Product Details

• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: June 2, 1998
• Run Time: 50 minutes
• ASIN: 630250600X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #641,488 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The idea of flying an airplane from the deck of a ship and then landing it safely onboard seemed like a bizarre stunt when it was first accomplished following World War I, and the aircraft carrier's true worth went unrecognized for nearly 20 years. In a segment in this documentary, a British officer narrates how the Royal Navy dared to use torpedo bombers based on a carrier to attack the Italian fleet at its home port, with astounding and devastating success early in World War II. The lesson of that surprise attack was learned well by the commander of the Japanese Navy, Admiral Yamamoto, who devised the attack on Pearl Harbor that plunged the United States into the war. This video focuses on the ensuing great carrier battles, especially the Battle of the Coral Sea and what was undoubtedly the turning point of the naval war in the Pacific, the Battle of Midway. This production by U.S. News uses archival footage and interviews with veterans who flew in the historic battles to tell the story of how the aircraft carrier changed history-- they made it possible for mighty fleets that were never within sight of each other to engage in decisive sea battles. --Robert J. McNamara