U.S. naval officer who won conspicuous success in commanding the famous aircraft carrier Task Force 58 in the Pacific area during World War II.
A graduate of the U.S. Naval academy at Annapolis, Md. (1910) he qualified as the 33rd naval pilot in 1916. In the years that followed he played an important part in the development of naval aviation and its integration into the fleet.
Early in World War II he commanded the aircraft carrier Hornet in the Battle of Midway (June 1942), the first important U.S. victory after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the previous December.
As a rear admiral he was in charge of all aircraft in the Solomon Islands during the bitter fighting there in 1943.
He nest commanded the fast carriers of Task Force 58 leading the dramatic and successful air strikes on Truk in the Carolines (February 1944), in the Battle of the Philippineee Sea (June), the Battle of Leyte Gulf (October) and the capture of Iwo Jima and Okinawa (February-June 1945).
Mitscher was made admiral in 1946 and served as commander in chief of the Atlantic Fleet until his death Fe. 3, 1947 Norfolk Va.
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