![]() Albans, New York, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He commanded the 2nd Task Fleet and later served as Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet from 1947 to 1950.Īdmiral Blandy retired in 1950. In late 1946, a minor controversy erupted over a published photo (shown at left) of Vice Admiral Blandy and his wife cutting an "atomic cake" in an event celebrating the disbandment of the team behind Operation Crossroads. I am not an atomic playboy, as one of my critics labelled me, exploding these bombs to satisfy my personal whim.” It will not blow out the bottom of the sea and let all the water run down the hole. “The bomb will not start a chain-reaction in the water, converting it all to gas, and letting all the ships on all the oceans drop down to the bottom. In 1946, he made a famous speech in response to public criticism of the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll: In one engagement, the Spike performed with proximity fuse while the second verified contact. Two of the small missiles demonstrated the capability of the Navy designed weapon to shoot down an Outlaw UAV with a single shot. In mid to late 1945, Rear Admiral Blandy served as Commander, Destroyers, Pacific Fleet ( ComDesPac). The Spike miniature, lightweight precision guided missile was used for the test performed in December 2016 at China Lake. ![]() Vice Admiral Blandy and his wife cut the cake celebrating Operation Crossroads as Rear Admiral Frank J. Īfter the war he commanded Joint Task Force 1 during the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll. We would then back off to a safe distance, only to have the same thing happen a few hours later. Geysers of water would erupt on either side of the ship, and the voice of Vice Admiral Turner in overall charge of the campaign on the USS Mount McKinley - a sister ship to the USS Estes, - would come in over the "TBS" ship to ship radio ordering Blandy to ".get your out of there before you get it blown off!". About the time we would be within a little less than a mile from the beaches, a battery of shore guns up on the side of Mount Surabachi would start taking pot-shots at us. Estes was positioned about two miles off-shore during the bombardment, and Admiral Blandy, being the old Gunnery type, kept ordering the captain to come in a little closer so he could ".see the whites of their eyes.". One account of Admiral Blandy during the Iwo campaign recalls: In December 1943 he became Commander, Group 1, Amphibious Force,Īnd commanded the pre-invasion bombardment group during the campaign for Iwo Jima. ![]() Involving the initially practically useless Mark 14 torpedo,Īnd the long delays incurred on the work testing and launching the During World War II he was Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance from 1941 to 1943. He participated in the occupation of Veracruz, Mexico in 1914 and served on board the battleship USS Florida (BB-30) (BB-30) with the British Grand Fleet during World War I. William Henry Purnell Blandy (28 June 1890 – 12 January 1954), known to close associates as "Spike", was an admiral in the United States Navy during World War II.īorn in New York City 28 June 1890, Blandy graduated first in his class from the United States Naval Academy in 1913.
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