C.A.F. Sprague - “Combustible, Vulnerable, Expendable”

During the war, the letters CVE signified what the U.S. Navy officially called an escort carrier and unofficially called a baby flattop. But the sailors who manned the small aircraft carriers—with the grim humor they shared with one another—insisted that CVE really stood for “combustible, vulnerable, expendable.” That is because the baby flattop did not have the armored protection or the firepower anywhere near that of the traditional carrier.

Under normal circumstances, the CVE would have been more than a nostalgic memory when the war ended. But Clifton Albert Frederick Sprague (he preferred C.A.F. Sprague) changed all that in the fall of 1944, when Douglas MacArthur (Number 8) began his campaign to liberate the Philippines. Sprague took half a dozen CVEs, numerous destroyers, and destroyer escorts, and he held off a huge Japanese fleet. This decisive battle took place in the Leyte Gulf during a few hours on the morning of October 25, 1944.

From Navy Pilot to Rear Admiral

C.A.F. Sprague was born in 1896 in Boston. He was graduated from Annapolis in 1917, and he became a navy pilot after World War I. Sprague was in command of a sea-plane tender at Pearl Harbor the morning Japan attacked. 

He undertook a number of key assignments early in World War II. He was involved in the defense of American shipping from U-boat attacks in the Gulf of Mexico. Sprague commanded Seattle’s Naval Air Station and then was made skipper of the carrier Wasp. He saw action throughout the Pacific.

By October 1944, Sprague had risen to the rank of rear admiral, heading Escort Car-rier Division 25. He was about to give the CVE a brand new image.

An Unexpected Battle

During the amphibious landings on the Philippine island of Leyte, his CVE unit supported the landing operations. As far as Sprague knew, the invasion seemed to be proceeding according to plan.

On the morning of October 25, 1944, Sprague received a report that enemy ships had been spotted near the San Bernardino Strait, about 20 miles away. That did not seem possible. Sprague knew that William F. Halsey (Number 26) was guarding the strait to prevent Japanese interference with the Leyte operation. If Halsey was not there, then only Sprague and his tiny CVE unit lay between Leyte and the Japanese. Sprague insisted on a confirmation of the sighting. The ships that were spotted had pagoda masts; they were Japanese.

The first thought that went through Sprague’s head was probably, “Where the hell is Halsey?” Sprague would later find out that Halsey has been tricked by a Japanese decoy fleet of carriers.

Sprague, with six escort carriers, six destroyers, and several destroyer escorts, now had the responsibility of trying to hold off a massive Japanese fleet that included four battleships, eight cruisers, and 10 destroyers. The Japanese shells had up to 16-inch guns, and the American ships had only 5-inchers.

A Brilliant Deception

Sprague could not afford to have the Japanese discover how weak he was. The American ships let out a smoke screen. The escort carriers launched their planes carrying bombs that were not really effective against the heavily armored Japanese fleet. The destroyers closed in as best they could. The shorter the range, the more likely that they would do at least some damage, especially with torpedoes.

Sprague later described how he felt:“Nothing like this had happened in history. I didn’t think we’d last 15 minutes. What chance could we have—six slow, thin-skinned carriers, each armed with only one 5-inch peashooter, against the 16-, 14-, 8-, and 5-inch broadsides of the 22 warships bearing down on us at twice our top-speed.”

But Sprague’s tactics completely fooled the force under Japanese Admiral Kurita (Number 38).

“The failure of the enemy main body...to completely wipe out all vessels of the [CVE] Task Unit can be attributed to our successful smoke screen, our torpedo counterattack, continuous harassment of the enemy by bombs, torpedoes, and staging air attacks, timely maneuvers, and the definite partiality of Almighty God,” Sprague concluded.

The uneven battle lasted more than two hours. Victory was in his grasp, but Kurita did not know it. He retired from the battle.

The End of the Japanese Navy

The American spirit of optimism and good humor is found in the anonymous sailor who, seeing the Japanese flee, mockingly complained, “They got away!”

Except for attacks by Japanese suicide planes (kamikazes), the Japanese navy was finished. Officially, however, the war would continue for another 10 months.

After the war, Sprague was in charge of navy operations at the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Island. Later, he was in charge of Carrier Division 6, the 17th Naval Division, and the Alaskan Sea Frontier.C.A.F. Sprague died in 1955. He gave the initials CVE a whole new meaning: courageous, victorious, exemplary.