Customer Reviews

Carrier Clash: The Invasion of Guadalcanal and the Battle of the Eastern Solomons August 1942

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Despite the book's title this is really a history of the Solomons campaing up to the battle of the Eastern Solomons, the first carrier to carrier clash of the campaign. It certainly has its center of gravity placed on the operations of the American carriers, but includes much of the actions of both navies in and around the slot, the fighting on the ground, and the aerial duels between the Japanese coming out of Rabaul and the Cactus air force.

Foremost this book is an account of what happened in a very comperehensive manner. After explaining the aircraft and ships the Japanese and Americans possesed, and delving into an interesting comparison of their air wing make ups and tactics, the author takes you chronologically through the Solomons campaign.

The reason this book only merited four stars instead of five is that sometimes this can be a bit dry. There's a lot of " . . . and then at 1350 the Wasp launched two more Hellcats on CAP. At 1415 a Mavis was shot down by a Hellcat from the Enterprise. Japanese records indicate that this was from their base in the Shortland Islands. At 1430 four planes from the Hornet CAP returned to refuel. At 1435 planes from the Wasp sighted another Mavis but were unable to pursue it. At 1440 . . . " Stretch this amount of minute by minute detail out over several weeks worth of operations and you get a sense of what the book is about, and it's a marvel it's not longer.

This might be slow at some points but it does allow some interesting insights that many other more easily read, and more exciting books can obscure. First is the sometimes monotomy and boredom of war. Second is the ridiculous degree to which kills of enemy aircraft and ships were overstated during the battles that occured. By comparing accounts of both sides the author makes it clear that most engagements resulted in fewer losses than the participants thought took place. (Clearly the engagements must have been emotionally draining and fierce.) If the after action reports are to have been believed it would seem as though the Japanese thought they wiped out the entire American force several times over and vice versa.

Certainly interesting for people with a passion for WWII history, especially the pacific campaign, but too much like pure history to really recommend for the casual reader.

This book details a small section of history from World War 2. It describes the equipment, the men and the battles, but it does it in such a way that you are unable to put the book down. By the time you've finished you have a feeling of some of what it must have been like to be involved in the struggle for that 'terrible' island. You also begin to believe that you know the men who fought there. This book is unmissable.

The Invasion of Guadalcanal and the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, August 1942.

The Battle of the Eastern Solomons was history's third carrier clash. A collision of U.S. Navy and Imperial Navy carriers in the wake of the invasion of Guadalcanal--whose airfield the United States desperately needed and the Japanese desperately wanted back--the battle was waged at sea and over Guadalcanal's besieged Marine-held Lunga Perimeter on August 24, 1942.

These battles were the result of the US deciding to draw the line in the pacific at the Solomons. If the Japanese had been able to complete the airfield on Guadalcanal, their planes would have been able to prevent the sailing of ships to Australia via the Pacific. So it was here that the Americans drew the line. Before the Guadalcanal battle the Americans fought the Battle of the Coral Sea stopping the Japanese southern advance.

Remember that this was a time before the Americans brought out their newer aircraft. This battle was fought with Wildcats against Zeros. And the dive bombers were the old SBD Dauntless.

This is not a history of Guadalcanal or of the overall place of this battle in the war, it is as the title says, a description of the carrier vs. carrier battles. This is only part of the story, but it is well told here.

Not a companion book, but anyone interested in the stopping of the Japanese advances should also read the new Australian book "A Bastard of a Place." This covers the stopping of the Japanese advance across Papua New Guina a fierce and deciscive battle little known in the US.

The man has definitely done his research - this is the most detailed account I've ever read of any Pacific theatre battle.

However, although the book describes Guadalcanal and the battle of the Eastern Solomons, Savo Island is all but ignored. There is no discussion of the significance of the battle, nor even of who won it! Essentially, the book stops when the fighting did, which is a bit odd.

If you like blood-and-thunder dogfight anecdotes you'll like this book, but some more of the big picture would have been nice.

Eric Hammel does a good job narrating the events during the Battle of Eastern Solomons in August, 1942. This was a critical battle which allowed the First Marine Division defenders on Guadalcanal to continue to consolidate its position. The blow by blow narrative of the air battle is so detailed that one wonders how Mr. Hammel was able to gather all this information--particularly that which he gleans from the Japanese side.

The weakness of Mr. Hammel in this book is his seeming inability to cope with the historically improved view of the performance of Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher. Mr. Hammel seems to parrot the biased view first propounded by the likes of Rear Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner, who had a desparate need to blame the disaster of the Battle of Savo Island on someone--anyone--other than himself. Unfortunately, Admiral King and Samuel Elliot Morrison picked up on Turner's scapegoating. Mr. Hammel seems to write as if none of the exculpatory research in such works as Lundstrom's "Black Shoe Carrier Admiral" has been circulated in the historical community. Admiral Fletcher certainly was concerned with refueling his ships...particularly his destroyer screen...as he well should have. Logistics of refueling had not developed to the art it became by the end of the war. Admiral Fletcher correctly kept his eye on the most important of his objectives...to destroy Japanese carriers under Admiral Nimitz's orders of calculated risk so that he could preserve the U.S. carriers, which in the Pacific were the most strategic of wartime assets for the defense of the United States. Fletcher wasn't flambouyant or reckless like Admiral Halsey, but was very approachable unlike Admiral Spruance. His approachability and good judgement explains Admiral Fletcher's magnificent performance--as well as the superb performance of the Yorktown--at Coral Sea and Midway. Mr. Hammel would do well to edit out his bias in future editions.

Finally, Mr. Hammel could put better perspective on what was achieved by this little known battle. A major effort which included extensive elements of the Combined Fleet were turned back, as this was a rather massive counterassault on the Marine position at Guadalcanal. That in itself was a considerable achievement only overshadowed by the Coral Sea and Midway engagements. The Marines owe a considerable debt of gratitude to the Navy for keeping their position viable...and the Leathernecks should also be reminded that more sailors died in the Guadalcanal campaign than Marines.

CARRIER CLASH is the first of a two book set detailing the campaign in the Solomons from Aug-Oct 1942. The reader is familiarized with aircraft carrier doctrine, operations, and the aircraft types used by both combatants. The book takes the reader through the opening operation (the initial landings on Guadalcanal)right through to the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in late August. As in the second volume CARRIER STRIKE, this book follows an almost minute-by-minute account of the tension and confusion of aerial combat.The reader is thrust into the midst of the action. I was hardly able to put the book down.

This author is descriptive but not as clear about the events as it could be. Sometimes gets lost in too many details and overlooks the general course of events. Overall an ok book

This is an excellent book that offers many fascinating details of the carrier operations early in the war in the Pacific.
As an old sailor who was in WWII, although later than this action, I can appreciate the accuracy.
Feel what it was like to sit in the cockpit of an F4F, or SBD, or TBF as you engage the enemy. (I did fly in the TBF/TBD's, then SB2C/s)
Well done.....

After shattering the Japanese Fleet at the Battle of Midway, the Americans were finally in position to make their first offensive strike of the war. In August of 1942, the Americans discovered that the Japanese were building an airstrip on the island of Guadalcanal, located in the Solomons chain. If the Japanese were able to successfully complete the airstrip, they would be able to attack the likes of Australia and New Zeland.

On August 7th, 1942, the 1st Marine Division stormed ashore at Guadalcanal. The few Japanese who were building the airstrip quickly scattered into the jungle, leaving the precious airfield for the Americans. However, this was just the opening act in what would turn out to be a six-month battle in which both sides lost numerous men, ships, and planes. The Battle of the Eastern Solomons, which is the focus of this book, took place in late August 1942.

During this third carrier clash between the Americans and Japanese, the Japanese lost the light carrier Ryujo, while the U.S. carrier Enterprise was heavily damaged, but remained afloat. This was just the opening act to many more fleet engagements between the Americans and Japanese off Guadalcanal in which many more ships would be sunk. The island became known as "The Island of Death", while the waters around Guadalcanal became known as "Ironbottom Sound".

I felt that this book was slightly above average, but not great. I did enjoy the introductory chapters which did a good job of introducing the reader to the various types of ships and planes in the American and Japanese arsenals. But, I was disappointed that there was very little first-hand accounts of the action. The book is basically 300+ pages of text written by the author. There are no quotes taken from participants, save for a few diary entries. The writing gets a little dry at points, too. This being said, I did learn some things about the battle that I didn't know before.

This book does an adequate job of describing the opening phases of the battle for Guadalcanal and the Eastern Solomons, but there are books that do a better job than this one.