We were blessed by having the top admirals we had, IMHO, best ever. Of course, that’s difficult to judge given changes in technology etc.
Technology is an aide that good commanders take advantage of to increase the efficiency and lethality of their forces.
Bad commanders can take the same technology and FUBAR at best.
Until WW2 the US had no real naval tradition.
Nimitz, Halsey, King and those men created a naval tradition for us. One the current generation of Navy leadership is squandering.
BTW. Nimitz, being a submarine guy was instrumental in getting timid sub commanders reassigned and replacing them with more aggressive men.
If a sub skipper returned from patrol with torpedoes he was replaced with someone who would get the job done.
We owe a huge debt to those smart and aggressive pig boat skippers.
Our older Admirls and ship captains at first were hesitant. Nimitz weeded things out. The officers that rose in the ranks with a fire in their bellies soon started making a difference. The submarine force was slow at first but caught fire. The tincans at Leyete Gulf we’re excecptional as were the pilots and carrier captains. A war tends to weed out the weak. Eisenhower had a good instinct for fighters and he loved his noncoms, he did great in Europe. The Japanese didn’t think Americans could fight. They got handed some tough lessons. It’s been that way from the 1700’s to now. There’s a lotta fight in this US dog.
Today's bureaucrat admirals? We'd only know if war came, but I'm not optimistic.