Rear Admiral Raymond Tarbuck was born in Philadelphia and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1920. One of his greatest military accomplishments was the accurate intelligence assessment that resulted in the U.S.’s successful invasion of the Philippine Islands and victory in the Battle of Leyte Gulf during World War II. Tarbuck’s citation for exceptionally meritorious performance, personally signed by General Douglas MacArthur, acknowledged “no man has ever deserved it more.”

Tarbuck’s first duty at sea was in 1918 during World War I. He spent his Midshipman Cruise on the battleship USS Missouri (BB 11). Following his graduation from the Naval Academy, Tarbuck served as the Deck and Engineering Officer on the battleship USS North Dakota (BB29) as well as on several destroyers. His naval service sent him to Turkey, Russia, and Egypt. Subsequent duty in the Caribbean included the command of a Marine landing force in Nicaragua and operations in Haiti. This was followed by post-graduate school in Annapolis at the Naval War College. In the 1930s he served as Executive Officer and navigator of a destroyer where he served in China, Japan, and the Philippines with the Asiatic Fleet.

Tarbuck returned to the United States and served as an Associate Professor of Astronomy at the University of California, followed by a sea tour on the battleship USS West Virginia (BB 48). He then returned to destroyers as Commanding Officer on USS Macdonough (DD 351) and later as Division Commander of four destroyers out of San Diego and Hawaii.

In 1943 Tarbuck found himself on the staff of the Supreme Commander Southwest Pacific with General Douglas MacArthur, where he became part of the story of the successful planning and invasion of the Philippines at Leyte Gulf, the battle that resulted in the famous MacArthur quote, “I have returned.” He served as the commander’s senior naval advisor and planner whose Red Team was responsible for planning the invasion of the Philippine Islands from the sea, which was approved by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the President of the United States. The invasion, including the landings at Leyte Gulf, involved a force of 1,500 ships and 90,000 troops. He successfully predicted the movements of the Japanese fleets ending in the historic naval battle of Surigao Straits and victory at Leyte Gulf. Both Frasier Hunt and Sidney Mashbir in their books about General MacArthur cite these predictions as the greatest piece of combat intelligence work in the annals of the Navy.

Later, with the rank of Commodore, he served as the Chief of Staff, Seventh Amphibious Force. In this capacity he was directly concerned with the planning and execution of all amphibious operations in the Southwest Pacific. The fleet’s amphibious forces made 56 landings throughout the Philippines and on Borneo while he was the Chief of Staff. Tarbuck’s rank of Commodore was foreign to his Army friends. He explained it to them as a “Brigadier General who can swim.”

Toward the end of the war Tarbuck commanded USS Iowa (BB 63). After the war he commanded the Naval Amphibious Force, Atlantic. He retired as a Rear Admiral in 1950 from the 11th Naval District where he served as Inspector General.

Tarbuck received a total of 18 decorations with eight battle stars. He is the only flag officer during World War II to serve with the Army Air Corps, Army ground forces, the Marine Corps, and the Navy.

Tarbuck not only had a distinguished military career but he was also an accomplished painter, pianist, and musical composer. He was a member of the San Diego Art Guild and received numerous awards as an artist. One of his paintings was of the San Diego night skyline, painted from Coronado. The owner of this work wanted Tarbuck to paint this piece before construction of the bridge so that it “wouldn’t spoil the view.” He served as a project administrator for the San Diego Fine Arts Gallery where he participated in the design of two new wings to the gallery in Balboa Park. He was a professor of naval science and tactics and astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley where he also studied architecture.

He also was also very active in local affairs. He was president of the Coronado Residential Association and a member of the San Diego Chamber of Commerce Harbor Committee and National Harbor Board. He was the chairman of the San Diego County Board of Health for 16 years and a military consultant to the San Diego Chamber of Commerce. He received the radio station’s KFMB Good Neighbor Award for his work as chairman of the San Diego Harbor Development Advisory Committee.

Tarbuck was married fifty-six years to Marion Orf of Philadelphia. They had one son, Richard, a Naval Academy graduate who retired from the Navy as a Captain after 30 years of service. The family moved to Coronado in 1939 where they built their dream home at the corner of Margarita and San Luis Rey Avenues. Mrs. Tarbuck oversaw its construction during World War II while her husband spent the entire war in the Far East. Tarbuck died on Nov. 15, 1986 at the age of 89. He was predeceased by his wife, who died in 1976.