FLINTLOCK (1944) FLEET BOAT Common term for the most modern U.S submarines, notably of the “Tambor,” “Gato,” and later classes Late-war boats had very long ranges, enabling them to reach Japanese home waters The Japanese equivalent was the I-Class submarine FLEET TRAIN The logistical support ships and services that sustained Western Allied fleets in the Pacific War, mainly those of the USN but also the Royal Navy’s Task Force 57 from the end of 1944 and elements of the Royal Australian Navy Improvised in 1942, the Fleet Train was fully organized by the end of 1943 The British developed a smaller version of nearly 100 ships over the course of 1945 That was important to Royal Navy participation in the Pacific War, as there had been concern that the British could not adapt from their Atlantic and Mediterranean practice of using bases to support distant fleets FLETCHER, FRANK (1885–1973) “Black Jack.” U.S admiral He saw extensive action as a carrier fleet commander during 1942 He was widely blamed for delaying arrival at Wake Island until after the Japanese landed there He then participated in carrier raids on the Marshall and Gilbert islands in February 1942, the first offensive actions by the USN in the Pacific War He was sharply criticized for several decisions made during the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942, where his command lost the USS Lexington His sharpest and most influential critics were official military historians Samuel Eliot Morrison and Richard Bates Fletcher fared far better at Midway the next month even though he lost the USS Yorktown (and with it, all his command diaries and records) The outcome of that battle, his severest critics say, had most to with U.S breakthroughs in naval intelligence and varying degrees of good or ill combat fortune that he did not control At Guadalcanal, they add, he precipitously withdrew his carriers, leaving marines on the island and their transports unprotected by naval air cover A new biography by John Lundstom argues that, to the contrary, Fletcher successfully led a weakened and inferior American force against a highly aggressive and superior Japanese force during these early battles and campaigns Fletcher saw another sharp carrier action in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons before being transferred to the northern Pacific His final combat posting was as one of the commanders at Okinawa in 1945 In the postwar occupation government he was responsible for northern Japan FLIEGERDIVISION A Luftwaffe unit made up of several Gruppes It was roughly equivalent to a Wing in the RAF or to a Red Army Air Force air division FLIEGERKORPS A large Luftwaffe organizational unit made up of several Geschwaders or Fliegerdivision and roughly comparable to a Soviet air army FLINTLOCK (1944) Code name for the U.S campaign to take control of key atolls in the Marshall Islands in 1944 391