Book Description

Envelope America Vice Admiral William A. Glassford was a U.S. Navy officer who served during World War II. He commanded naval forces of the Asiatic Fleet during the first month of the war, and then relocated to Java to combine his forces with the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDA). His most notable battle was the Naval Battle of Balikpapan, in which he led a U.S. task force in an attack against Japanese forces that had occupied the port. When Glassford's flagships, the light cruisers USS Boise and USS Marblehead were disabled, he ordered his supporting destroyers to continue with the mission under Commander Paul H. Talbot. The attack came too late to prevent the capture of Balikpapan, and had little effect on the Japanese campaign to capture the resources of the Netherlands East Indies. After the campaign, Glassford returned to the United States where he held a variety of positions in the Sixth Naval District and the Eighth Fleet.