Carleton H. Wright

Infobox Military Person
name= Carleton H. Wright
lived= birth date|1892|6|2 – Death date and age|1970|6|27|1892|6|2
placeofbirth= New Hampton, Iowa
placeofdeath= Claremont, California


caption=
nickname= Bosco [Roscoe, p. 206]
allegiance= United States of America
branch= United States Navy
serviceyears= 1912-1948
rank= Rear Admiral
commands= Task Group 67 Cruiser Division 4
unit=
battles= World War II *Guadalcanal campaign *Battle of Tassafaronga
awards=
laterwork=

Carleton H. Wright, June 2, 1892 - June 27, 1970, was an admiral in the United States Navy (USN).

Early career

Wright graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1912 with a class standing of 16th out of 156 graduates. During World War I, he served aboard the USS "Jarvis" at Queenstown, then had duty assembling mines for the North Sea barrage. [Morison, "Struggle for Guadalcanal", p. 293.]

After World War I, Wright attended the USN's ordnance postgraduate course from 1918 through 1920. He then had various ship and staff assignments afloat and ordnance-related posts ashore until 1935. From 1935 to 1936, he commanded Destroyer Division 18. From 1936 to 1938 he served on the staff of Comsofor, and then at the Naval Mine Depot at Yorktown until 1941. [Morison, "Struggle for Guadalcanal", p. 293.]

World War II

At the outbreak of World War II Wright was the captain of the U.S. cruiser "Augusta". Wright was promoted to rear admiral in May, 1942 and commanded warship forces under William Halsey during the Guadalcanal campaign. As commander of Task Group 67, Wright led his force of five cruisers and four destroyers against a Japanese "Tokyo Express" force of eight destroyers on the night of November 30, 1942. In the resulting Battle of Tassafaronga, Wright's force sank one Japanese destroyer, but one of Wright's cruisers was sunk and three other cruisers were so badly damaged that they were out of action for nine months. The battle was one of the worst defeats that the U.S. Navy suffered in World War II. Wright was awarded the Navy Cross for his performance in the battle, but was also reassigned to shore duty at the U.S. Navy's staff in Washington D.C. [Spartacus Schoolnet]

Wright later commanded the U.S. Navy's Cruiser Division 4 in the central Pacific in 1944 before returning to shore duty as a member of the staff of the 12th Naval District in San Francisco. In March, 1946 he became the Inspector General of the Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Area. Wright later served as the deputy commander of the Marianas before retiring from the U.S. Navy in October, 1948. He died in Claremont, California on June 27, 1970. [Spartacus Schoolnet]

References

Books

*cite book
last = Crenshaw
first = Russell S., Jr.
authorlink =
year = 1995
chapter =
title = The Battle of Tassafaronga
publisher = Nautical & Aviation Publishing Company of Ame
location =
id = ISBN 1-877853-37-2
*cite book
last = Frank
first = Richard B.
authorlink = Richard B. Frank
year = 1990
title = Guadalcanal : The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle
publisher = Penguin Group
location = New York
id = ISBN 0-14-016561-4
*cite book
last = Morison
first = Samuel Eliot
authorlink = Samuel Eliot Morison
coauthors =
year = 1958
chapter = Chapter 13
title = The Struggle for Guadalcanal, August 1942 – February 1943", vol. 5 of "History of United States Naval Operations in World War II
publisher = Little, Brown and Company
location = Boston
id = ISBN 0-316-58305-7
*cite book
last = Roscoe
first = Theodore
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1953 (Ninth printing, 1986)
chapter =
title = United States Destroyer Operations in World War II
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location = Annapolis, Maryland
id = ISBN 0-87021-726-7

Web

*cite web
last = Spartacus Schoolnet
first =
coauthors =
year =
url = http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWwrightC.htm
title = Carleton Wright
work =
accessdate = 2006-12-21

Notes