A comprehensive overview of the strategy, operations, and vessels of
the United States Navy from 1941 to 1945.
Although slowly building its navy while neutral during the early years
of World War II, the US was struck a serious blow when its battleships,
the lynchpin of US naval doctrine, were the target of the dramatic
attack at Pearl Harbor.
In the Pacific Theater, the US was thereafter locked into a head to head
struggle with the impressive Imperial Japanese Navy, fighting a series
of major battles in the Coral Sea, at Midway, the Philippine Sea, Leyte
Gulf, and Okinawa in the struggle for supremacy over Japan. Having
avoided the decisive defeat sought by the IJN, the US increased
industrial production and by the end of the war, the US Navy was larger
than any other in the world.
Meanwhile in the west, the US Navy operated on a second front,
supporting landings in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy, and in 1944
played a significant part in the D-Day landings, the largest and most
complex amphibious operation of all time.
Written by an acknowledged expert and incorporating extensive
illustrations including photographs, maps, and color artwork, this book
offers a detailed look at the strategy, operations, and vessels of the
US Navy in World War II.