The Shame of Savo

The Shame of Savo PDF Author: Bruce Loxton
Publisher: US Naval Institute Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 360

Get Book Here

Book Description
A forensic investigation of the Battle of Savo Island where in August of 1942 Japanese strike forces snuck up on heavily guarded allied cruisers and destroyed four ships, sinking two of them. Loxton, wounded during the battle, exposes some of the myths surrounding this monumental defeat through an examination of American, Japanese, and Australian records, concluding with a "verdict" that cuts through naval misinformation and explains how such an event could have occurred. The writing conveys the single minded passion which the author follows to discover the truth of a military defeat which, because of his involvement, became a life obsession. Includes maps, diagrams, and illustrations. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The Shame of Savo

The Shame of Savo PDF Author: Bruce Loxton
Publisher: US Naval Institute Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 360

Get Book Here

Book Description
A forensic investigation of the Battle of Savo Island where in August of 1942 Japanese strike forces snuck up on heavily guarded allied cruisers and destroyed four ships, sinking two of them. Loxton, wounded during the battle, exposes some of the myths surrounding this monumental defeat through an examination of American, Japanese, and Australian records, concluding with a "verdict" that cuts through naval misinformation and explains how such an event could have occurred. The writing conveys the single minded passion which the author follows to discover the truth of a military defeat which, because of his involvement, became a life obsession. Includes maps, diagrams, and illustrations. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Shame of Savo, the Pb Edition

Shame of Savo, the Pb Edition PDF Author: Bruce Loxton
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781864482867
Category : Savo Island, Battle of, 1942
Languages : en
Pages : 319

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Shame Of Savo explores the personalities and events associated with the disastrous night of 9 August 1942 when a Japanese cruiser force surprised an Allied fleet off Savo Island.

Rising Sun Victorious

Rising Sun Victorious PDF Author: Peter G. Tsouras
Publisher: Skyhorse
ISBN: 1632208156
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 397

Get Book Here

Book Description
In war, victory can be held hostage to seemingly insignificant incidents–chance events, opportunities seized or cast aside–that can derail the most brilliant military strategies and change the course of history. What if the Japanese had conquered India and driven out the British? What if the strategic link between the United States and Australia had been severed? What if Vice Admiral Nagumo had launched a third attack on Pearl Harbor? What if the U.S. Navy’s gamble at Midway had backfired? Ten leading military historians ask these and other questions in this fascinating book. The war with Japan was rife with difficult choices and battles that could have gone either way. These fact-based alternate scenarios offer intriguing insights into what might have happened in the Pacific during World War II, and what the consequences would have been for America. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Guadalcanal Campaign

Guadalcanal Campaign PDF Author:
Publisher: PediaPress
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 403

Get Book Here

Book Description


Sitting Ducks at Guadalcanal

Sitting Ducks at Guadalcanal PDF Author: Lawrence A. De Graw
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0811773841
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 525

Get Book Here

Book Description
On August 7, 1942, U.S. Marines waded ashore in the Solomons, defended by warships of the U.S. Navy. The amphibious landing was the first major American ground campaign of the Pacific War, intended to prevent the Japanese from establishing naval and air bases in the island chain and to establish Allied bases for future operations. Most famously—and most gruelingly—the invasion marked the beginning of the months-long Guadalcanal campaign. Caught off guard, the Japanese swiftly regrouped for a seaborne counterattack on the night of August 8–9. The result was one of the worst American naval defeats of the war after Pearl Harbor. In this meticulous minute-by-minute retelling of the First Battle of Savo Island, Lawrence De Graw covers the navy’s role in the initial landings on Guadalcanal before setting the stage for the naval clash that would come the next night. On the eighth, the American commander, fearing Japanese attacks and cautious about fuel levels, withdrew his aircraft carriers and let his cruisers and destroyers—exhausted from two days of high alert and combat—operate with only half their crews on duty. The navy was unaware the Japanese had been training to fight at night. The American ships were sitting ducks when the Japanese fleet steamed through “The Slot” between Savo Island and Guadalcanal and into what became known as “Ironbottom Sound.” In little more than thirty minutes, the Japanese sent three U.S. (and one Australian) heavy cruisers to the bottom and damaged three other vessels. The American fleet withdrew from the area for the foreseeable future and limited shipments of men and materiel to the daytime, helping turn the battle of Guadalcanal into a long, hard slog. Sitting Ducks at Guadalcanal is naval history, featuring a colorful narrative that covers the big picture as well as stories of individual vessels and sailors as well as a careful analysis of the battle and just what went wrong for the U.S. Navy off the island of Guadalcanal.

The Bode Testament

The Bode Testament PDF Author: Sandy Shanks
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 0595180132
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 550

Get Book Here

Book Description
In the early hours of August 9, 1942, a Japanese force of five heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and one destroyer under the command of the wily, audacious, and courageous Japanese admiral, Gunichi Mikawa, slammed into a surprised allied cruiser screen under the command of a British admiral, Victor Crutchley. This intimidating force achieved surprise despite the fact that it had been spotted eleven times on the seventh and eighth. It first struck the Southern Force, consisting of two destroyers and two heavy cruisers, under the command of Captain Howard D. Bode, who doubled as the commander of the heavy cruiser, Chicago. Dispatching Bode's force in a matter of minutes, Mikawa then circled Savo Island and turned his Long Lance torpedoes and eight-inch guns on the Northern Force under the command of Captain Frederick Riefkohl. In about thirty minutes, one Australian heavy cruiser, the Canberra, and three American heavy cruisers, the Quincy, Astoria, and the Vincennes began their watery trek to the bottom of Ironbottom Sound, a uniquely prophetic name. The Chicago would be the only heavy cruiser to survive that morning. There were errors aplenty on the part of admirals in the vicinity. In addition to command, reconnaissance, and communication errors in the planning, Admiral Fletcher withdrew the Air Support Force on the eve of the eighth. Admiral Turner, responsible for the planning of the operation, failed to heed the warnings and called a conference as a result of Fletcher's actions. Admiral Crutchley, who also failed to heed the warnings, attended the conference with one-third of the strength of the Southern Force, the Australian heavy cruiser, Australia. Despite the errors of admirals, a single captain was censured in the Hepburn Report, the Navy's investigation. That captain was Howard D. Bode. This book is a story concerning that captain.

Novel History

Novel History PDF Author: Mark C. Carnes
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0684857669
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 356

Get Book Here

Book Description
Historical fiction is a contradiction in terms. History is what happened; fiction, what did not. Yet great novelists have often disregarded this logical difficulty, taking up the tools of the historian to explore the shadowy recesses of the past. Their labors have brought forth many literary treasures. But how accurately do these masterpieces of the imagination reflect the past? In Novel History, twenty accomplished historians consider this question in relation to some of our most important historical novels. Their essays are followed in most instances by a response from the novelist. These dialogues illuminate one of the most fascinating and perplexing issues of our time -- the relation between the "real" past and our finest imaginative renderings of it. Novel History includes essays by distinguished historians such as John Demos, Michael Kammen, Joan D. Hedrick, John Lukacs, Eugene D. Genovese, Richard White, and Tom Wicker, and responses from notable novelists, including Gore Vidal, John Updike, Russell Banks, Don DeLillo, Larry McMurtry, Jane Smiley, Madison Smartt Bell, William Styron, T. Coraghessan Boyle, William Kennedy, Charles Frazier, Thomas Fleming, and Tim O'Brien. Novel History is both a uniquely compelling perspective and a superb collection of literary history.

A Leader Born

A Leader Born PDF Author: Alton Keith Gilbert
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1612000304
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 301

Get Book Here

Book Description
This biography of one of World War II’s great military leaders is a “rich tribute to a staunch American naval hero” (WWII Quarterly). John S. “Slew” McCain was an old-school sailor. Wiry, profane, a cusser, and a gambler, he reminded more than one observer of Popeye. He was also a pioneer in the hard-hitting naval tactics that brought Imperial Japan to its knees. McCain graduated from Annapolis in 1906 and served aboard an armored cruiser in World War I. Perceiving the future of naval warfare, he earned his aviation wings in 1936, and by 1939, McCain was commander of the aircraft carrier USS Ranger. He was thus well-placed to play a leading role in America’s cut-and-thrust war with the Japanese across the broad expanses of the Pacific. In 1942, he was made commander of all land-based aircraft during the campaign for Guadalcanal. Though he took his share of blame for the disaster at Savo Island, he counterattacked with every means at his disposal, to the point of commandeering the planes of the crippled carriers Enterprise and Saratoga to reinforce US strength on Henderson Field. By the time the US returned to the Philippines, McCain was leading a fast carrier task force under William “Bull” Halsey. When asked what he thought about his carrier commander, Halsey replied, “Not much more than my right arm.” McCain’s carrier group would destroy thousands of enemy planes and hundreds of ships with aggressive swarming tactics. Four days after Japan officially surrendered, McCain died in his bed. His name has lived on, however, through his son, who became commander of US naval forces in the Pacific, and his grandson, John S. McCain III, carrier pilot, Vietnam POW, and United States Senator. Drawing upon a wealth of primary sources, including information provided by the McCain family, as well as an expert grasp of the titanic battles waged by the US armed forces in the Pacific, Alton Keith Gilbert has provided the fullest account of the Admiral John McCain’s life yet written.

The Historical Record, Strategic Decision Making, And Carrier Support To Operation Watchtower

The Historical Record, Strategic Decision Making, And Carrier Support To Operation Watchtower PDF Author: Lt.-Cmdr. Scott T. Farr
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1786256444
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 106

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Battle of Guadalcanal marked the first offensive ground operations conducted in the Pacific theater during World War II. One divisive issue of the Guadalcanal campaign is the withdrawal of carrier based aviation support on 8 August 1942, by Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher. The historical record is dominated by the argument that Fletcher faced very little threat and could have supported the invasion forces longer than he did. What influenced Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher to withdraw carrier based aviation from direct support of the Guadalcanal invasion and was the decision valid? In order to objectively evaluate Fletcher’s decision, this paper will first review historical literature and outline how the dominate opinion of Fletcher’s decision developed. Next, it will look at Fletcher’s character, development as a leader, and record from commissioning through the Watchtower campaign. This study will also review of the orders and guidance at the strategic level and the operations of subordinate commanders within Watchtower. Finally, the metrics of 1942 and the modern strategic military decision-making model will be applied to evaluate the validity of the decision to withdraw. The evidence clearly suggests that Fletcher’s decision was strategically valid, in addition to being characterized inaccurately by historians.

A Call to Arms

A Call to Arms PDF Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 136

Get Book Here

Book Description