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Home Town Mounds Illinois
Last Address Ralph Louis Shifley Vice Admiral USN October 26, 1910 - January 5, 1995 Beloved wife: Frances Ellen Norman June 6, 1913 - May 16, 2008 U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery Annapolis
The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Ralph Louis Shifley, Commander, U.S. Navy, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Plane in Air Group EIGHT (AG-8), embarked from the U.S.S. BUNKER HILL (CV-17), in action on 20 June 1944, during an attack against the Japanese Fleet in the Marianas Islands during the First Battle of the Philippine Sea. By his airmanship and cool courage in the face of tremendous odds, Commander Shifley contributed materially to the infliction of extensive and costly damage on the Japanese Fleet in this decisive engagement and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Born: October 26, 1910 at Mounds, Illinois
Mariana and Palau Islands Campaign (1944)/Battle of Philippine Sea
From Month/Year
June / 1944
To Month/Year
June / 1944
Description The Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 19–20, 1944) was a major naval battle of World War II that eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. It took place during the United States' amphibious invasion of the Mariana Islands during the Pacific War. The battle was the last of five major "carrier-versus-carrier" engagements between American and Japanese naval forces, and pitted elements of the United States Navy's Fifth Fleet against ships and aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Mobile Fleet and nearby island garrisons.
The aerial part of the battle was nicknamed the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot by American aviators for the severely disproportional loss ratio inflicted upon Japanese aircraft by American pilots and anti-aircraft gunners. During a debriefing after the first two air battles a pilot from USS Lexington remarked "Why, hell, it was just like an old-time turkey shoot down home!" The outcome is generally attributed to American improvements in pilot and crew training and tactics, technology (including the top-secret anti-aircraft proximity fuze), and ship and aircraft design. Although at the time the battle appeared to be a missed opportunity to destroy the Japanese fleet, the Imperial Japanese Navy had lost the bulk of its carrier air strength and would never recover. During the course of the battle, American submarines torpedoed and sank two of the largest Japanese fleet carriers taking part in the battle.
This was the largest carrier-to-carrier battle in history.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
June / 1944
To Month/Year
June / 1944
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories Commanded engagements during the Battle of the Philippine Sea on June 19 and 20, 1944.
