Amazon.com
At the beginning of World War II, the U.S. Navy in the Pacific could only deploy 4 aircraft carriers to face Japan's 10, and the situation in the weeks following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor could not have looked more bleak. As the beginning of this video shows in a fast-paced montage, Japanese forces seemed unstoppable. But the tide of battle turned as American carrier-based pilots valiantly faced the Japanese Navy in the Battle of the Coral Sea and also at Midway, the first great battles in which the opposing fleets never came within sight of each other. Using archival footage, much of it shot in color, this video provides a solid overview of the early carrier battles that set the tone for the rest of the war in the Pacific. Footage of the American home front shows dramatically what would ultimately be the decisive factor in the greatest naval conflict in history: American shipyards and factories would relentlessly turn out the carriers and planes that eventually provided an overwhelming force arrayed against the Japanese. The narration does a good job of telling the story of how American carrier task forces carried the war across the sea to Japan's doorstep, and the real star of the production is the engrossing color footage of flaming aerial combat over the beautiful blue Pacific.
--Robert J. McNamara
From the back cover
America fights back with Carrier Victory. Through spectacular full-color footage and close-up personal accounts, top flight pilots and sailors relate what it waas like to live, operate and fight aboard these floating fortresses. The carrier was first mastered by the Japanese in the devastating raid on Pearl Harbor. Then a shocked American nation fought back with carrier advances--industrial and technological improvements that bested the enemy at their own game. The result was the greatest innovation in naval warfare during WWII: the imposing, offensive strength of these fighting behemoths. The Combat at Sea Video Collection. Experience the raw power of modern naval warfare. From WWI to the Persian Gulf, witness the drama of major fleet actions, underwater stealth, carrier air strikes, and more...all set against the everchanging landscape of the cruel sea. Narrated by film and TV star Monte Markham, Combat at Sea brings history to life through incredible action footage, memoirs, and interviews. In the dramatic tradition of Victory at Sea, this stirring series launches you into the greatest battles of this century!
