Fletcher, Frank Jack (1885-1973)

US admiral. He commanded the US naval forces in the Battle of the Coral Sea 1942 but had to withdraw from the Battle of the Midway after his flagship, USS Yorktown, was damaged. He was hostile to naval aircraft providing cover for the ground operations on Guadalcanal, but was overruled by Admiral Nimitz. He was then transferred to command of the Northern Pacific Fleet and remained there until the end of the war; he retired 1946.