The Fast Carriers: The Forging of an Air Navy [Hardcover]

Clark G. Reynolds (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1557507015 | ISBN-13: 978-1557507013 | Publication Date: March 5, 2008

Originally published in 1968, this now classic study is considered essential reading for its analysis of fast aircraft carrier development. It provides a fascinating record not only of the U.S. Navy's metamorphosis from a battleship-oriented to a carrier-centered fleet, but also of the heated debates that took place over the changing naval strategy. With an insider's grasp of the personalities involved, award-winning naval historian Clark G. Reynolds takes readers from the war rooms of Washington to the flight decks of the Pacific. He vividly describes the battles over the concept of fast carriers between the air admirals and battleship admirals and offers little-known details gleaned from personal interviews and private diaries.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Clark G. Reynolds, was professor emeritus of the College of Charleston in South Carolina. He is also the author of On the Warpath in the Pacific: Admiral Jocko Clark and the Fast Carriers and Admiral John H. Towers: The Struggle for Naval Air Supremacy, both published by the Naval Institute Press.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 536 pages
• Publisher: Naval Institute Press (March 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557507015
• ISBN-13: 978-1557507013
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #135,717 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars GREAT INSIGHT INTO FIGHTING CARRIER CAPTAINS OF WWII, April 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Fast Carriers: The Forging of an Air Navy (Hardcover)

WELL WRITTEN BOOK ABOUT THE WWII FAST CARRIERS AND THE MEN WHO COMMANDED THEM. ESPECIALLY INTERESTING IS THE AUTHOR'S DELVING INTO THEIR PERSONALITIES AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEIR STAFF AND CREW. SHOWS WHICH ONES WERE REALLY THE FIGHTING ADMIRALS AND WHICH ONES JUST EXISTED ON THE JOB. THE BOOK DOES AN EXCELLENT JOB OF DETAILING THE EARLY YEARS BEFORE THE WAR AND THE BATTLE WITH THE NAVY'S "BATTLESHIP ADMIRALS" WHO COULDN'T SEE PAST THEIR BIG GUNS TO REALIZE THAT CARRIER AIR POWER WAS THE NAVY'S FUTURE. IN ONE SENSE PEARL HARBOR DID MORE FOR CARRIER AIR IN ONE DAY THAN ALL THE PLEADING HAD DONE UP TO THAT TIME. I SERVED ON THE CARRIER MIDWAY IN THE 50'S COMMANDED BY WWII CARRIER AIR ACE "TOMMY BLACKBURN" WHO COMMANDED THE FAMOUS "JOLLY ROGERS" CORSAIR SQUADRON VF-17. HE WOULD HAVE MADE A GREAT FIGHTING ADMIRAL. A MUST HAVE BOOK FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN WWII NAVAL HISTORY

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great One Volume History of Aircraft Carriers in WWII, February 16, 1998

By 

Ray Acosta "ramon4" (Ladera Ranch, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fast Carriers: The Forging of an Air Navy (Hardcover)

I'm a nut about aircraft carriers and the war in the South Pacific, and I think this is the best book I've ever read on the subject. The author starts with the development of fast carriers in the 20's and 30's, then talks the early days of World War II when both navys knew they had a powerful offensive weapon, didn't quite know how to use it. He finishes with America's success in developing carrier task forces and Air Admirals. If you are interested in this subject, you can't do better than this in one volume.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best so far, but ..., April 9, 2000

By 

Raymond Gronberg (Durham, North Carolina) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fast Carriers: The Forging of an Air Navy (Hardcover)

Unusually for a book on the carrier war, The Fast Carriers focuses on events from late 1943 onwards, when the Essex-class ships began coming on line. It is a unique work, but has flaws that beg for a revisionist account. Reynolds is very much a partisan in favor of the carrier admirals, so his account of their intra-service battles within the Navy is unbalanced. He also sheds little light on the carrier task force as a component in the combined-arms force. The post-1943 focus costs him a chance to track the changes in training and doctrine that occurred after the 1942 battles. And, finally, his account of the Philippine Sea is conventionally critical of Spruance, without giving proper weight to the issues at stake in moving TF58 to the west in pursuit. All in all, The Fast Carriers remains an essential work on the Pacific War, but its place in the literature is tenuous. One awaits Eric Bergerud's forthcoming work on the naval component of the Solomons battles for new insights.