One of the USA’s greatest naval officers. One that was never medically qualified for the job. Admiral Willis ‘ching’ Lee. An Olympian and master tactician.
He may have been the greatest admiral in WW2. He not only fought the enemy but spent most of his time fighting the ordinance bureaucrats getting better weapons, more AA guns on the ships, better fuses and better fire control. All while training the next generation, inventing new technology and shooting anything handy. Without him the USA would have lost WW2. He made sure they were ready. Cheating and bypassing his bossed where needed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willis_Augustus_Lee
Drachinifel’s documentary is a must see.
https://youtu.be/58lfaMFUQc0
He was a distant relative of general Robert E Lee. In spite of his Asiatic looks and his resulting nickname he had no Asian family ancestry.
3 replies on “A not quite forgotten hero Admiral Willis ‘ching’ Lee”
Very impressive indeed. From the quote after his decisive victory, I’d say one of his secrets was respect for his opponents.
I followed up studying the Australian made fighter bombers of WW2. The inventor was called Fred David. A master at the art of aeronautical design but dogged by supply problems in Australia. He is the only aircraft designer to have designed both Axis and allies aircraft that fought each other. He designed several Heinkel planes for Germany before Hitler took over. Fred was short for Fredrich he was a German Jew. He dodged Hitler by going to Japan to design some of their bombers. Then slipped away to Australia. The US did not know if they could trust him so he ended up in Australia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_David
Drachinifel: Seconded