U.S. Carrier Operations in the Pacific War

Retired U.S. Navy commander Stille, the author of a good many books on naval history and the Pacific War, including The Imperial Japanese Navy in the Pacific War, gives us an overview of the great carrier battles that war.

Stille opens with a brief look at the origins of carrier aviation and the ships, aircraft, tactics, and men with which the U.S. and Japan began the war. He then devotes a chapter to the first six months of the war, from Pearl Harbor in December of 1941 until May of 1942, during which the fleet’s carriers undertook a number of impressive operations, which, aside from the bombing of Tokyo in cooperation with the Army Air Forces, are usually overlooked.

Stille then gives us a chapter each on Coral Sea, Midway, Eastern Solomons, and Santa Cruz, all in 1942, followed by one each on operations from October 1942 to mid-1944, the Philippine Sea, and a final carrier from then through the end of the war. In each chapter he discusses changes in ships, aircraft, tactics, and commanders, and all the chapters have numerous images and excellent maps and battle diagrams.

Pacific Carrier War is a very good work for those not familiar with carrier operations, this will also be of some interest to the more seasoned reader.

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Note: Pacific Carrier War is also available in several e-editions.

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