US Marine Corps - The Black Vault

150 Anzpbibians
question but many breathed a sigh
had come to an end.”
Came To Conquer
of relief that the Turner command cruise
A further sidelight about this occasion, recalled by one young officer,
who as a freshly graduated ensign was serving as Assistant Navigator in
the A.rtoria in October 1940, reads as follows:
When Captain Turner left the ship, we were all paraded at the gangway
ready to say our farewells, when Admiral Fletcher’s barge approached. He
came aboard, shook the Captain’s hand and said, ‘Well, Kelly, we never got
along, but you always gave me a good ship.’
Captain Turner was the meanest man I ever saw, and the most competent
naval officer I ever served with. u
THE DIVISION COMMANDERS LOOK BACK
Turner had two Division Commanders while in the A~toria, Royal E,
Ingersoll and then Frank Jack Fletcher, Both were still alive with vigorous
opinions as they neared eighty.
Rear Admiral Ingersoll’s 1938–1939 official fitness report opinions of
Turner included:
Captain Turner handled the extensive entertainment program while in
Japan with commendable ease, skill and grace. He spoke well and was a credit
to the Navy. . . I can always count on the A~fori~doing the right thing in
any situation. . . . The A.rtoria is a splendid ship, clean, efficient, happy,
taut and smart.
Rear Admiral Fletcher in 1940 wrote:
Captain Turner is one of the most intelligent and forceful men in the
Service. His ship is efficient and unusually well handled. I mark him ‘outstanding’
in the literal meaning of the word.
Twenty-five years and a long war later, neither Flag officer had changed
his mind about Kelly Turner’s fitness for top command in the Navy or his
great capacity for effective work, Admiral Fletcher added:
Any Captain who relieved Kelly Turner was in luck. All he would have to
do is back off on the thumb screws I bit to have the perfect ship.”
Admiral Ingersoll remembered:
I had never served with Kelly Turner until he joined Cruiser Division Six.
He ran a taut but smart ship, beautifully handled in formation and at other
w Commander Tom H. Wells, LISN (Ret. ) to GCD, letter, 4 Dec. 1969.
= Interview with Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher. L~SN (Ret.), 2> May 1963. Hereafter Fletcher.