United States Navy admiral (1888?1972)
Thomas Cassin Kinkaid
(3 April 1888 ? 17 November 1972) was an
admiral
in the
United States Navy
, known for his service during
World War II
. He built a reputation as a "fighting admiral" in the aircraft carrier battles of 1942 and commanded the
Allied
forces in the
Aleutian Islands Campaign
. He was Commander Allied Naval Forces and the
Seventh Fleet
under
General of the Army
Douglas MacArthur
in the
Southwest Pacific Area
, where he conducted numerous
amphibious operations
, and commanded an Allied fleet during the
Battle of Leyte Gulf
, the largest naval battle of World War II and the last
naval battle between battleships
in history.
Born into a naval family, Kinkaid was ranked in the lower half of his class on his graduation from the
United States Naval Academy
in June 1908. His early commissioned service was spent aboard
battleships
. In 1913, he began instruction in ordnance engineering and served in that field for many years. He saw action during the
1916 United States occupation of the Dominican Republic
. During
World War I
, he was attached to the
Royal Navy
before serving as gunnery officer aboard the battleship
USS
Arizona
. After the war, he was assistant chief of staff to the Commander U.S. Naval Detachment in
Turkey
. Kinkaid received his first command, the
destroyer
USS
Isherwood
, in 1924. He was
executive officer
of the battleship
USS
Colorado
when the
1933 Long Beach earthquake
struck, and participated in relief efforts. He received his second command in 1937, the
heavy cruiser
USS
Indianapolis
.
From 1938 to 1941, Kinkaid was a
naval attache
in
Italy
and
Yugoslavia
. In the months prior to U.S. entry into World War II, he commanded a destroyer
squadron
. Promoted to
rear admiral
in 1941, he assumed command of a
U.S. Pacific Fleet
cruiser division. His cruisers defended the
aircraft carrier
USS
Lexington
during the
Battle of the Coral Sea
and
USS
Hornet
during the
Battle of Midway
. After that battle, he took command of
Task Force 16
, a task force built around the carrier
USS
Enterprise
, which he led during the long and difficult
Solomon Islands campaign
, participating in the
Battles of the Eastern Solomons
and the
Santa Cruz Islands
. Kinkaid was placed in charge of the North Pacific Force in January 1943 and commanded the
operations that regained control of the Aleutian Islands
. He was promoted to
vice admiral
in June 1943.
In November 1943, Kinkaid became Commander Allied Naval Forces
South West Pacific Area
, and commander of the
Seventh Fleet
, directing U.S. and
Royal Australian Navy
forces supporting the
New Guinea campaign
. During the
Battle of the Surigao Strait
, he commanded the Allied ships in the last naval battle between battleships in history. Following the demise of Japanese naval power in the region, the Allied navies supported the campaigns in the
Philippines
and
Borneo
. Kinkaid was promoted to admiral on 3 April 1945. After the
Pacific War
ended in August 1945, the Seventh Fleet assisted in operations on the
Korean
and China coasts. Admiral Kinkaid was Commander Eastern Sea Frontier and the
Sixteenth Fleet
from 1946 until his retirement in May 1950. He was a member of the National Security Training Commission for much of the rest of the decade. He also served with the
American Battle Monuments Commission
for 15 years.
Early life
[
edit
]
Thomas Cassin Kinkaid was born in
Hanover, New Hampshire
, on 3 April 1888,
[1]
the second child and only son of Thomas Wright Kinkaid, a naval officer, and his wife Virginia Lee nee Cassin. At the time, Thomas Wright Kinkaid was on leave from the
U.S. Navy
and employed at the
New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts
. When Thomas was only a year old, his father was posted to
USS
Pinta
, and the family moved to
Sitka, Alaska
, where a third child, Dorothy, was born in 1890. Over the next few years the family successively moved to
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
;
Norfolk, Virginia
;
Annapolis, Maryland
, and
Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
[2]
Thomas attended
Western High School
for three years before entering a
U.S. Naval Academy
preparatory school. He sought and secured an appointment to Annapolis from
President
Theodore Roosevelt
, and was asked to take the admission examination. The Navy was undergoing a period of expansion, and the intake of midshipmen was double that of two years earlier. Of the 350 who took the examination, 283 were admitted. The class was the largest since the Academy had opened in 1845.
[3]
Kinkaid was admitted to Annapolis as a
midshipman
in July 1904. His instructors included four future
Chiefs of Naval Operations
:
William S. Benson
,
William V. Pratt
,
William D. Leahy
and
Ernest J. King
. In 1905 he took an instructional cruise on
USS
Nevada
. He also spent six weeks on
USS
Hartford
, his only experience of a warship under sail. In subsequent years, his training cruises were on
USS
Newark
and
USS
Arkansas
which, while much newer, were by this time also obsolete. He participated in sports, particularly in
rowing
, earning a seat in the Academy's eight-oar
racing shell
. He graduated on 5 June 1908, ranked 136th in his class of 201.
[4]
Among his classmates were several future admirals including:
Harry A. Badt
,
Paul H. Bastedo
,
John R. Beardall
,
Abel T. Bidwell
,
Joseph J. Broshek
,
Arthur S. Carpender
,
Jules James
,
Walter K. Kilpatrick
,
James L. Kauffman
,
Willis A. Lee Jr.
,
William R. Munroe
,
William R. Purnell
,
Francis W. Rockwell
,
John F. Shafroth Jr.
and
Richmond K. Turner
.
[5]
Early career
[
edit
]
Kinkaid's first posting was to
San Francisco
where he joined the crew of the
battleship
USS
Nebraska
, part of the
Great White Fleet
. During the next year, he circumnavigated the globe with the fleet, visiting
New Zealand
and
Australia
. The fleet returned to its
home port
of Norfolk, Virginia in February 1909. In 1910, Kinkaid took his examinations for the rank of
ensign
but failed
navigation
. While his classmates were promoted in June 1910, Kinkaid remained a midshipman, pending the result of a makeup examination in December 1910. In July, he developed
pleurisy
and was hospitalized in
New York, New York
, before being sent to Annapolis to recuperate. At the time, his father was in charge of the Naval Engineering Experiment Station there, which allowed Kinkaid to stay with his parents while studying for his navigation examination. In October, he was posted to the battleship
USS
Minnesota
whose skipper,
Commander
William Sims
, an Annapolis classmate of his father's, encouraged Kinkaid's early interest in gunnery. Kinkaid passed his navigation examination on 7 December and was promoted to ensign on 14 February 1911, backdated to 6 June 1910. While still at Annapolis, Kinkaid met Helen Sherburne Ross (1892?1980), the daughter of a Philadelphia businessman. The two were married on 24 April 1911 in the Silver Chapel of
St. Mark's Episcopal Church
in
Philadelphia
in a ceremony attended by a small number of guests. Their marriage produced no children. They enjoyed playing
contract bridge
and
golf
, and Helen was the women's golf champion for the
District of Columbia
in 1921 and 1922.
[6]
In 1913, Kinkaid, now a
lieutenant (junior grade)
, commenced a course in ordnance at the Naval Academy Postgraduate School. This consisted of four months of classroom instruction followed by tours with the leading naval ordnance manufacturers, and concluded with a tour of duty at the
Indian Head Naval Proving Ground
. Students had to commit to remain in the Navy for at least eight years. After completing the four months in the classroom at Annapolis, Kinkaid commenced a three-month assignment at
Midvale Steel
, but this was interrupted after two months by the
United States occupation of Veracruz
. Kinkaid was ordered to report to the
gunboat
USS
Machias
for duty in the
Caribbean
, during which the ship participated in the
1916 United States occupation of the Dominican Republic
. Kinkaid came under fire for the first time when the ship was fired upon from ashore.
Machias
replied with its
machine guns
. When one jammed, Kinkaid exposed himself to fire to assist in clearing the weapon. He fired it in response to gunfire against the ship.
Machias
returned home in December, and in February Kinkaid resumed his ordnance studies and went to
Bausch & Lomb
in
Rochester, New York
, where he studied the manufacture of spotting and
fire control systems
. In March he reported to the
Washington Navy Yard
, where he wrote a pamphlet on fire control. He also created a design for a
human torpedo
, but the
Bureau of Ordnance
decided that his concept was unsound. He completed his ordnance studies with tours at
Bethlehem Steel
, the Indian Head Naval Proving Ground and the
Sperry Gyroscope Company
in
Brooklyn
.
[7]
In July 1916, Kinkaid reported to
USS
Pennsylvania
, the navy's newest battleship, as a gunfire spotter. He was promoted to
lieutenant
in January 1917. In November 1917, seven months after the
American entry into World War I
, he was ordered to supervise the delivery of a newly developed 20 ft (6.1 m)
rangefinder
from the
Norfolk Navy Yard
to the
Grand Fleet
. On reaching
London
, Kinkaid reported to Sims, now a
vice admiral
, who then ordered Kinkaid to deliver secret documents to
Admiral
William S. Benson at a meeting with
Allied
naval leaders in
Paris
. Afterwards, Kinkaid returned to the United Kingdom and tested the rangefinder at
HMS
Excellent
on
Whale Island, Hampshire
. He visited optical works in London,
York
and
Glasgow
to study the British
Royal Navy
's rangefinders, and the Grand Fleet at its anchorages. On returning to the United States in January 1918, he visited Sperry Gyroscope and Ford Instruments to consult with them on fire control systems. Promoted to
lieutenant commander
in February 1918, he was posted to
Pennsylvania
'
s
sister ship
,
USS
Arizona
. In May 1919,
Arizona
was sent to cover the
Greek occupation of Smyrna
. For his services from September 1918 to July 1919, Kinkaid was recommended for the
Navy Distinguished Service Medal
, but it was not awarded.
[8]
Between the wars
[
edit
]
Following the normal pattern of alternating assignments afloat and ashore, Kinkaid was posted to a shore billet as the Chief of the Supply Section of the Bureau of Ordnance in Washington, D.C. During this time he published two articles in the
United States Naval Institute
magazine
Proceedings
. The first, on the "Probability and Accuracy of Gun Fire", was a technical article arguing for more rather than bigger guns on battleships and cruisers.
[9]
The
Washington Naval Conference
would prevent these ideas from being put into practice, by restricting the number and size of warships and their guns. The second, entitled "Naval Corps, Specialization and Efficiency", argued for increasing the specializations of line officers rather than creating separate corps of specialists, a more controversial topic at a time when
naval aviators
were agitating for the creation of a new specialist branch of their own.
[10]
In 1922, Kinkaid became Assistant Chief of Staff to the Commander U.S. Naval Detachment in
Turkish
Waters, Rear Admiral
Mark L. Bristol
. This tour saw the end of the Greek occupation of Smyrna. The ratification of the
Treaty of Lausanne
by Turkey resulted in a draw-down of U.S. naval forces in the region, reducing Bristol's post to a primarily diplomatic one. In 1924, Kinkaid, whose father had died in August 1920, requested a posting back to the United States owing to his mother's ill-health. The ship taking him back, the
light cruiser
USS
Trenton
, had to sail by way of
Iran
in order to collect the body of Vice Consul
Robert Whitney Imbrie
, who had been killed by an angry mob in
Tehran
.
[11]
Kinkaid received his first command, the
destroyer
USS
Isherwood
, on 11 November 1924. Since its home port was the
Philadelphia Navy Yard
and ships' captains did not have to spend their nights on board, Kinkaid was able to live with Helen at her parents' residence in Philadelphia. In July 1925, he was assigned to the
Naval Gun Factory
. He was promoted to commander in June 1926. For the next two years, he served as Fleet Gunnery Officer and aide to the
Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet
, Admiral
Henry A. Wiley
. In 1929 and 1930, Kinkaid attended the
Naval War College
. This was followed by duty on the
Navy General Board
. He was then seconded to the
State Department
as a Naval Advisor at the
Geneva Disarmament Conference
.
[12]
Kinkaid next became
executive officer
of
USS
Colorado
, one of the navy's newest battleships, in February 1933.
[13]
By coincidence the ship was at anchor in
Long Beach, California
, when the
1933 Long Beach earthquake
struck. Over the next few days thousands of sailors and marines participated in relief activities.
[14]
Kinkaid convinced the captain to allow homeless families of crew members to stay on the ship, and erected tarpaulins on the quayside to create family areas. He sent medical and relief supplies ashore from
Colorado
.
[15]
In 1934, he returned to Washington for a tour of duty with the
Bureau of Navigation
, in charge of the Officers' Detail Section. During this time, Kinkaid came up for promotion to
captain
. Classmates including
Richmond K. Turner
and
Willis A. Lee
were selected in January 1935, but Kinkaid was passed over for promotion. However, with the help of strong
fitness reports
from his superiors, Rear Admirals William D. Leahy and
Adolphus Andrews
, he was selected in January 1936 and, after passing the required physical and professional examinations, was promoted on 11 January 1937.
[16]
Kinkaid was then given his second seagoing command, the heavy cruiser
USS
Indianapolis
. He assumed command from Captain
Henry K. Hewitt
on 7 June 1937.
[17]
World War II
[
edit
]
Attache
[
edit
]
Kinkaid hoped his next assignment would be that of
naval attache
to London, but that job went to Captain
Alan G. Kirk
. Kinkaid was offered and accepted the post in
Rome
instead. He took up his posting there in November 1938. In 1939, he was also accredited with the American embassy in
Belgrade
.
[18]
Kinkaid reported that Italy was unprepared for war. Only in May 1940 did he warn that Italy was mobilizing. Soon after, he learned from Count
Galeazzo Ciano
that Italy would declare war on France and Britain between 10 and 15 June 1940.
[19]
He provided accurate reports on the damage inflicted by the British in the
Battle of Taranto
.
[20]
He returned to the U.S. in March 1941.
[21]
Kinkaid now faced the prospect of selection to rear admiral. He knew that captains normally required a certain amount of seagoing command experience to be considered, but because his tour of duty on
Indianapolis
had been cut short in order to take up the post in Rome, he did not have enough months, and it was unlikely that a billet as captain of a battleship or cruiser would come up in sufficient time before the next round of selections. He discussed the matter with head of the Officers' Detail Section at the Bureau of Navigation, Captain
Arthur S. Carpender
, an Annapolis classmate who had himself recently been selected for flag rank. Carpender came up with a solution: he recommended Kinkaid for command of a destroyer squadron. This was a seagoing command, although Kinkaid was somewhat senior for it.
[22]
Good fitness reports as commander of Destroyer Squadron 8, based in Philadelphia, resulted in Kinkaid's promotion to rear admiral in August 1941, despite having no more than two years' worth of total command experience. He became the last of his class to be promoted to flag rank before the United States entered the war. No one ranking lower in the class was promoted to flag rank before retirement.
[23]
Coral Sea and Midway
[
edit
]
Kinkaid was ordered to relieve Rear Admiral
Frank J. Fletcher
as commander of Cruiser Division 6, consisting of the heavy cruisers
USS
Astoria
,
Minneapolis
and
San Francisco
. This was part of the
U.S. Pacific Fleet
, based at
Pearl Harbor
. He did not reach his new command until after the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor
, which brought the U.S. into the war. When he reached Hawaii, Kinkaid stayed with his brother-in-law, the
Commander in Chief
,
U.S. Fleet
, Admiral
Husband E. Kimmel
, who was married to Kinkaid's sister Dorothy.
[24]
Kinkaid accompanied Fletcher as an observer during the
attempt to relieve Wake Island
, and did not formally assume command of the division until 29 December 1941.
[25]
The traditional job of cruisers was scouting and screening, but with the loss of most of the battleships at Pearl Harbor these roles largely passed to the
aircraft carriers
, while the cruisers' main mission became defending the carriers against air attack.
[26]
Kinkaid's cruisers formed part of Rear Admiral
Aubrey W. Fitch
's
Task Force 11
, which was built around the carrier
USS
Lexington
. Task Force 11 rendezvoused with Fletcher's
Task Force 17
, built around the carrier
USS
Yorktown
, on 1 May 1942. Kinkaid then became commander of the Task Group 17.2, the screening cruisers and destroyers of both carriers.
[27]
Carrier warfare was in its infancy, and at this stage American carriers neither embarked adequate numbers of fighters, nor skillfully employed what they had. When Task Force 17 was attacked three days later in the
Battle of the Coral Sea
, the burden of defending the Task Force fell on Kinkaid's gunners. Their task was complicated by the radical maneuvering of the carriers under attack, which made it impossible for the screen to keep station. Despite the gunners' best efforts, both carriers were hit, and
Lexington
caught fire and sank.
[28]
For his part in the battle, Kinkaid was awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal.
[29]
Kinkaid was detached with the cruisers
Astoria
,
Minneapolis
and
New Orleans
, and four destroyers on 11 May 1942 and sailed for
Noumea
, while Fletcher took the rest of Task Force 17 to
Tongatapu
.
[30]
Kinkaid then headed north to join the Vice Admiral
William F. Halsey
's
Task Force 16
.
[31]
Kinkaid's force became part of its screen which was under the command of Rear Admiral
Raymond A. Spruance
. Shortly after Task Force 16 returned to Pearl Harbor, Halsey was hospitalized with a severe case of
dermatitis
and, on his recommendation, was replaced as commander of Task Force 16 by Spruance. Kinkaid then became commander of the screen, also known as Task Group 16.2.
[32]
He was one of only four American flag officers present during the subsequent
Battle of Midway
.
[33]
However, he saw little action, as Task Force 16 did not come under attack.
[34]
Solomon Islands
[
edit
]
After the battle, Spruance became chief of staff to Admiral
Chester W. Nimitz
, the commander in chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet (CINCPAC) and
Pacific Ocean Areas
(CINCPOA). In Halsey's continued absence, Kinkaid became commander of Task Force 16, built around the carrier
USS
Enterprise
, although he was not an
aviator
, and his experience with carriers had been restricted to commanding their screens at the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway.
[35]
In early July, Kinkaid was briefed by Nimitz about plans for a
landing in the Solomon Islands
, codenamed
Operation Watchtower
.
[36]
For this operation, Kinkaid's Task Force 16 would be one of three carrier task forces under Fletcher's overall command. To protect his
flagship
,
Enterprise
, Kinkaid had the battleship
USS
North Carolina
, heavy cruiser
USS
Portland
, antiaircraft cruiser
USS
Atlanta
, and five destroyers.
[37]
The addition of the new battleship and its twenty
5 in (130 mm)/38 caliber dual-purpose guns
greatly strengthened Task Force 16's antiaircraft defenses.
[38]
The American landing on Guadalcanal evoked a furious reaction from the Japanese, who sent their fleet to reinforce the Japanese garrison on Guadalcanal. Fletcher's carriers had the mission of protecting the sea lanes to the Solomons. The two carrier forces clashed in the
Battle of the Eastern Solomons
.
[39]
Kinkaid disposed his carrier task force in a circular formation, with
Enterprise
at the center, the cruisers at 10 and 2 o'clock and the battleship aft at 6 o'clock. This proved to be a mistake. With a top speed of 27
kn
(31
mph
; 50
km/h
), the battleship fell behind the carrier when the latter accelerated to 30 kn (35 mph; 56 km/h) while under attack, depriving itself of the protection of the battleship's guns.
Enterprise
came under direct attack by Japanese aircraft, taking three bomb hits that killed 74 of its crew. Extraordinary efforts permitted the carrier to continue operating aircraft,
[40]
but it was forced to return to Pearl Harbor for repairs.
[41]
In his report after the battle, Kinkaid recommended that the number of fighters carried by each carrier be further increased.
[42]
For his part in the battle, he was awarded his second Distinguished Service Medal.
[29]
Task Force 16 returned to the South Pacific in October 1942, just in time to take part in the decisive action of the campaign, the
Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands
, when the Japanese Army and Navy made an all-out effort to recapture the airfield of Guadalcanal.
[43]
In addition to
Enterprise
, Kinkaid's force included the battleship
South Dakota
, heavy cruiser
Portland
, anti-aircraft cruiser
San Juan
, and eight destroyers.
[44]
Fortunately, both
Enterprise
and
South Dakota
had been fitted with the new
Bofors 40 mm
anti-aircraft guns
.
[45]
In the three early carrier battles, Kinkaid had been a subordinate commander. This time, he was in overall command, in charge of Task Force 61, which included both his own Task Force 16 and Rear Admiral
George D. Murray
's Task Force 17, built around the aircraft carrier
USS
Hornet
.
[46]
The battle unfolded badly.
Hornet
was sunk, and
Enterprise
,
South Dakota
and
San Juan
were severely damaged.
[47]
Aviators like Murray and
John H. Towers
blamed Kinkaid, as a non-aviator, for the loss of
Hornet
. It became a black mark on Kinkaid's record.
[48]
The Japanese had won another tactical victory, but Kinkaid's carriers had gained the Americans precious time to prepare and reinforce.
[49]
Aleutian Islands
[
edit
]
On 4 January 1943, Kinkaid became commander of the North Pacific Force (COMNORPACFOR) following the failure of his predecessor, Rear Admiral
Robert A. Theobald
, to work harmoniously with the
U.S. Army
.
[50]
Command relationships in the North Pacific were complicated. Naval forces came under Fletcher's
Northwestern Sea Frontier
. The troops in
Alaska
, including
Brigadier General
William O. Butler
's
Eleventh Air Force
, were commanded by
Major General
Simon B. Buckner, Jr.
, who was answerable to the head of the
Western Defense Command
,
Lieutenant General
John L. DeWitt
. Kinkaid's command was responsible for coordinating these forces and
retaking the Aleutian Islands
captured by the Japanese.
[51]
He found the Army eager to cooperate, but encountered more difficulty with Rear Admiral
Francis W. Rockwell
, the commander of the
Amphibious Force, Pacific Fleet
, and later the
IX Amphibious Force
. Rockwell was an Academy classmate of Kinkaid's, who was senior to him in rank, and convinced that he would both plan and command the amphibious phase of the operation rather than Kinkaid.
[52]
The War Department's original plan was to attack the main force on
Kiska
Island, but it took Kinkaid's suggestion to bypass Kiska in favor of an assault on the less heavily defended
Attu Island
.
[53]
Kinkaid moved his headquarters to Adak to be with those of Buckner and Butler, and at Buckner's suggestion established a joint mess where their two staffs ate meals together. However, the amphibious planning was done in
San Diego
by Rockwell and his
U.S. Marine Corps
advisor, Brigadier General
Holland M. Smith
.
[54]
The
Battle of Attu
was only the third American amphibious operation of the war, and was carried through to a costly success under difficult conditions. The slow rate of progress ashore caused Kinkaid to relieve the Army commander, Major General
Albert E. Brown
and replace him with Major General
Eugene M. Landrum
.
[55]
In June 1943, Kinkaid was promoted to vice admiral, thereby removing any lingering doubts about who was in charge,
[1]
and awarded his third Distinguished Service Medal.
[56]
He now prepared
Operation Cottage
, the much larger invasion of Kiska. This was carried out as planned, but the invaders found that the Japanese had already evacuated the islands.
[57]
In September 1943, Kinkaid was replaced by Vice Admiral Frank Fletcher.
[58]
Southwest Pacific
[
edit
]
In November 1943, Kinkaid replaced Carpender as Commander Allied Naval Forces,
Southwest Pacific Area
, and the
Seventh Fleet
, known as "MacArthur's Navy".
General
Douglas MacArthur
had twice requested Carpender's relief, and Kinkaid's record working with the Army in Alaska made him a logical choice. Australian newspapers hailed the appointment of a "fighting admiral", but neither MacArthur nor the Australian government had been consulted about the appointment, which was made by the commander in chief, United States Fleet, Admiral Ernest King. This was a violation of the international agreement that had established the Southwest Pacific Area. The
Navy Department
then announced that the replacement of Carpender with Kinkaid was merely a proposal, and MacArthur and the
Prime Minister of Australia
,
John Curtin
, were asked if Kinkaid was acceptable. They agreed that he was.
[59]
In his new role, Kinkaid had two masters. As commander of the Seventh Fleet, he was answerable to King, but as Commander Allied Naval Forces, Kinkaid was answerable to MacArthur. Operations were conducted on the basis of "mutual cooperation" rather than "
unity of command
", and relations between the Army and Navy were not good. Kinkaid was not the most senior naval officer in the theater, for the
Royal Australian Navy
's
Admiral
Sir
Guy Royle
and the
Royal Netherlands Navy
's Admiral
Conrad Helfrich
were both senior to him.
[60]
Despite the unpromising relationship with the army, Kinkaid's most troublesome subordinate was a U.S. Navy officer, as had been the case with Rockwell in the Aleutians. This time, the subordinate was Rear Admiral
Ralph W. Christie
, the commander of Task Force 71, the Seventh Fleet's submarines. Christie commonly greeted a returning submarine at the pier and awarded decorations on the spot. This practice bypassed military and naval award boards, and annoyed Kinkaid because confirmation of sinkings was accomplished by
Ultra
, and news of awards given so quickly could constitute a security breach. Kinkaid gave Christie and his other subordinates orders forbidding pierside awards, and the award of army medals to navy personnel.
[61]
In June 1944, Christie accompanied a war patrol on Commander
Samuel D. Dealey
's submarine
USS
Harder
. Afterward, Christie met with MacArthur and related the events of the war patrol to the general, who decided to award Dealey the
Distinguished Service Cross
and Christie the
Silver Star
.
[62]
When
Harder
was lost with Dealey and all hands on its next patrol, Christie recommended Dealey for the
Medal of Honor
. Kinkaid turned down the recommendation on the grounds that Dealey had already received the Distinguished Service Cross for the same patrol. Angered, Christie sent a dispatch to Kinkaid in an easily decipherable low-order code that criticized him and urged him to reconsider.
[63]
Upset by both Christie's attitude and his losses, which included Dealey and Kinkaid's nephew, Lieutenant Commander
Manning Kimmel
on
USS
Robalo
in July 1944, Kinkaid requested Christie's relief. On 30 December 1944, Christie was replaced by Captain
James Fife Jr.
[64]
Other forces under Kinkaid's command included the cruisers of Task Force 74 under Rear Admiral
Victor Crutchley
, Task Force 75 under
Russell S. Berkey
, and Task Force 76, the
VII Amphibious Force
, under Rear Admiral
Daniel E. Barbey
.
[65]
The main role of the Seventh Fleet was supporting MacArthur's drive along the northern coast of
New Guinea
with a series of 38 amphibious operations, usually directed by Barbey.
[66]
Kinkaid accompanied MacArthur for the
landing in the Admiralty Islands
, where the two men came ashore a few hours after the assault troops.
[67]
With 215 vessels involved,
Operations Reckless
and
Persecution
in April 1944 together constituted the largest operation in New Guinea waters.
[68]
It was followed in quick succession by four more operations, at
Wakde
,
Biak
,
Noemfor
and
Sansapor
.
[69]
For MacArthur's long-awaited return to the Philippines in October 1944, the Seventh Fleet was massively reinforced by Nimitz's Pacific Fleet. Kinkaid commanded the assault personally, with Barbey's VII Amphibious Force as Task Force 78, joined by Vice Admiral
Theodore S. Wilkinson
's
III Amphibious Force
from the Pacific Fleet as Task Force 79. Kinkaid was also given Rear Admiral
Jesse B. Oldendorf
's Task Force 77.2, a bombardment force built around six old battleships that had survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Rear Admiral
Thomas L. Sprague
's Task Force 77.4, a force of
escort carriers
.
[70]
However, Vice Admiral
Marc Mitscher
's Task Force 38, the covering force of the fast carriers and battleships, remained part of Admiral Halsey's
Third Fleet
, which was not under MacArthur or Kinkaid's command.
[71]
Halsey's orders, which gave priority to the destruction of the Japanese fleet, led to the most controversial episode of the
Battle of Leyte Gulf
. Four Japanese task forces converged on Kinkaid's forces in Leyte Gulf: a carrier task force under Vice Admiral
Jisabur? Ozawa
, from the north; a force under Vice Admiral
Takeo Kurita
through the
Sibuyan Sea
; and two task forces commanded by Vice Admirals
Sh?ji Nishimura
and
Kiyohide Shima
, which approached via the
Surigao Strait
.
[72]
Carrier aircraft from Task Force 38 engaged Kurita in the
Battle of the Sibuyan Sea
, and forced him to withdraw.
[73]
In a controversial decision, Halsey concluded that Kurita was no longer a threat and headed north after Ozawa's force but, due to a misunderstanding, Kinkaid believed that Halsey was still guarding the
San Bernardino Strait
. Kinkaid deployed all available Seventh Fleet vessels in the Surigao Strait under Oldendorf facing Nishimura and Shima.
[74]
In the
Battle of the Surigao Strait
that night, Kinkaid engaged the Japanese with his
PT boats
and Oldendorf's destroyers, cruisers and battleships. Oldendorf was able to "
cross the T
" of the enemy fleet. It was the last occasion in history where battleships fought each other. Of Nishimura's two battleships and five lesser ships, only the destroyer
Shigure
survived;
[75]
Kinkaid's PT force lost only
PT-493
, with 3 killed and 20 wounded.
[76]
In Oldendorf's task force, only the destroyer
Albert W. Grant
was hit, mostly by
friendly fire
.
[77]
Total Allied casualties were 39 men killed and 114 wounded.
[78]
However, the victory was marred when Kurita's force doubled back and engaged Sprague's escort carriers in the
Battle off Samar
the next day. Oldendorf's force headed back but Kurita withdrew after sinking an escort carrier, two destroyers and a
destroyer escort
.
[79]
After the war, Halsey defended his actions in his memoirs.
[80]
Kinkaid's position was that:
Of course it would have been sound practice and better to have an overall commander of naval forces.... However, the Third Fleet and the Seventh Fleet each had an assigned mission which, if fulfilled, would have resulted in the destruction of the Japanese fleet then and there. The question of an overall commander at the scene of action would have been purely academic. Most surely Nimitz's orders to Halsey did not contemplate the withdrawal of covering forces at the height of battle. "Divided Command" is not the key to what happened at Leyte. "Mission" is the key.
[81]
Following the demise of Japanese naval power in the region, Kinkaid's Seventh Fleet supported the land campaigns in the
Philippines
and the
Borneo
.
[82]
Kinkaid was promoted to admiral on 3 April 1945.
[83]
After the
Pacific War
ended in August 1945, the Seventh Fleet assisted in landing troops in
Korea
and northern
China
to occupy these areas and repatriate Allied prisoners of war. Kinkaid elected not to land troops at
Chefoo
as originally instructed because the city was in the hands of the Communist
Eighth Route Army
;
Qingdao
was substituted instead.
[84]
He was awarded the
Legion of Merit
by the theater commander in China, Lieutenant General
Albert C. Wedemeyer
, and the
Grand Cordon of the Order of Precious Tripod
by the Chinese government.
[85]
Later life
[
edit
]
Kinkaid returned to the United States to replace Vice Admiral
Herbert F. Leary
as Commander
Eastern Sea Frontier
and Commander
Sixteenth Fleet
, making his home in the historic
Quarters A, Brooklyn Navy Yard
. He served on a board chaired by
Fleet Admiral
Halsey which also included Admirals Spruance, Towers and Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher, whose task was to nominate 50 of the 215 serving rear admirals for early retirement.
[86]
Kinkaid was soon facing this fate himself, when the
House Armed Services Committee
sought to reduce the number of
four-star rank
officers in 1947. Kinkaid was one of three admirals, the others being Spruance and Hewitt, who would have to retire or be reduced in rank to rear admiral. After some lobbying, this was averted, and they were permitted to remain in the grade until 1 July 1950, past Kinkaid's retirement age. Retirement ceremonies, including a parade through
New York City
, were held on 28 April 1950 and Kinkaid formally retired two days later.
[87]
In December 1946, it was announced that Halsey, Spruance and Turner had been awarded the
Army Distinguished Service Medal
. A message soon arrived from MacArthur stating that he could not see why Kinkaid should not merit the same award, which had been recommended by Krueger during the war. The medal was duly presented by General
Courtney Hodges
in a ceremony on
Governors Island
on 10 April 1947.
[88]
The Australian government chose to honor Kinkaid with an honorary
Companion of the Order of the Bath
, which was presented by the ambassador at a ceremony at the embassy in Washington on
Australia Day
, 26 January 1948.
[89]
Kinkaid had already been created Grand Officer of the
Order of Orange-Nassau
by Queen
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
in 1944. In March 1948, he was made a Grand Officer of the
Order of Leopold
and presented with the
Croix de Guerre
with Palm in a ceremony at the Belgian embassy in Washington, D.C.
[88]
He served as the naval representative with the
National Security Training Commission
from 1951 until it was abolished in 1957, and with the
American Battle Monuments Commission
for fifteen years, beginning in 1953. In this capacity, he attended the dedication of the
Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial
,
Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial
,
Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial
,
Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
and the
East Coast Memorial
. He also paid a visit to Australia and New Zealand in 1951. Until 1961, he attended the annual reunions held to celebrate General MacArthur's birthday, 26 January, joining MacArthur and his old colleagues, including Krueger and Kenney.
[90]
Death and Legacy
[
edit
]
Kinkaid died at
Bethesda Naval Hospital
on 17 November 1972 and was buried with military honors at
Arlington National Cemetery
on 21 November.
[90]
The Navy named a
Spruance
-class destroyer
after him.
USS
Kinkaid
was launched by his widow Helen at the
Ingalls Shipbuilding
Division of
Litton Industries
at
Pascagoula, Mississippi
, on 1 June 1974.
[90]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Ancell & Miller 1996
, p. 566
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, pp. 1?3
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, p. 4
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, pp. 4?8
- ^
Lucky Bag
. Nimitz Library U. S. Naval Academy. First Class, United States Naval Academy. 1908.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: others (
link
)
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, pp. 9?16, 28
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, pp. 17?21
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, pp. 22?26
- ^
Kinkaid 1921
, pp. 1543?1552
- ^
Kinkaid 1922
, pp. 1491?1500
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, pp. 29?37
- ^
Reynolds 1978
, p. 180
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, pp. 69?72
- ^
Cherpak 2004
, pp. 81?83
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, pp. 78?79
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, pp. 88?91
- ^
Cherpak 2004
, p. 101
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, pp. 103?107
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, pp. 109, 114?115
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, pp. 118?119
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, p. 122
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, p. 124
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, pp. 131?132
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, pp. 135?138
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, p. 148
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, p. 153
- ^
Morison 1949
, p. 18
- ^
Morison 1949
, pp. 52?56
- ^
a
b
Wheeler 1994
, p. 265
- ^
Lundstrom 1984
, pp. 279?282
- ^
Lundstrom 1976
, pp. 144?149
- ^
Lundstrom 2006
, pp. 223?230
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, p. 209
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, p. 217
- ^
Lundstrom 2006
, pp. 302?306
- ^
Morison 1949
, p. 268
- ^
Morison 1949
, p. 271
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, p. 239
- ^
Morison 1948
, pp. 79?80
- ^
Morison 1948
, pp. 93?100
- ^
Morison 1948
, p. 106
- ^
Lundstrom 1994
, pp. 163?164
- ^
Morison 1948
, p. 189
- ^
Morison 1948
, pp. 199?205
- ^
Morison 1948
, p. 215
- ^
Lundstrom 1994
, p. 340
- ^
Lundstrom 1994
, pp. 453?457
- ^
Lundstrom 1994
, pp. 286?292
- ^
Morison 1948
, p. 224
- ^
Morison 1951
, p. 17
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, pp. 295?206
- ^
Ancell & Miller 1996
, p. 604
- ^
Goldstein & Dillon 1992
, p. 275
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, pp. 300?312
- ^
Morison 1951
, pp. 47?51
- ^
Leary 1988
, p. 115
- ^
Morison 1951
, pp. 54?66
- ^
Lundstrom 2006
, pp. 501?502
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, pp. 343?344
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, pp. 346?349
- ^
Blair 1975
, pp. 584?585
- ^
Blair 1975
, p. 674
- ^
Blair 1975
, pp. 720?721
- ^
Blair 1975
, pp. 814?815
- ^
Morison 1953
, p. 47
- ^
Barbey 1969
, pp. 351?358
- ^
Morison 1950
, pp. 435?438
- ^
Morison 1953
, p. 68
- ^
Morison 1953
, p. 91
- ^
Morison 1958
, pp. 415?423
- ^
Morison 1958
, pp. 55?59
- ^
Morison 1958
, p. 158
- ^
Morison 1958
, pp. 183?189
- ^
Morison 1958
, pp. 193?198
- ^
Morison 1958
, pp. 239?241
- ^
Morison 1958
, pp. 210?211
- ^
Morison 1958
, p. 230
- ^
Morison 1958
, p. 240
- ^
Morison 1958
, pp. 293?296
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, pp. 458?459
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, p. 484
- ^
Hoyt 1989
, pp. 191?198
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, pp. 427?428
- ^
Frank & Shaw 1968
, pp. 555?558
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, pp. 455?457
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, pp. 449?452
- ^
Wheeler 1994
, pp. 462?469
- ^
a
b
Wheeler 1994
, pp. 456?457
- ^
"Honours and Awards ? Thomas C Kinkaid"
(PDF)
.
Australian War Memorial
. Retrieved
3 May
2010
.
- ^
a
b
c
Wheeler 1994
, pp. 473?488
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