Admirals of WW11

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_...am_of_Hyndhope

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Andrew Browne Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope, KT, GCB, OM, DSO** (7 January 1883 – 12 June 1963), older brother of General Sir Alan Cunningham, was a British admiral of the Second World War. He is often referred to by his initials "ABC."

Cunningham was born in Dublin on 7 January 1883 and he attended several schools and colleges before he was enrolled at a Naval Academy, at the age of 10, where his association with the Navy started. After passing out of Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, in 1898, he progressed rapidly in rank. He commanded a destroyer during the First World War and through most of the interwar period. For his performance during this time he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and two Bars, specifically for his actions in the Dardanelles and in the Baltics.
In the Second World War, as Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, Cunningham led British naval forces in several critical Mediterranean naval battles. These included the attack on Taranto in 1940, the first carrier-based air attack in history,[1] and the Battle of Cape Matapan in 1941. Cunningham was also responsible for the on-going struggle to supply Malta and oversight of the naval support for the various major allied landings in the Mediterranean littoral. In 1943, Cunningham was promoted to First Sea Lord, a position he held until his retirement in 1946. After his retirement Cunningham enjoyed several ceremonial positions including Lord High Steward at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. He died on 12 June 1963.

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Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, USN, (1885-1966)


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Read it all here: http://www.nimitz-museum.org/nimitzbio.htm

As a flag officer, Nimitz commanded Cruiser Division Two and Battleship Division One until he became Chief of the Bureau of Navigation in June 1939. He held that post during the difficult years leading up to U.S. entry into World War II. In the wake of the destructive 7 December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Nimitz was ordered to take over the Pacific Fleet. With the rank of Admiral, and Fleet Admiral after December 1944, he commanded American forces during their long advance across the Pacific to full victory in August 1945.

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Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese Navy, (1884-1943)


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Admiral Yamamoto commanded the Combined Fleet before the outbreak of the Pacific War and during its first sixteen months. He was responsible for planning the Attack on Pearl Harbor and most other major operations during this time. His scheme for eliminating the U.S. fleet as a major opponent led to the June 1942 Battle of Midway, in which the Japan lost naval superiority in the Pacific.
Despite Midway's adverse outcome, Yamamoto continued as Combined Fleet commander through the following Guadalcanal Campaign, which further depleted Japan's naval resources. While on an inspection tour in the Northern Solomon Islands, he was killed in an aerial ambush by U.S. Army Air Force planes on 18 April 1943. Isoroku Yamamoto was posthumously promoted to the rank of Admiral of the Fleet.

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From: http://www.battle-fleet.com/pw/his/donitz.htm

Grand Admiral Erich Raeder (1876-1960)


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Erich Raeder (1876-1960) was the German supreme naval commander from 1928 to 1943, including much of World War II. The first Grand Admiral since Alfred von Tirpitz, he was also the last.
Raeder joined the imperial fleet in 1894, rapidly rising in rank to Chief of Staff for Franz von Hipper in 1912. He served in this position during World War I as well as in combat posts.
After the war he strongly supported Adolf Hitler's attempt to rebuild the German Navy, while apparently disagreeing equally strongly on most other matters. Raeder also faced constant challenges from Hermann Goring's ongoing quest to build the Luftwaffe. Nevertheless he was promoted to Grand Admiral in 1939, and later that year suggested the invasions of Denmark and Norway in order to secure sheltered docks out of reach of the Royal Air Force, as well as provide direct exits into the North Sea. These operations were eventually carried out. A series of failed operations after that point, combined with the outstanding success of the U-boat fleets under the command of Karl Doenitz led to his eventual demotion, and eventually to resignation.
After the war he was sentenced to life imprisonment at the Nuremberg Trials, for waging a "war of aggression". This somewhat dubious sentence was later reduced, and he was released in 1955, later writing an autobiography, Mein Leben.