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Richmond K

Richmond Kelly Turner (27 May 1885-12 February 1961) was a US Navy Admiral who commanded the US Pacific Fleet's Amphibious Force in the Pacific theater of World War II.

Biography[]

Richmond Kelly Turner was born in Portland, Oregon to an Irish-American family, and he graduated from the Naval Academy in 1908 and served in the US Navy as an ordnance officer at the Naval Gun Factory in Washington DC, as a gunnery officer, as a destroyer commander, and later as commander of the Asiatic Fleet's aircraft squadrons. From 1935 to 1938, he served as head of the strategy faculty at the Naval War College, and he was promoted to Rear Admiral in January 1941. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he was blamed for his interference in the intelligence process, as he did not send Admiral Husband E. Kimmel details of intercepted Japanese diplomatic communications. However, he served as commander of Task Force 62 at the Battle of Guadalcanal and Task Force 51 during the Battle of Tarawa and the Battle of Makin. On 7 March 1944, after assaulting the Marshall Islands, he was promoted to Vice Admiral. He later led the assaults on Tinian, Guam, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, coming to lead 657,000 troops by the time of the Battle of Okinawa. On 24 May 1945, he was promoted to full Admiral. Turner retired from active duty in July 1947 and died in Monterey, California in 1961.

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