This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Robert Cox, YNCS
to remember
Ofstie, Ralph, VADM USN(Ret).
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Last Address Everett, Washington
Date of Passing Nov 19, 1956
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I created this profile of Admiral Ofstie as part of my research of the Battle Off Samar. Ofstie was the Commander of Carrier Division 26 assigned to Task Unit 77.4.3 (Taffy III). The little escort carriers (CVEs) he commanded were an intergal part of winning the war in the Pacific.
Please add ADM Ofstie to your list of shipmates and visit often.
This profile is about 70% complete.
Please visit my Battle Off Samar famous Naval officer profiles:
Ralph Andrew Ofstie was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin on November 16, 1897. His hometown was Everett, Washington.
He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in June 1918.
During World War 1 he served on the USS WHIPPLE (DD-15) and USS CHATTANOOGA (CL-18) where he saw duty in the Eastern Atlantic and in European Waters. He was promoted to Lieutenant (junior grade) in August 1918. After the war he was transferred to USS O'BANNON (DD-177).
In 1920 Ofstie reported to Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida for Navy Pre-Flight School. Upon completion he attended Naval Flight Training school which he completed in 1921. His first air squadron was Fighter Squadron VF-1 "Wolfpack" where he served from 1922 to 1924. With other Navy pilots in the 1920s Ofstie participated in annual flight competitions with Army pilots in the Curtiss Marine aircraft.
In 1924-1925 he was assigned as Commanding Officer of Scouting Squadron VS-6. From 1927 to 1929 he served as Aviation Officer of USS DETROIT (CL-8).
From 1929 to 1933 Ofstie served in the Flight Test Division at Naval Air Station Anacostia.
Returning to sea aboard the carrier USS SARATOGA (CV-3) in 1933 Ofstie took command of Fighter Squadron VF-6 for the next two years.
Promoted to Lieutenant Commander he was assigned as Assistant naval attaché in Tokyo, Japan and upon completion of that duty he returned to sea as Navigator on the carrier USS ENTERPRISE (CV-6). As an interim assignment he served on staff duty aboard the carrier USS SARATOGA (CV-3) in 1939 before returning to the carrier ENTERPRISE.
Before the United States entered World War 2 Ofstie served on staff duty on the carrier USS YORKTOWN (CV-5) in 1940. With the war in Europe already underway, he next served as Assistant Naval Attache in London, England.
Ofstie's first war-time assignment in the United States was as a Commander on the staff of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander United States Pacific Fleet, at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Promoted to Captain, from November 6, 1943 to August 7, 1944 he commanded the large carrier ESSEX (CV-9). During his tenure on ESSEX Ofstie saw plenty of combat. ESSEX took part in her first amphibious assault, the landing on Tarawa. Her second amphibious assault delivered in company with TG 58.2 was against the Marshalls in January–February 1944. As part Task Group 68.2 she participated in the attack against Truk in February 1944. ESSEX struck Marcus and Wake Islands in May 1944, and finally deployed with Task Force 58 to support the occupation of the Marianas in June 1944.
In August 1944 Ofstie was promoted to Rear Admiral and was assigned as Commander Task Group 32.7/Carrier Division 26 with his flag in USS KITKUN BAY (CVE-71) for the invasion of Palau in September 1944.
Keeping his flag in KITKUN BAY, Carrier Division 26 moved to the Philippines to support the invasion of Leyte Gulf. Ofstie was assigned to Rear Admiral Clifton Sprague's Task Unit 77.4.3 code name "Taffy III" where his unit was heavily involved in the Battle Off Samar. During the battle Ofstie's COMCARDIV 26 escort carrier USS GAMBIER BAY (CVE-73) was sunk by Japanese Naval gunfire. For this service at Samar Ofstie was awarded the Navy Cross.
Rear Admiral Ofstie's last sea command in World War 2 was as COMCARDIV 26 at the invasion of Lingayen, Philippines in January 1945. He was next assigned to the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey of Japan where he interviewed many of the surviving Japanese officials. In 1946 he detached and was reassigned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff Evaluation Group and served at the Bikini Nuclear tests.
On October 11, 1949 Rear Admiral Ofstie testified before a committee stated, "strategic air warfare, as practiced in the past and as proposed for the future, is militarily unsound and of limited effect, is morally wrong, and is decidedly harmful to the stability of a post-war world." This discussion was related to Admiral Arthur Radford's infamous "Revolt of the Admirals".
During the Korean War from 1950 to 1951 Ofstie was Commander of Task Force 77. After the Korean War he served as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Air).
Ofstie’s last tour of duty was as Commander, Sixth Fleet in European waters from 1955 to 1956. After only a year, however, Ofstie fell ill and returned to Bethesda Naval Hospital where he died on November 19, 1956.
Vice Admiral Ralph Andrew Ofstie and his wife, Captain Joy Bright Little Hancock Ofstie, are buried together in Section 30, Grave 2138, at Arlington National Cemetery.
1918-1918, 111X, USS Chattanooga (CL-18)
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Other Memories USS Chattanooga (C-16/PG-30/CL-18) was a Denver-class light cruiser in the United States Navy during World War I. She was the second Navy ship named for the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Chattanooga launched 7 March 1903 by Crescent Shipyard, Elizabethport, New Jersey; sponsored by Miss L. N. Chambliss; completed at the New York Navy Yard; commissioned 11 October 1904, Commander A. Sharp in command; and reported to the Atlantic Fleet.
Chattanooga's first cruise following shakedown was to the Caribbean, from which she returned to New York City to join the squadron which cleared for Cherbourg, France 18 June 1905. At Cherbourg, Brooklyn received on board the body of John Paul Jones, which the squadron brought home to the United States Naval Academy, arriving at Annapolis 23 July. Through the remainder of the year, Chattanooga aided in training men of the Maine and Massachusetts Naval Militia, and cruised briefly in the Caribbean. On 28 December she cleared San Juan, Puerto Rico, for the Suez Canal and duty in the Pacific. Between 29 April 1906, when she arrived at Cavite, P.I., and 10 August 1910, when she reported at Puget Sound Navy Yard for inactivation, Chattanooga joined the Asiatic Fleet in its winter operations in the Philippines and summer cruises to China, aiding in representing America's strength and interest in the Orient. Chattanooga was decommissioned at Puget Sound Navy Yard 17 September 1910.
Chattanooga was placed in reserve commission 31 August 1912, remaining at Puget Sound, and in full commission 21 April 1914, for duty in Mexican waters. Through 1915 and 1916, she cruised to protect American interests from the disorder of the Mexican Revolution, and this duty continued after America's entrance into World War I until May 1917. Chattanooga then sailed through the Panama Canal for several months of patrol duties in the Caribbean, searching for German raiders. From July 1917, she escorted convoys from the Atlantic coast to rendezvous with other escorts in the approaches to French ports. This rugged duty across the stormy mid-Atlantic was broken only by two escort missions to Nova Scotia.
Chattanooga took part in the Victory Fleet Review taken by the Secretary of the Navy in New York harbor 26 December 1918. After an overhaul, the cruiser carried a party of Liberian officials to Monrovia, then turned north for Plymouth, England, which she reached 7 May. As flagship of U.S. Naval Forces, European Waters, Chattanooga sailed among English and French ports until June. On 29 June, she served as leading honor escort guarding President Woodrow Wilson's departure from France in George Washington, then sailed on to call at German and Belgian ports before arriving in the Mediterranean for service as flagship for U.S. Naval Forces, Turkish Waters. Cruising primarily in the Black Sea, she also served in the Adriatic in connection with the disposal of ships of the former Austro-Hungarian Navy. From January through May 1921, she conducted regular patrols with the cruiser squadron assigned to European waters, and on 1 June, returned to the United States. She was decommissioned at Boston 19 July 1921, and laid up at Portsmouth Navy Yard until sold 8 March 1930.
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