Download or read book Admiral Halsey s Story Illustrated Edition written by Fleet Admiral William F. Halsey and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 582 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contains more than 30 illustrations of the Author, his ships and the engagements. The term Legend is bandied about far too much these days to describe anyone who has achieved even limited prominence in their chosen field; however Legend is quite the accurate one for Fleet Admiral William “Bull” Halsey. Although a modest man who once said that “There are no great men, just great challenges which ordinary men, out of necessity, are forced by circumstances to meet.”; it is clear that the challenges that he met were extraordinary in the Pacific theatre during the Second World War. Bold, brash and determined Halsey led the first offensive against the Japanese Navy in command of the carrier group that launched the Doolittle raid; his aggressive thrusting style led to him spearheading nearly every major US Navy attack on the Japanese. In this age of soundbites Halsey is still continually quoted for the pithy wit that he often coined such as his slogan for the Navy -“Hit hard, hit fast, hit often”. Halsey left his imprint across the entire Pacific War and his autobiography is sure to interest any Naval or History buff.

Download or read book Admiral Bull Halsey written by John Wukovits and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2010-07-06 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The definitive biography of America's best-known naval officer, who commanded the legendary fast carrier force during WWII. From the tragic aftermath of Pearl Harbor, when he fashioned America's first response to the attack, to the war's final day in Tokyo Bay when he witnessed Japan's surrender, Admiral William F. Halsey stamped a mighty imprint on the Pacific during World War II. He led or participated significantly in the Navy's first offensive strikes against the Marshall Islands and Wake Island, the Guadalcanal campaign, and the offensive toward Japan. As a commander, he never shied from engaging the enemy, but boldly entered into battle, ready for a fight. As a consequence, Halsey became the face of the Navy and its most attractive public relations phenomenon. Due to his bold tactics and quotable wit, Halsey continues to be a beloved and debated figure. In this balanced biography, historian John Wukovits illuminates the life of a man who ultimately deserves recognition as one the great naval commanders in U.S. history. Europe had Patton; the Pacific had Admiral William "the Bull" Halsey.

Download or read book Halsey s Typhoon written by Bob Drury and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the tradition of "The Perfect Storm" and "Flags of Our Fathers," this work chronicles the epic tale of men clashing against the ruthless forces of war and nature--a gripping true story of courage and survival against impossible odds and one of the greatest World War II sagas of our time.

Download or read book Sea of Thunder written by Evan Thomas and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2007-11-06 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on oral histories, diaries, correspondence, postwar testimony from both American and Japanese participants, and interviews with survivors, Thomas provides this riveting account of the Battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944, the culminating battle of the war in the Pacific. Photos.

Download or read book Enterprise written by Barrett Tillman and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-02-14 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the epic and heroic story of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise and of the courageous men who fought and died on her from Pearl Harbor to the end of the conflict. Acclaimed military historian Barrett Tillman recounts the World War II exploits of America’s most decorated warship and its colorful crews— tales of unmatched daring and heroism.

Download or read book The Admirals written by Walter R. Borneman and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2012-05-01 with total page 439 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How history's only five-star admirals triumphed in World War II and made the United States the world's dominant sea power. Only four men in American history have been promoted to the five-star rank of Admiral of the Fleet: William Leahy, Ernest King, Chester Nimitz, and William Halsey. These four men were the best and the brightest the navy produced, and together they led the U.S. navy to victory in World War II, establishing the United States as the world's greatest fleet. In The Admirals, award-winning historian Walter R. Borneman tells their story in full detail for the first time. Drawing upon journals, ship logs, and other primary sources, he brings an incredible historical moment to life, showing us how the four admirals revolutionized naval warfare forever with submarines and aircraft carriers, and how these men -- who were both friends and rivals -- worked together to ensure that the Axis fleets lay destroyed on the ocean floor at the end of World War II.

Download or read book Halsey s Decision written by David L Brooks and published by . This book was released on 2014-10 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At 0646 Fanshaw Bay makes an "unidentified surface contact" on her radar and her radio watch reports "Japs gabbing" on the fighter-interception net. And then at 0647 the A/S patrol radios: "I can see pagoda masts, and I see the biggest red meatball flag I ever saw on the biggest battleship I ever saw." Ziggy Sprague knows his ships are in trouble. His 20-knot carriers and his paltry 5-inch guns firing a 54-pound shell with a range of about nine nautical miles, which could not penetrate battleship or cruiser armor, are no match for even the smallest of the Japanese battleships, which could do 30 knots and fired three-quarter-ton 14-inch shells twenty miles. How could this have happened? Where was TF 34? Where was Halsey?

Download or read book Battleship Commander written by Paul L Stillwell and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2021-10-15 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first-ever biography of Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee Jr., who served a key role during World War II in the Pacific. Recognizing the achievements and legacy of one of the war's top combat admirals has been long overdue until now. Battleship Commander explores Lee's life from boyhood in Kentucky through his eventual service as commander of the fast battleships from 1942 to 1945. Paul Stillwell draws on more than 150 first-person accounts from those who knew and served with Lee from boyhood until the time of his death. Said to be down to earth, modest, forgiving, friendly, and with a wry sense of humor, Lee eschewed the media and, to the extent possible, left administrative details to others. Stillwell relates the sequential building of a successful career, illustrating Admiral Lee's focus on operational, tactical, and strategic concerns. During his service in the Navy Department from 1939 to 1942, Lee prepared the U.S. Navy for war at sea, and was involved in inspecting designs for battleships, cruisers, aircraft carriers, and destroyers. He sent observers to Britain to report on Royal Navy operations during the war against Germany and made plans to send an action team to mainland China to observe conditions for possible later Allied landings there. Putting his focus on the need to equip U.S. warships with radar and antiaircraft guns, Lee was one of the few flag officers of his generation who understood the tactical advantage of radar, especially during night battles. In 1942 Willis Lee became commander of the first division of fast battleships to operate in the Pacific. During that service, he commanded Task Force 64, which achieved a tide-turning victory in a night battle near Guadalcanal in November 1942. Lee missed two major opportunities for surface actions against the Japanese. In June 1944, in the Marianas campaign, he declined to engage because his ships were not trained adequately to operate together in surface battles. In October 1944, Admiral William Halsey's bungled decisions denied Lee's ships an opportunity for combat. Continuing his career of service near the end of the war, Lee, in the summer of 1945, directed anti-kamikaze research efforts in Casco Bay, Maine. While Lee's wartime successes and failures make for compelling reading, what is here in this biography is a balanced look at the man and officer.

Download or read book Marines In World War II Iwo Jima Amphibious Epic Illustrated Edition written by Lt. Col. Whitman S. Bartley USMC and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 725 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the 19th Feb. 1945, the first Marines landed on Iwo Jima, the first enemy troops to invade Japanese home territory; many of those brave soldiers would never leave the black volcanic sands again as they fought and died in the U.S. Marine Corps toughest ever battle. Contains 100 photos and 26 maps and charts. “The assault on Iwo Jima came as a smashing climax to the 16-month drive that carried the amphibious forces of the U.S. across the Central Pacific to within 660 miles of Tokyo. Striking first at Tarawa in November 1943, American forces had swept rapidly westward, seizing only those islands essential for support of future operations. Many powerful enemy strongholds were bypassed and neutralized. By the fall of 1944 the small but heavily fortified island of Iwo Jima, lying midway between the Marianas and the heart of the Japanese Empire, had assumed such strategic importance that its rapid seizure became imperative. Neutralization would not suffice; Iwo must become an operational U.S. base. “At Iwo Jima the amphibious doctrines, techniques, weapons, and equipment which had proven so effective during the three previous years of World War II received the supreme test. On that island more than 20,000 well-disposed and deeply entrenched Japanese troops conducted an intelligent and dogged defense. There, more than anywhere else in the Central Pacific, terrain and enemy defense preparations combined to limit the effectiveness of American supporting arms, placing a premium on the skill and aggressive fighting spirit of the individual Marine. There can be no more fitting tribute than the well-known words of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, "Among the Americans who served on Iwo Island uncommon valor was a common virtue."-Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr., General, U.S.M.C.

Download or read book Marines In World War II Okinawa Victory In The Pacific Illustrated Edition written by Major Chas. S. Nichols Jr. USMC and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 979 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contains 86 photos and 42 maps and charts. The story of part played by the United States Marines in the largest amphibious assault of the entire Pacific War during World War II. The battle lasted an exhausting and bloody 82 days from early April until mid-June 1945. The legendarily tough defence of the Japanese soldiers and citizens was matched by the American troops in the last major campaign that had led all the way from Pearl Harbor to the Home Islands of Japan. “After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were approaching Japan, and planned to use Okinawa, a large island only 340 mi (550 km) away from mainland Japan, as a base for air operations on the planned invasion of Japanese mainland (coded Operation Downfall). Four divisions of the U.S. 10th Army (the 7th, 27th, 77th, and 96th) and two Marine Divisions (the 1st and 6th) fought on the island while the 2nd Marine Division remained as an amphibious reserve and was never brought ashore. The invasion was supported by naval, amphibious, and tactical air forces. The battle has been referred to as the "typhoon of steel" in English, and tetsu no ame ("rain of steel") or tetsu no bōfū ("violent wind of steel") in Japanese. The nicknames refer to the ferocity of the fighting, the intensity of kamikaze attacks from the Japanese defenders, and to the sheer numbers of Allied ships and armored vehicles that assaulted the island. The battle resulted in the highest number of casualties in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Japan lost over 100,000 soldiers, who were either killed, captured or committed suicide, and the Allies suffered more than 65,000 casualties of all kinds. Simultaneously, tens of thousands of local civilians were killed, wounded, or committed suicide. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused Japan to surrender less than two months after the end of the fighting at Okinawa.”-Wiki

Download or read book Victory at Midway written by James M. D’Angelo and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2018-01-13 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the five months after Pearl Harbor, the Imperial Japanese Navy won a string of victories in a campaign to consolidate control of Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. In June of 1942, Japan suffered a devastating defeat at the Battle of Midway and was never again able to take the offensive in the Pacific. Bringing fresh perspective to the battle and its consequences, the author identifies Japan's operational plan as a major factor in its Navy's demise and describes the profound effects Midway had on the course of the war in Europe.

Download or read book Nimitz written by E.B. Potter and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2013-11-12 with total page 546 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Called a great book worthy of a great man, this definitive biography of the commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet in World War II, first published in 1976 and now available in paperback for the first time, continues to be considered the best book ever written about Adm. Chester W. Nimitz. Highly respected by both the civilian and naval communities, Nimitz was sometimes overshadowed by more colorful warriors such as MacArthur and Halsey. Potter's lively and authoritative style fleshes out Admiral Nimitz's personality to help readers appreciate the contributions he made as the principal architect of Japan's defeat. The book covers his full life, from a poverty-stricken childhood to postwar appointments as Chief of Naval Operations and U.N. mediator. It candidly reveals Nimitz's opinions of Halsey, Kimmel, King, Spruance, MacArthur, Forrestal, Roosevelt, and Truman.

Download or read book A Leader Born written by Alton Keith Gilbert and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2006-08-19 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Admiral Bill Halsey written by Thomas Alexander Hughes and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2016-05-09 with total page 536 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: William Halsey was the most famous naval officer of World War II. His fearlessness in carrier raids against Japan, his steely resolve at Guadalcanal, and his impulsive blunder at the Battle of Leyte Gulf made him the “Patton of the Pacific” and solidified his reputation as a decisive, aggressive fighter prone to impetuous errors of judgment in the heat of battle. In this definitive biography, Thomas Hughes punctures the popular caricature of the “fighting admiral” to reveal the truth of Halsey’s personal and professional life as it was lived in times of war and peace. Halsey, the son of a Navy officer whose alcoholism scuttled a promising career, committed himself wholeheartedly to naval life at an early age. An audacious and inspiring commander to his men, he met the operational challenges of the battle at sea against Japan with dramatically effective carrier strikes early in the war. Yet his greatest contribution to the Allied victory was as commander of the combined sea, air, and land forces in the South Pacific during the long slog up the Solomon Islands chain, one of the war’s most daunting battlegrounds. Halsey turned a bruising slugfest with the Japanese navy into a rout. Skillfully mediating the constant strategy disputes between the Army and the Navy—as well as the clashes of ego between General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz—Halsey was the linchpin of America’s Pacific war effort when its outcome was far from certain.

Download or read book The Second Most Powerful Man in the World written by Phillips Payson O'Brien and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-03-03 with total page 546 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The life of Franklin Roosevelt's most trusted and powerful advisor, Admiral William D. Leahy, Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief “O'Brien's biography at last gives Leahy his due.”—John Lewis Gaddis • “Fascinating… greatly enriches our understanding of Washington wartime power.”—Madeleine Albright • “Beautifully written and thoroughly researched.”—Douglas Brinkley • “Transforms our understanding of America's wartime decision-making.”—Hew Strachan Aside from FDR, no American did more to shape World War II than Admiral William D. Leahy--not Douglas MacArthur, not Dwight Eisenhower, and not even the legendary George Marshall. No man, including Harry Hopkins, was closer to Roosevelt, nor had earned his blind faith, like Leahy. Through the course of the war, constantly at the president's side and advising him on daily decisions, Leahy became the second most powerful man in the world. In a time of titanic personalities, Leahy regularly downplayed his influence, preferring the substance of power to the style. A stern-faced, salty sailor, his U.S. Navy career had begun as a cadet aboard a sailing ship. Four decades later, Admiral Leahy was a trusted friend and advisor to the president and his ambassador to Vichy France until the attack on Pearl Harbor. Needing one person who could help him grapple with the enormous strategic consequences of the war both at home and abroad, Roosevelt made Leahy the first presidential chief of staff--though Leahy's role embodied far more power than the position of today. Leahy's profound power was recognized by figures like Stalin and Churchill, yet historians have largely overlooked his role. In this important biography, historian Phillips Payson O'Brien illuminates the admiral's influence on the most crucial and transformative decisions of WWII and the early Cold War. From the invasions of North Africa, Sicily, and France, to the allocation of resources to fight Japan, O'Brien contends that America's war largely unfolded according to Leahy's vision. Among the author's surprising revelations is that while FDR's health failed, Leahy became almost a de facto president, making decisions while FDR was too ill to work, and that much of his influence carried over to Truman's White House.

Download or read book Neptune s Inferno written by James D. Hornfischer and published by Bantam. This book was released on 2012-03-06 with total page 578 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A literary tour de force that is destined to become one of the . . . definitive works about the battle for Guadalcanal . . . [James D.] Hornfischer deftly captures the essence of the most pivotal naval campaign of the Pacific war.”—San Antonio Express-News The Battle of Guadalcanal has long been heralded as a Marine victory. Now, with his powerful portrait of the Navy’s sacrifice, James D. Hornfischer tells for the first time the full story of the men who fought in destroyers, cruisers, and battleships in the narrow, deadly waters of “Ironbottom Sound.” Here, in stunning cinematic detail, are the seven major naval actions that began in August 1942, a time when the war seemed unwinnable and America fought on a shoestring, with the outcome always in doubt. Working from new interviews with survivors, unpublished eyewitness accounts, and newly available documents, Hornfischer paints a vivid picture of the officers and enlisted men who opposed the Japanese in America’s hour of need. The first major work on this subject in almost two decades, Neptune’s Inferno does what all great battle narratives do: It tells the gripping human stories behind the momentous events and critical decisions that altered the course of history and shaped so many lives. Praise for Neptune’s Inferno “Vivid and engaging . . . extremely readable, comprehensive and thoroughly researched.”—Ronald Spector, The Wall Street Journal “Superlative storytelling . . . the masterwork on the long-neglected topic of World War II’s surface ship combat.”—Richard B. Frank, World War II “The author’s two previous World War II books . . . thrust him into the major leagues of American military history writers. Neptune’s Inferno is solid proof he deserves to be there.”—The Dallas Morning News “Outstanding . . . The author’s narrative gifts and excellent choice of detail give an almost Homeric quality to the men who met on the sea in steel titans.”—Booklist (starred review) “Brilliant . . . a compelling narrative of naval combat . . . simply superb.”—The Washington Times

Download or read book The Quiet Warrior written by Thomas B Buell and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2009-11-01 with total page 562 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Regarded as the standard biography of World War II naval hero Adm. Raymond A. Spruance, this work is now available in trade paperback for the first time. Spruance, victor of the battles of Midway and the Philippine Sea and commander of the Fifth Fleet in the invasions of the Gilberts, the Marshalls, the Marianas, and Okinawa, is one of the towering figures in American naval history. Yet his reserved, cerebral personality did not make “good copy” for correspondents, and until the publication of The Quiet Warrior he remained an elusive figure. Thomas Buell has succeeded in evoking the nature of the man as well as recording the achievements of the admiral in this brilliant biography, which won the Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Literary Achievement the year of its publication.