CARRIER WARFARE PAC PB (Smithsonian History of Aviation and Spaceflight) (Paperback)

~ Wooldridge Et (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor marked the end of the battleship as the centerpiece weapon of the U.S. Navy--in the future, the aircraft carrier would be the star of the fleet. In this oral history edited by Wooldridge, Ramsey Fellow at the National Air and Space Museum, we see how Colonel Jimmy Doolittle's flyers learned to launch their B-25s off the Hornet . Admiral John S. Thach details his "Thach Weave," a fighting tactic which allowed slower American planes to fight the fast Japanese Zero on equal terms. The outspoken Thach also charges that the Yorktown would not have been sunk at the Battle of Midway if Admirals Fetcher and Spruance had been carrier admirals. A major part of the story lies in the shear might of American industry. During the course of the war the U.S. would build 17 Essex- class carriers; many Independence -class carriers; and an extraordinary 109 escort, or jeep, carriers. As the war winds down we are a part of the excitement of the "Turkey Shoot" in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, in which Navy pilots could choose their targets, and we share the terror of trying to find a carrier to land on at night. We witness the destructiveness of the kamikazes as the Franklin loses 800 of its crew and we see equal destructiveness when two typhoons wreck the fleet. This is a story of guts, sacrifice, terror and exhilaration to be savored by anyone interested in the carrier as the ultimate war machine. Photos.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

Capturing the times when lives and victory were in peril, this book records the exploits of the men who fought in WWII in the air and on the sea, including pilots and air crewmen of carrier squadrons, officers and men of the ship's company, and admirals and their staffs. Compelling personal accounts. Illus. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Smithsonian (October 17, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560988223
• ISBN-13: 978-1560988229
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,693,094 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars First hand accounts of history, June 14, 2003

By	Jeremy Kuris (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book contains 30 personal accounts of the carrier war in the pacific. Some people provide more than one narrative. There are many insights and exciting passages. It was very hard to put down! You really get a sense of the huge quantities of men and machines that were being "thrown" at each other during the campaign.

My favorite section was Roger Bond's account of the British beer rations and the Americans' vast quantities of ice cream, and how each craved the other. That is just one example of the personal details you won't get from a typical historical account.

The only shortcoming of this book is its pictures. The maps are blurry and too few in number. A timeline would have also helped. Finally, I would have like to see some pictures of the equipment described in the narratives. Even better could have been diagrams showing the battle damage described in some of the accounts. Despite these shortcomings, I certainly recommend this book to anybody even slightly interested in what life was like during the WW2 Pacific carrier battles.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smithsonian books never fail, July 28, 1998

By	[e-mail] (Helsinki, Finland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Carrier Warfare in the Pacific: An Oral History Collection (Smithsonian History of Aviation and Spaceflight Series) (Hardcover)

History can be made two ways: interesting and uninteresting. Wooldridge and Connally rank in the former, with flying colours.

The general public often feels that after Pearl Harbor it was just a matter of time before the US Navy beat its Imperial adversary, but there were a great number of trials and tribulations in developing the carrier force into the jackhammer it was in 1944.

The authors have included material from many key players in the drama, who all provide vitally important and extremely interesting information. For example, there is data on the design of carriers, which was constantly enhanced as battle experience became available. There's also a piece of a member of the enlisted crew, who describes life on a carrier in such vivid detail that one is completely taken by his tale. Captains, pilots, crew members, top brass, all get to say their piece in this most interesting book, which is not to be missed by any student of WW2 in the Pacific.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A critically important contribution to military studies., March 4, 2000

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Carrier Warfare In The Pacific: An Oral History Collection is the latest entry in the highly acclaimed "Smithsonian History of Aviation Series" and presents compelling, personal accounts of behind-the-scenes planning and operations for six major carrier-versus-carrier battles during World War II. Included are the actions at Coral Sea, Midway, Eater Solomons, Santa Cruz Island, Philippine Sea, and Leyte Gulf. These detailed eye-witness accounts of aerial exploits and the heroic efforts on the carriers to continue flight operations despite sustaining heavy damages from enemy attack are the stuff of military history and legend. Carrier Warfare In The Pacific is a seminal and critically important contribution to personal, academic and public library military studies collections.