This study describes the air-sea offensive supporting the ground-force invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa in February and April 1945, which led to the onslaught of the Japanese kamikaze.The island invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa were the last two major ground campaigns to be initiated during the Pacific War. This superbly illustrated volume explores the air–sea aspects of these pivotal battles. Among the events covered are the “death ride” of the Japanese battleship Yamato (the largest ever built), and the mass kamikaze attacks off Iwo Jima and Okinawa, as well as the amphibious invasions themselves, including the air–sea bombardment of the two islands. By early 1945, the US Navy had reached an exceptional level of coordination in its amphibious operations and was able to overrun and subdue Japanese territories efficiently. Faced with the increasing might of these forces and to prevent further defeat, Japan deployed its squadron of kamikaze and attacked many US heavy aircraft carriers
For more than half a century, American gunboats were the ships often responsible for policing small crises and provided deterrence and fast-response capabilities around the world – showing the flag, l
The last predreadnought battleships of the US Navy were critical to the technological development of US battleships, and they were the first tool of international hard power wielded by the United Stat
When the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917, the tiny US Army did not even have a standing division. A huge national army worthy of the Western Front was quickly enlisted, trained, an
The final months of Allied naval bombardments on the Home Islands during World War II have, for whatever reason, frequently been overlooked by historians. Yet the Allies’ final naval campaign against
Aleutians 1942–43 is the full story of the forgotten battle to liberate American soil from the Japanese during World War II.It is often forgotten that during World War II, the Japanese managed to succ
A succinct but detailed illustrated explanation of the techniques by which the ships and aircraft of the US Fast Carrier Task Forces achieved their victories over the Imperial Japanese Navy.Drawing on difficult-to-access wartime documents and other contemporary sources, this is the first compact, illustrated study of the tactics and techniques of the US fast carriers of Task Forces 50, 58 and 38 during the naval war against Japan in 1943--45.This title concentrates on exactly how these highly successful forces actually operated: their composition in ships, aircraft, and men; the essential technology at their disposal; the evolving doctrine for their employment; the opposition and dangers they faced; and how they overcame them at the tactical level. It explains in straightforward terms the intricate details of topics such as how ships maneuvered, how aircraft were deployed and recovered, the formations and approaches used by fighters, dive-bombers, and torpedo-bombers against naval and
Following the raid on Pearl Harbor and the entry of the United States into World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt identified the European theatre as his country's priority. Their first joint op
The story of how the US Navy developed its first battleship fleet, their first combat test in the Spanish-American War, and the battleships' careers through World War I.This fully illustrated study ex
