lethal combat effectiveness when it was most needed during the Pacific Theater in WW2.
Lee was born and raised in Kentucky, and gained an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1907. Notwithstanding his poor eyesight, Lee was an expert marksman with both rifles and handguns, winning the Academy awards in collegiate competitions. Then as a junior officer, he went to assignments in battleships and cruisers. During the occupation of Vera Cruz, when landing parties were getting cut down by Mexican snipers, Lee volunteered with some sailors from his ship, the battleship, USS New Hampshire, to deal with the problem. And so he did --- notwithstanding that, today, dealing with snipers in urban combat is normally a skillset for highly trained infantry or Marines, a naval officer without formal training for such duty, Lee picked them off easily, eliminating the threat.
Lee subsequently through WW1 to the 1930s to the Pearl Harbor attacks served creditably with various shipboard and shore assignments. Of note, he was a member of the U.S. Shooting Team at the 1920 Olympics at Antwerp, winning 7 medals --- not until 1980 would another competitor surpass that medal count!
Lee was a gunnery man. In small arms and in big bore naval guns, he seemingly intuitively had an ability to envision how to analyze environmental conditions and trajectories, fire a projectile and put it on target. Yet, this in the ferment of rapid advances in naval technology occurring during the 1920s and 30s would only have made him nothing more than excelling in an eventually obsolescent skill set. What Lee brought to the table was an ability to avoid professional myopia ---- he did foresee, prior before many of his naval big gun contemporaries, the potential of naval aviation and of radar, and, as Chief of Fleet Training Division was able to ready the Navy's surface fleet enough that it was in the process of getting better radars and improved ship anti-aircraft defenses in place in time for the US entry to WW2.
9 months after that, Lee was assigned as commander of Battleship Division 6, and sent to the South Pacific where that unit would operate initially as part of the carrier task force supporting the Guadalcanal Campaign. At this time, notwithstanding the recent US victory at Midway, American carrier resources were, at best, in a state of parity with Japan's. With subsequent combat engagements, both nations were tapped out, forcing both to resort to sending what naval resources each did have available for combat at Guadalcanal.
For the Americans, this development initially favored Japan. The night naval engagement, the Battle of Savo Island, remains to this day, the U.S. Navy's worst defeat since the War of 1812. In subsequent engagements, between that time and November 1942, both sides were increasingly in a naval war of attrition that neither could sustain indefinitely.
In a decision borne variously of desperation, brilliance, and necessity, VADM Halsey, commander of naval forces in the South Pacific, detached Lee's battleship division, assigned several destroyers to his group, designating it Task Force 64 (TF 64), designating Lee as its commander.
Lee had not stood idle by allowing his battleships to remain static as carrier escorts in the 3 months of his command and this assignment. He drilled his ships in night shiphandling, station keeping, communications, and tactics. In addition, he trained them in night gunnery using radar, unlike his predecessors in the previous naval engagements as Guadalcanal.
The result was a U.S. victory ---- one that proved decisive in the overall U.S. victory. The Japanese task force sent to land additional troops and supplies with accompanying battleships and cruisers sent to destroy Henderson Airfield at Guadalcanal, ran into Lee's force. The result was a brutal, hardfought slugfest in which both sides took dreadful losses, but Lee's battleships were the last ones standing--- Japan's Kirishima ultimately sunk.
Better command and control within Lee's force were decisive. Lee had established within his flagship, USS Washington, a fusion of information between navigation on the bridge, visual information from lookouts, communications between task force members and radar information to create what would eventually become known today as the CIC (Combat Information Center) --- a feature now common on all U.S. Navy ships and Coast Guard cutters.
Awarded the Navy Cross for his victory and subsequently promoted to vice admiral, Lee was appointed to command of all Pacific Fleet battleships, and moved to implement lessons learned such that all these formerly considered obsolescent vessels were to achieve effectiveness greater than their Japanese counterparts.
In addition, Lee promoted the use of the proximity fuse for shipboard ---- a technology that gave AA shells the ability to detect proximity close to an enemy aircraft and detonate --- as opposed to the gun crews, while under attack, having to manually set the fuse on the shells and estimate the altitudes enemy aircraft were at. The result made the battleships bastions of AA defense for carrier task forces while at the same time making them invaluable for NGFS (naval gunfire support) for the Pacific War's island hopping campaigns.
In the last months of the War, one development that the U.S. Navy did not anticipate and had terrible difficulty in addressing were the increasingly dreadful losses to Japanese kamikaze tactics. Having a reputation for keen logical analysis and ability to grasp new technologies, Lee was detached from his beloved battleships in June 1945 and assigned shoreside to develop anti-kamikaze measures and technologies. In this role, Lee served to the end of the War. His life ended just after the war's end --- the long hours of combat stress; the long, sleepless nights of fleet command; chain smoking; and an unhealthy diet had taken their toll.
I found this book a fascinating story of one of the lesser known great naval leaders of WW2. As a retired Coast Guard officer, I enjoyed seeing how Lee managed his naval career and comparing notes at where he was at in his life during his career and where I was at in mine at the same age. He was an inspiring leader, a consummate professional, a highly intelligent man, and a brilliant tactician ---- America was fortunate to have had a man at the right place at the right time who understood how to get the most from out of its battleships while, at the same time, was open and enthusiastic to employing new technologies to gain even more utility from them. Such men make the difference between winning and losing. I recommend this book for military history enthusiasts, for battleship fans, and for those desiring more to learn about the U.S. Navy from WW1 through WW2.
Lee was born and raised in Kentucky, and gained an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1907. Notwithstanding his poor eyesight, Lee was an expert marksman with both rifles and handguns, winning the Academy awards in collegiate competitions. Then as a junior officer, he went to assignments in battleships and cruisers. During the occupation of Vera Cruz, when landing parties were getting cut down by Mexican snipers, Lee volunteered with some sailors from his ship, the battleship, USS New Hampshire, to deal with the problem. And so he did --- notwithstanding that, today, dealing with snipers in urban combat is normally a skillset for highly trained infantry or Marines, a naval officer without formal training for such duty, Lee picked them off easily, eliminating the threat.
Lee subsequently through WW1 to the 1930s to the Pearl Harbor attacks served creditably with various shipboard and shore assignments. Of note, he was a member of the U.S. Shooting Team at the 1920 Olympics at Antwerp, winning 7 medals --- not until 1980 would another competitor surpass that medal count!
Lee was a gunnery man. In small arms and in big bore naval guns, he seemingly intuitively had an ability to envision how to analyze environmental conditions and trajectories, fire a projectile and put it on target. Yet, this in the ferment of rapid advances in naval technology occurring during the 1920s and 30s would only have made him nothing more than excelling in an eventually obsolescent skill set. What Lee brought to the table was an ability to avoid professional myopia ---- he did foresee, prior before many of his naval big gun contemporaries, the potential of naval aviation and of radar, and, as Chief of Fleet Training Division was able to ready the Navy's surface fleet enough that it was in the process of getting better radars and improved ship anti-aircraft defenses in place in time for the US entry to WW2.
9 months after that, Lee was assigned as commander of Battleship Division 6, and sent to the South Pacific where that unit would operate initially as part of the carrier task force supporting the Guadalcanal Campaign. At this time, notwithstanding the recent US victory at Midway, American carrier resources were, at best, in a state of parity with Japan's. With subsequent combat engagements, both nations were tapped out, forcing both to resort to sending what naval resources each did have available for combat at Guadalcanal.
For the Americans, this development initially favored Japan. The night naval engagement, the Battle of Savo Island, remains to this day, the U.S. Navy's worst defeat since the War of 1812. In subsequent engagements, between that time and November 1942, both sides were increasingly in a naval war of attrition that neither could sustain indefinitely.
In a decision borne variously of desperation, brilliance, and necessity, VADM Halsey, commander of naval forces in the South Pacific, detached Lee's battleship division, assigned several destroyers to his group, designating it Task Force 64 (TF 64), designating Lee as its commander.
Lee had not stood idle by allowing his battleships to remain static as carrier escorts in the 3 months of his command and this assignment. He drilled his ships in night shiphandling, station keeping, communications, and tactics. In addition, he trained them in night gunnery using radar, unlike his predecessors in the previous naval engagements as Guadalcanal.
The result was a U.S. victory ---- one that proved decisive in the overall U.S. victory. The Japanese task force sent to land additional troops and supplies with accompanying battleships and cruisers sent to destroy Henderson Airfield at Guadalcanal, ran into Lee's force. The result was a brutal, hardfought slugfest in which both sides took dreadful losses, but Lee's battleships were the last ones standing--- Japan's Kirishima ultimately sunk.
Better command and control within Lee's force were decisive. Lee had established within his flagship, USS Washington, a fusion of information between navigation on the bridge, visual information from lookouts, communications between task force members and radar information to create what would eventually become known today as the CIC (Combat Information Center) --- a feature now common on all U.S. Navy ships and Coast Guard cutters.
Awarded the Navy Cross for his victory and subsequently promoted to vice admiral, Lee was appointed to command of all Pacific Fleet battleships, and moved to implement lessons learned such that all these formerly considered obsolescent vessels were to achieve effectiveness greater than their Japanese counterparts.
In addition, Lee promoted the use of the proximity fuse for shipboard ---- a technology that gave AA shells the ability to detect proximity close to an enemy aircraft and detonate --- as opposed to the gun crews, while under attack, having to manually set the fuse on the shells and estimate the altitudes enemy aircraft were at. The result made the battleships bastions of AA defense for carrier task forces while at the same time making them invaluable for NGFS (naval gunfire support) for the Pacific War's island hopping campaigns.
In the last months of the War, one development that the U.S. Navy did not anticipate and had terrible difficulty in addressing were the increasingly dreadful losses to Japanese kamikaze tactics. Having a reputation for keen logical analysis and ability to grasp new technologies, Lee was detached from his beloved battleships in June 1945 and assigned shoreside to develop anti-kamikaze measures and technologies. In this role, Lee served to the end of the War. His life ended just after the war's end --- the long hours of combat stress; the long, sleepless nights of fleet command; chain smoking; and an unhealthy diet had taken their toll.
I found this book a fascinating story of one of the lesser known great naval leaders of WW2. As a retired Coast Guard officer, I enjoyed seeing how Lee managed his naval career and comparing notes at where he was at in his life during his career and where I was at in mine at the same age. He was an inspiring leader, a consummate professional, a highly intelligent man, and a brilliant tactician ---- America was fortunate to have had a man at the right place at the right time who understood how to get the most from out of its battleships while, at the same time, was open and enthusiastic to employing new technologies to gain even more utility from them. Such men make the difference between winning and losing. I recommend this book for military history enthusiasts, for battleship fans, and for those desiring more to learn about the U.S. Navy from WW1 through WW2.
November 23, 2022
A fitting tribute to a relatively unsung WWII hero.
In the annals of United States Naval history, Vice Admiral Willis Augustus Lee Jr. (May 11, 1888 – August 25, 1945) is a relatively unsung hero. He’s certainly not a household name amongst amateur war historians in the same vein as “Bull” Halsey, Raymond Spruance, Chester Nimitz, Arleigh Burke, or Charles A. Lockwood.
This is a bit of shame, as he certainly made history as the winner of one of the only two battleship vs. battleship engagements of the Pacific Theatre of WWII. Now, thanks to accomplished naval history author Paul Stillwell – himself a former battleship officer on the USS New Jersey – and his new excellent new book “Battleship Commander: The Life of Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee Jr, “ this outstanding sailor and naval warrior will finally start getting the attention he truly deserves.
In the annals of United States Naval history, Vice Admiral Willis Augustus Lee Jr. (May 11, 1888 – August 25, 1945) is a relatively unsung hero. He’s certainly not a household name amongst amateur war historians in the same vein as “Bull” Halsey, Raymond Spruance, Chester Nimitz, Arleigh Burke, or Charles A. Lockwood.
This is a bit of shame, as he certainly made history as the winner of one of the only two battleship vs. battleship engagements of the Pacific Theatre of WWII. Now, thanks to accomplished naval history author Paul Stillwell – himself a former battleship officer on the USS New Jersey – and his new excellent new book “Battleship Commander: The Life of Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee Jr, “ this outstanding sailor and naval warrior will finally start getting the attention he truly deserves.
September 18, 2024
RIP to the goat
November 30, 2021
Although Vice Admiral Lee is a very admirable person in which to write a biography, the author freely admits that time and Lee's desire to stay out of the lime light would make writing a book about him difficult. After reading Battleship Commander, one would have to say that it would be impossible to write a meaningful biography on Willis Augustus Lee - based on the author's copious amount of anecdotal quotations. A very plain book on a Man who will have to remain more of an enigma than anything else.
April 13, 2022
An interesting book covering the Naval career of a lesser-known but not necessarily less influential Admiral from WWII. Adm Lee was probably one of the last battleship men there was and his interest in shooting and gunnery aided in his advancement throughout his career, it is just a shame is life ended so suddenly, who knows what he might have gone on to accomplish. Well worth the time investment.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 14, 2023
Battleship Commander is the first biography of a great admiral of the US Navy, Willis A. Lee Jr. The book, published by Naval Institute Press and written by the talented Paul Stillwell, is a must for any fan of naval biographies, curious about two of the most important actions of the US Navy in the Pacific in the Second World War and ultimately of those who care about the stories of great sea captains.
Upon completing the reading I found it strange that such a charismatic and without doubt capable character had not been the subject of a biography. But I must also say that Paul Stillwell's work perfectly honors this great soldier.
The biography tends to perfectly balance Lee's personal history with his career and the well-documented facts of the war. Drawing on dozens of official sources, testimonies, interviews and letters, it is possible for Stillwell to reconstruct the admiral's human and professional history. Stillwell traces the "Moses" Lee origins (nickname given due to events that occurred at his birth) from Kentucky and chapter after chapter we endear ourselves to this short-sighted young man making his way through the US Navy in the early 20th century.
Lee despite his visual defect also becomes a shooting champion, participating in the 1920 Olympics, at the age of 32, and will never lose this "ballistic" ability. His own service in ships will also be marked by this special characteristic and also thanks to an open mind to innovations he was the first to engage the enemy in battle with gun controlling radars.
The title of the book, "Battleship Commander" describes the second and last part of Lee's career, but it is representative of what was certainly his apogee, namely the night action in Guadalcanal on November 14, 1942. The island, in which the American forces were besieged and shelled by the "Tokyo Express" (convoys of Japanese battleships and transports that harassed the marines previously landed on the island) and the sea in front of it, the famous "Iron Bottom Sound" were the scene of various battles and the climax was precisely the action of November 14th 1942 in which Lee on the Washington cut the battleship Kirishima to pieces and forced the remaining Japanese forces to retreat. Lee's coolness, the result of a rational and calculating mind, open and never pedantic, gave the victory to the US forces.
However, the battleship had lost its central role in naval tactics to the advantage of the aircraft carrier, but again Lee's adaptability and sense of duty stood out as the war continued. Controversial was the action off Leyte Island, later in 1944. with the American fleet all but mocked by the Japanese surface attack through the straits of the Philippine Islands. In that case Lee was not at fault but the US missed a perfect opportunity to destroy the remaining Japanese forces trying to swoop down on the American landing forces.
Lee's professionalism, his good-natured and no-nonsense character, his never obtuse discipline are remembered by those who had him close as his staff, from which Stillwell draws heavily. Thus emerges a character who unfortunately will not see the end of the war, a life cut short a few days before the end of hostilities. A character who, however, emerges in his quiet greatness from this fantastic biography of Paul Stillwell, a book that cannot fail to attract those who know him and to interest and excite those who don't know him!
Upon completing the reading I found it strange that such a charismatic and without doubt capable character had not been the subject of a biography. But I must also say that Paul Stillwell's work perfectly honors this great soldier.
The biography tends to perfectly balance Lee's personal history with his career and the well-documented facts of the war. Drawing on dozens of official sources, testimonies, interviews and letters, it is possible for Stillwell to reconstruct the admiral's human and professional history. Stillwell traces the "Moses" Lee origins (nickname given due to events that occurred at his birth) from Kentucky and chapter after chapter we endear ourselves to this short-sighted young man making his way through the US Navy in the early 20th century.
Lee despite his visual defect also becomes a shooting champion, participating in the 1920 Olympics, at the age of 32, and will never lose this "ballistic" ability. His own service in ships will also be marked by this special characteristic and also thanks to an open mind to innovations he was the first to engage the enemy in battle with gun controlling radars.
The title of the book, "Battleship Commander" describes the second and last part of Lee's career, but it is representative of what was certainly his apogee, namely the night action in Guadalcanal on November 14, 1942. The island, in which the American forces were besieged and shelled by the "Tokyo Express" (convoys of Japanese battleships and transports that harassed the marines previously landed on the island) and the sea in front of it, the famous "Iron Bottom Sound" were the scene of various battles and the climax was precisely the action of November 14th 1942 in which Lee on the Washington cut the battleship Kirishima to pieces and forced the remaining Japanese forces to retreat. Lee's coolness, the result of a rational and calculating mind, open and never pedantic, gave the victory to the US forces.
However, the battleship had lost its central role in naval tactics to the advantage of the aircraft carrier, but again Lee's adaptability and sense of duty stood out as the war continued. Controversial was the action off Leyte Island, later in 1944. with the American fleet all but mocked by the Japanese surface attack through the straits of the Philippine Islands. In that case Lee was not at fault but the US missed a perfect opportunity to destroy the remaining Japanese forces trying to swoop down on the American landing forces.
Lee's professionalism, his good-natured and no-nonsense character, his never obtuse discipline are remembered by those who had him close as his staff, from which Stillwell draws heavily. Thus emerges a character who unfortunately will not see the end of the war, a life cut short a few days before the end of hostilities. A character who, however, emerges in his quiet greatness from this fantastic biography of Paul Stillwell, a book that cannot fail to attract those who know him and to interest and excite those who don't know him!
April 17, 2023
Before the publication of this biography, Willis A. Lee tends to arrive in history books out of nowhere, wins a celebrated battleship-on-battleship action at the climax of the Guadalcanal campaign, only to experience professional disappointment in the operational fiasco that was the naval portion of the American retaking of the Philippines. This then is a complete life, as Stillwell takes you from Lee's childhood in Kentucky, his involvement in competitive target shooting, and the general evolution of an officer and a gentlemen who was a master technologist. In as much as Stillwell has been working on this book for a very long time, it has the additional value of being heavily larded with reminisces of the many people who came into contact with Lee.
I really have nothing to mark this book down for, but I suspect that Stillwell could have written more about some of the USN office politics that left tired men in positions of command authority when they were physically and mentally done (a big contributor to the Leyte Gulf debacle). Also, I would have liked to have seen Thomas Hughes' biography of Bill Halsey make it into the bibliography, as Hughes does a good job of putting Halsey's lapses into perspective, and emphasizing that Halsey had his own marching orders that conditioned the failed deployment.
I really have nothing to mark this book down for, but I suspect that Stillwell could have written more about some of the USN office politics that left tired men in positions of command authority when they were physically and mentally done (a big contributor to the Leyte Gulf debacle). Also, I would have liked to have seen Thomas Hughes' biography of Bill Halsey make it into the bibliography, as Hughes does a good job of putting Halsey's lapses into perspective, and emphasizing that Halsey had his own marching orders that conditioned the failed deployment.
October 1, 2023
A good book, providing a biography of Vice Admiral Willis Lee, the U.S. Navy’s primary battleship commander in World War II. The author, noted naval historian Paul Stillwell, gives a detailed account of Lee’s life, with in depth analysis of his time commanding the Pacific Fleet’s Battleship Force from late 1942 through to mid 1945. Stilwell presents Lee as the last of the Big Gun Admirals, with unmatched expertise in gunnery and battleship tactics. This was evident in his victory at the decisive Fourth Battle of Savo Island, the only truly contested battleship combat during the Pacfic War. However, Stillwell also points out Lee’s innovative spirit and ability to push through new technology and doctrine to meet immediate wartime needs. Though Lee never had the opportunity to lead the battle line in a penultimate battleship engagement, his contributions to fleet air defense and ship operations were still essential to victory in the Pacific. Stillwell also describes how Lee’s personality facilitated efficient command relationships in the “Nimitizian” fleet structure. This is a great case study of the leadership and culture described by Trent Hone in Learning War. Highly recommended as an example of effective wartime fleet management.
November 5, 2022
Battleship Commander: The Life of Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee
Paul Stillwell
As a history and US Navy fan, I have read many accounts of the Pacific War over the years. Most of us know about the most famous leaders, Nimitz, Halsey, Spruance.
I wanted to know more about those fascinating individuals who usually get “honorable mention.” Those who the historians obviously respect, but usually only get cursory attention.
Mr. Stillwell did an admirable job of recounting the life and contributions of Admiral Willis Lee, a hero of Guadalcanal.
There are times one wonders whether Mr. Stillwell inserted some fluff to lengthen the book. However I prefer to think a lot of the details which are not necessarily about Admiral Lee are required for a good understanding of his world in the war.
The Admiral’s accomplishments pre-war and in non-combat settings during the war undoubtedly saved lives.
The tragic events and how he managed them are worth learning about.
I do not recall Mr. Stillwell using the term, but stoic is a good description.
Definitely worth the read.
Paul Stillwell
As a history and US Navy fan, I have read many accounts of the Pacific War over the years. Most of us know about the most famous leaders, Nimitz, Halsey, Spruance.
I wanted to know more about those fascinating individuals who usually get “honorable mention.” Those who the historians obviously respect, but usually only get cursory attention.
Mr. Stillwell did an admirable job of recounting the life and contributions of Admiral Willis Lee, a hero of Guadalcanal.
There are times one wonders whether Mr. Stillwell inserted some fluff to lengthen the book. However I prefer to think a lot of the details which are not necessarily about Admiral Lee are required for a good understanding of his world in the war.
The Admiral’s accomplishments pre-war and in non-combat settings during the war undoubtedly saved lives.
The tragic events and how he managed them are worth learning about.
I do not recall Mr. Stillwell using the term, but stoic is a good description.
Definitely worth the read.
December 1, 2024
This is a superb book on an innovative naval officer, it is unfortunate that such a great man as Admiral Willis Lee died at the end of WWII. He truly was ahead of his time, maybe he would have use his brilliance in Gunnery and taken the next step into ship to ship missile technology… we can only speculate. His understanding of RADAR and optics when came to Gunnery was what made a great naval officer. Olympian in 1920 5 Gold 1Silver 1Bronze, Navy Cross at Guadalcanal night action 14-15 November 1942.
August 14, 2024
A very good book! This book was a long time coming shedding light on the “Gun Club” and the pragmatic shift to aviation. Having served as GQ OOD on BB-61 in the Gulf the action sequences of the book was personal and very accurate. The fog of war was ever so apparent as OOD/OTC at 0100, 25 kts, all running lights extinguished, and in very confined waters.
January 23, 2022
Worth the wait
I had first read about Lee in a story published in Naval History magazine and hoped someone would do Lee justice with a biography. Stillwell hit the mark with this book.
I had first read about Lee in a story published in Naval History magazine and hoped someone would do Lee justice with a biography. Stillwell hit the mark with this book.
January 21, 2024
Fascinating story of a largely unsung hero
The modern navy owes much to this humble man who dedicated his life to service. Well worth reading. Any examination of the war in the Pacific would be incomplete without the story of Admiral Lee
The modern navy owes much to this humble man who dedicated his life to service. Well worth reading. Any examination of the war in the Pacific would be incomplete without the story of Admiral Lee
July 3, 2022
One of the more engaging biographies of not-pop famous WW2 admirals. I really enjoyed it and afterwards felt I got a decent feel for the admiral.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews