Download or read book American Aces against the Kamikaze written by Edward M. Young and published by Osprey Publishing. This book was released on 2012-10-23 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Japanese High Command realized that the loss of Okinawa would give the Americans a base for the invasion of Japan. Its desperate response to the invasion of Okinawa was to unleash the full force of the Special Attack Units, known in the west as the Kamikaze ('Divine Wind'), in the hope of inflicting punishing casualties on the US Pacific fleet that in turn disrupted the invasion. In a series of mass attacks in between April and June 1945, more than 900 Kamikaze aeroplanes were shot down. Conventional fighters and bombers accompanied the Special Attack Units as escorts, and to add their own weight to the attacks on the US fleet. In the air battles leading up to the invasion of Okinawa, as well as those that raged over the island in the three months, that followed, and in strikes on Japanese airfields in Kyushu (the base of the Special Attack Units), the Japanese lost more than 7000 aircraft both in the air and on the ground. In the course of the fighting, 67 Navy, 21 Marine, and three USAAF pilots became aces, destroying at least five aircraft between March and June 1945. In many ways it was an uneven combat. While many regular Japanese Army and Navy aviators volunteered for the Special Attack Units, a large number of the pilots in the Special Attack Units were inexperienced and only recently out of flying training. They also often flew obsolete aircraft. These less experienced pilots were no match for the Hellcat, Corsair and Thunderbolt pilots who were at the peak of their game. Indeed, many of the latter had been flying fighters for two or more years, and had previous combat experience. On numerous occasions following these uneven contests, American fighter pilots would return from combat having shot down up to six Japanese aeroplanes during a single mission. Indeed, during the campaign 13 Navy, five Marine Corps and two USAAF pilots became 'aces in a day'.

Download or read book American Aces against the Kamikaze written by Edward M. Young and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2013-09-20 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Japanese High Command realised that the loss of Okinawa would give the Americans a base for the invasion of Japan. Its desperate response was to unleash the full force of the Special Attack Units, known in the west as the Kamikaze ('Divine Wind'). In a series of mass attacks in between April and June 1945, more than 900 Kamikaze aeroplanes were shot down. Conventional fighters and bombers accompanied the Special Attack Units as escorts, and to add their own weight to the attacks on the US fleet. In the air battles leading up to the invasion of Okinawa, as well as those that raged over the island in the three months that followed, the Japanese lost more than 7,000 aircraft both in the air and on the ground. In the course of the fighting, 67 Navy, 21 Marine, and three USAAF pilots became aces. In many ways it was an uneven combat and on numerous occasions following these uneven contests, American fighter pilots would return from combat having shot down up to six Japanese aeroplanes during a single mission.

Download or read book Aces Against Japan II written by Eric Hammel and published by Daniel Hammel. This book was released on 2020-12-05 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ACES AGAINST JAPAN II The American Aces Speak Eric Hammel Leading combat historian Eric Hammel comes through again with an engrossing new collection of thirty-eight first-person accounts by American World War II fighter aces. Coupled with a clear overview of America’s far-flung air war against Japan and a clear appreciation of the burgeoning industrial might backing the American war effort, Hammel’s detailed interviews bring forth the most thrilling in-the-cockpit experiences that World War II’s fabled Army, Navy, Marine, and Flying Tiger aces have chosen to tell. Ride with 2d Lieutenant Jack Donalson as he downs three Zeros over Luzon on the second desperate day of World War II in the Philippines. Share three lonely air battles over Burma and China with Flying Tiger aces RT Smith, Dick Rossi, and Joe Rosbert. Hear the cry of victory as 2d Lieutenant Don McGee survives yet another encounter with Zeros over embattled Port Moresby, New Guinea, in his substandard P-39 Airacobra. Feel your heart beat with anxiety as an injured Ensign Ed Wendorf races against time to land his damaged Hellcat aboard the USS Lexington before he bleeds to death. And thrill to the hunt as Pearl Harbor veteran 1st Lieutenant Frank Holmes seeks personal revenge against Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto on one of history’s most important and most thrilling fighter missions. The American Aces Speak series is a highly charged five-volume excursion into life and death in the air, told by men who excelled and triumphed in aerial combat and lived to tell about it. In sum, it is an emotional rendering of what brave airmen felt and how they fought in the now-dim days of America’s living national history. These are America’s eagles, and the stories are their own, in their very own words. Critical Acclaim for The American Aces Speak Series The Book World says: “Aces Against Japan is a thunderous, personal, high-adventure book giving our ‘men in the sky’ their own voice” Book Page says: “Eric Hammel’s book is recommended reading. It is a must for any historian’s bookshelf.” The Library Journal says: “No PR hype or dry-as-dust prose here. Hammel allows his flyers to tell their stories in their own way.Exciting stuff aviation and World War II buffs will love.” The Friday Review of Defense Literature says: “Aces Against Japan is replete with individual heroism and personal feats that almost defy comprehension.A thoroughly enjoyable foray into the cockpits of World War II fighter pilots.” The Providence Sunday Journal says: “A treat that deftly blends a chronology of the Pacific War with tales that would rival a Saturday action matinee.” Infantry Magazine says: “If you would like to read one book that will give you a broad overview and yet a detailed look at what a fighter pilot’s air war was likethis is the book.” The Bookshelf says: “Hammel is one of our best military historians when it comes to presenting that often complex subject to the general public. He has demonstrated this facility in a number of fine books before [Aces Against Germany] and now he does so again. Not to be missed by either buff or scholar.”

Download or read book Aces Against Japan written by Eric Hammel and published by Daniel Hammel. This book was released on 2020-12-05 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ACES AGAINST JAPAN The American Aces Speak Eric Hammel In this superb, originally conceived offering, noted military historian, Eric Hammel brings us first-person accounts from thirty-nine of the American fighter aces who blasted their way across the skies of the Pacific and East Asia from December 7, 1941, until the final air battles over Japan itself in August 1945. Coupled with a clear view of America's far-flung air war against Japan, Hammel's detailed interviews bring out the most thrilling in-the-cockpit experiences of the air combat that the Pacific War’s best Army, Navy, and Marine pilots have chosen to tell. Meet Frank Holmes, who defied death in an outmoded P-36 while still clad in a seersucker suit he had worn to mass earlier that morning. Fly with Scott McCuskey as, single-handed at Midway, he takes out two waves of Japanese dive-bombers that are attacking his precious aircraft carrier. Sweat out the last precious drops of fuel in a defective Marine Wildcat fighter as Medal of Honor recipient Jeff DeBlanc bores ahead to his target to keep the faith with the bomber crews he has been assigned to protect. Experience the ecstasy of total victory as Ralph Hanks becomes the Navy's first Hellcat ace-in-a-day when he destroys five Japanese fighters over the Gilbert Islands in a single mission. A superb interviewer, Hammel has collected some of the very best air-combat tales from America's war with Japan. Combined with the four other volumes in The American Aces Speak series, this work will stand as an enduring testament to the brave men who fought the first and last air war in which high-performance, piston-engine fighters held sway. These are stories of bravery and survival, of men and machines pitted against one another in heart-stopping, unforgiving high-speed aerial combat. The American Aces Speak is a highly-charged emotional rendering of what men felt in the now-dim days of personal combat at the very edge of our living national history. There was never a war like it, and there never will be again. These are America's eagles, and the stories are their own, in their very own words. Eric Hammel is the author of nearly thirty other books, including Pacifica Press’s Carrier Clash, Carrier Strike, Aces Against Germany, Aces Against Japan II, Aces at War, and Aces in Combat. He lives with his family near San Francisco. Critical Acclaim for The American Aces Speak Series The Marine Corps Aviation Association Yellow Sheet says: “The recounting of each story is done in the pilot’s own words. This is a powerful technique that draws readers into the action and introduces them to the world of the fighter pilot” The American Fighter Aces Bulletin says: “Some of [the] episodes are well-known; others have never been written before. But each account delivers something intensely personal about the Pacific Air War.” The Library Journal says: “No PR hype or dry-as-dust prose here. Hammel allows his flyers to tell their stories in their own way . . . Exciting stuff aviation and World War II buffs will love.” Book Page says: “For those who have an interest in World War II, or those who simply like to read of drama in the skies, Eric Hammel’s [Aces Against Japan] is recommended reading. It is a must for any historian’s bookshelf.” WWII Aviation Booklist says: “Hammel provides a veritable feast of aviation combat narrative. As always in this series, the entries [in Aces at War] have been carefully selected to provide the most entertaining ride possible for his readers. Easily the best series available on air combat! Get them all!”

Download or read book Aces Against Japan written by Eric Eric Hammel and published by . This book was released on 2020-11-24 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ACES AGAINST JAPANThe American Aces Speak Volume IEric HammelIn this superb, originally conceived offering, noted military historian, Eric Hammel brings us first-person accounts from thirty-nine of the American fighter aces who blasted their way across the skies of the Pacific and East Asia from December 7, 1941, until the final air battles over Japan itself in August 1945.Coupled with a clear view of America's far-flung air war against Japan, Hammel's detailed interviews bring out the most thrilling in-the-cockpit experiences of the air combat that the Pacific War's best Army, Navy, and Marine pilots have chosen to tell. Meet Frank Holmes, who defied death in an outmoded P-36 while still clad in a seersucker suit he had worn to mass earlier that morning. Fly with Scott McCuskey as, single-handed at Midway, he takes out two waves of Japanese dive-bombers that are attacking his precious aircraft carrier. Sweat out the last precious drops of fuel in a defective Marine Wildcat fighter as Medal of Honor recipient Jeff DeBlanc bores ahead to his target to keep the faith with the bomber crews he has been assigned to protect. Experience the ecstasy of total victory as Ralph Hanks becomes the Navy's first Hellcat ace-in-a-day when he destroys five Japanese fighters over the Gilbert Islands in a single mission. A superb interviewer, Hammel has collected some of the very best air-combat tales from America's war with Japan. Combined with the four other volumes in The American Aces Speak series, this work will stand as an enduring testament to the brave men who fought the first and last air war in which high-performance, piston-engine fighters held sway. These are stories of bravery and survival, of men and machines pitted against one another in heart-stopping, unforgiving high-speed aerial combat. The American Aces Speak is a highly-charged emotional rendering of what men felt in the now-dim days of personal combat at the very edge of our living national history. There was never a war like it, and there never will be again. These are America's eagles, and the stories are their own, in their very own words. Eric Hammel is the author of more than thirty-five other books, including Pacifica Military History's Coral and Blood, Carrier Clash, Aces Against Germany, Aces Against Japan II, Aces at War, and Aces in Combat. He lives with his family near San Francisco. Critical Acclaim for The American Aces Speak Series The Marine Corps Aviation Association Yellow Sheet says: "The recounting of each story is done in the pilot's own words. This is a powerful technique that draws readers into the action and introduces them to the world of the fighter pilot" The American Fighter Aces Bulletin says: "Some of [the] episodes are well-known; others have never been written before. But each account delivers something intensely personal about the Pacific Air War." The Library Journal says: "No PR hype or dry-as-dust prose here. Hammel allows his flyers to tell their stories in their own way . . . Exciting stuff aviation and World War II buffs will love." Book Page says: "For those who have an interest in World War II, or those who simply like to read of drama in the skies, Eric Hammel's [Aces Against Japan] is recommended reading. It is a must for any historian's bookshelf. "WWII Aviation Booklist says: "Hammel provides a veritable feast of aviation combat narrative. As always in this series, the entries [in Aces at War] have been carefully selected to provide the most entertaining ride possible for his readers. Easily the best series available on air combat! Get them all!"

Download or read book Aces Against Japan II written by Eric Hammel and published by . This book was released on 2007-10 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This engrossing new collection of 38 first-person accounts by American World War II fighter aces is coupled with a clear overview of Americas far-flung air war against Japan, and a clear appreciation of the burgeoning industrial might backing the American war effort.

Download or read book F6F Hellcat Aces of VF 9 written by Edward M. Young and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2014-03-20 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: VF-9 was activated in March 1942 as part of Carrier Air Group (CAG) 9, one of the many air groups the US Navy was hurriedly forming in the aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Equipped with Grumman F4F Wildcats, VF-9 first saw combat during the Allied invasion of North Africa in November 1942, where the squadron engaged Vichy French fighters over Morocco. Returning to the United States, VF-9 became one of the first squadrons to receive the Grumman F6F Hellcat and to deploy on the USS Essex, the first of its class of fleet carriers that would form the backbone of the US Navy's Fast Carrier Task Force. VF-9, the Hellcat, and the Essex all entered combat in the fall of 1943. In the hands of the squadron's pilots, and with other Navy fighter squadrons, the Hellcat proved superior to the Imperial Japanese Navy's A6M Zero, which had heretofore been the world's premier carrier fighter plane.

Download or read book Rain of Steel written by Stephen Moore and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2020-09-01 with total page 471 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The last Pacific campaign of World War II was the most violent on record. Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher’s Task Force 58 carriers had conducted air strikes on mainland Japan and supported the Iwo Jima landings, but his aviators were sorely tested once the Okinawa campaign commenced on 1 April 1945. Rain of Steel follows Navy and Marine carrier aviators in the desperate air battles to control the kamikazes directed by Vice Admiral Matome Ugaki. The latter would unleash ten different Kikusui aerial suicide operations, one including a naval force built around the world’s most powerful battleship, the 71,000-ton Yamato. These battles are related largely through the words and experiences of some of the last living U.S. fighter aces of World War II. More than 1,900 kamikaze sorties—and thousands more traditional attack aircraft—would be launched against the U.S. Navy’s warships, radar picket ships, and amphibious vessels during the Okinawa campaign. In this time, Navy, Marine, and Army Air Force pilots would claim some 2,326 aerial victories. The most successful four-man fighter division in U.S. Navy history would be crowned during the fight against Ugaki’s kamikazes. The Japanese named the campaign tetsu no ame (“rain of steel”), often referred to in English as “typhoon of steel.”

Download or read book Aces Against Japan written by Eric M. Hammel and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First person accounts from thirty-nine of the American fighter aces who blasted their way across the skies of the Pacific and East Asia from December 7, 1941, until the final air battle over Japan itself in August 1945.

Download or read book The American Aces Speak Aces against Japan II written by Eric M. Hammel and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Desperate Sunset written by Mike Yeo and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-12-26 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the middle of 1944, Imperial Japan's armed forces were in an increasingly desperate situation. Its elite air corps had been wiped out over the Solomons in 1942–43, and its navy was a shadow of the force that had attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941. But the Japanese had one last, desperate, card to play. The Japanese High Command decided that the way to inflict maximum damage on the superior enemy forces was to get the poorly trained Japanese pilots to crash their explosive-laden aircraft onto their target, essentially turning themselves into a guided missile. The kamikazes announced themselves in the immediate aftermath of the Leyte Gulf naval battles, sinking the USS St. Lo and damaging several other ships. The zenith of the kamikaze came in the battle of Okinawa, which included ten kikusui (Floating Chrysanthemum) operations which involved up to several hundred aircraft attacking the US fleet. Fully illustrated throughout, Desperate Sunset examines the development and evolution of the kamikaze using first-hand accounts, combat reports and archived histories.

Download or read book Kamikazes Corsairs and Picket Ships written by Robin L. Rielly and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2008-09-05 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The untold story of ferocious air and naval combat during the WWII Battle of Okinawa—drawn from primary sources and survivor interviews. This is the story of an overlooked yet significant aerial and naval battle during the American assault on Okinawa in the spring of 1945. While losses to America’s main fleet are well recorded, less well known is the terrific battle waged on the radar picket line, the fleet’s outer defense against Japanese marauders. Weaving together the experiences of the ships and their crews—drawn from ship and aircraft action reports, ship logs, and personal interviews—historian Robin L. Reilly recounts one of the most ferocious air and naval battles in history. The US fleet—and its accompanying airpower—was so massive that the Japanese could only rely on suicide attacks to inflict critical damage. Of the 206 ships that served on radar picket duty, twenty-nine percent were sunk or damaged by Japanese air attacks, making theirs the most hazardous naval surface duty in World War II. The great losses were largely due to relentless kamikaze attacks, but also resulted from the improper use of support gunboats, failure to establish land-based radar at the earliest possible time, the assignment of ships ill-equipped for picket duty, and, as time went on, crew fatigue. US air cover during the battle is also described in full, as squadrons dashed from their carriers and land bases to intercept the Japanese swarms, resulting in constant melees over the fleet.

Download or read book The American Aces Speak Aces against Japan written by Eric M. Hammel and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Nakajima B5N Kate and B6N Jill Units written by Mark Chambers and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-06-29 with total page 99 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Entering service during the Sino-Japanese War, the Nakajima B5N (code-named 'Kate') excelled and went on to achieve surprising and dramatic successes in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It also contributed to the sinking of the US aircraft carriers USS Lexington at the Battle of the Coral Sea, USS Yorktown at the Battle of Midway, and USS Hornet at the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. Its replacement, the Nakajima B6N 'Jill', while a marked improvement over its illustrious predecessor, was never able to achieve its full potential in combat due to advances in Allied aircraft, finding itself relegated to the dreaded Kamikaze strikes in the latter part of the war. Using previously unpublished photographs as well as colour illustrations, this book will cover the history of the 'Kate' and 'Jill' torpedo/attack bombers, including their design and development, as well as the combat highs and lows of the Imperial Japanese Navy's premier torpedo-bombers.

Download or read book Aces Against Germany written by Eric Hammel and published by Daniel Hammel. This book was released on 2020-12-05 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ACES AGAINST GERMANY The American Aces Speak Volume II Eric Hammel In the second volume of his critically acclaimed series, The American Aces Speak, noted military historian Eric Hammel brings fresh first-person accounts from thirty-nine U.S. Army Air Corps fighter aces who blasted their way across the skies of North Africa, the Mediterranean, and northern and southern Europe in the great crusade against Hitler’s vaunted Luftwaffe and the other Axis air forces. Coupled with a clear, concise historical overview of America’s brilliant air war against the Axis in Europe and North Africa, Hammel’s detailed interviews bring out the most thrilling in-the-cockpit experiences of some of our country’s best pilots. Climb aboard a P-38 Lightning as Maj. Bill Leverette fights America’s highest-scoring single personal air battle against the Luftwaffe. And get into the cockpit of a P-47 Thunderbolt as 15-victory ace Capt. Don Bryan scores his dream kill by outwitting the pilot of a far speedier German jet in the closing days of the war in Europe. As he did in four companion volumes, Hammel has collected some of the very best air-combat tales from America’s war against Germany. Nearly all the stories in Aces Against Germany have never before been told, and the others have been enhanced by details and viewpoints brought out by Hammel’s superb interviewing Together, the five volumes of nearly 200 first-person aerial-combat stories from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam stand as an enduring testament to the combat airmen who fought their wars strapped into the cockpits of America’s lethal high-performance fighter aircraft. Aces Against Germany is a highly charged emotional rendering of the now-dim days of personal combat at the very edge of our living national history. There was never a war like it, and there never will be again. These are the stories of America’s eagles in their very own words. Critical Acclaim for The American Aces Speak Series The Book World says: “Aces Against Japan" is a thunderous, personal, high-adventure book giving our ‘men in the sky’ their own voice.” Book Page says: “Eric Hammel’s book is recommended reading. It is a must for any historian’s bookshelf.” The Library Journal says: “No PR hype or dry-as-dust prose here. Hammel allows his flyers to tell their stories in their own way. Exciting stuff aviation and World War II buffs will love.” The Providence Sunday Journal says: “A treat that deftly blends a chronology of the Pacific War with tales that would rival a Saturday action matinee.” Infantry Magazine says: “If you would like to read one book that will give you a broad overview and yet a detailed look at what a fighter pilot’s air war was like this is the book.” The Bookshelf says: “Hammel is one of our best military historians when it comes to presenting that often complex subject to the general public. He has demonstrated this facility in a number of fine books before [Aces Against Germany] and now he does so again. Not to be missed by either buff or scholar.”

Download or read book Aces written by Bill Yenne and published by Chartwell Books. This book was released on 2020-10-13 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Aces is an illustrated history of the brave World War II fighter pilots who earned the title of ace, with archival and modern photos of their aircraft.

Download or read book Aces Against Germany written by Eric Hammel and published by . This book was released on 2020-11 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ACES AGAINST GERMANY The American Aces Speak by Eric Hammel. In the second volume of his critically acclaimed series, The American Aces Speak, noted military historian Eric Hammel brings fresh first-person accounts from thirty-nine U.S. Army Air Corps fighter aces who blasted their way across the skies of North Africa, the Mediterranean, and northern and southern Europe in the great crusade against Hitler's vaunted Luftwaffe and the other Axis air forces. Coupled with a clear, concise historical overview of America's brilliant air war against the Axis in Europe and North Africa, Hammel's detailed interviews bring out the most thrilling in-the-cockpit experiences of some of our country's best pilots.Climb aboard a P-38 Lightning as Maj. Bill Leverette fights America's highest-scoring single personal air battle against the Luftwaffe. And get into the cockpit of a P-47 Thunderbolt as 15-victory ace Capt. Don Bryan scores his dream kill by outwitting the pilot of a far speedier German jet in the closing days of the war in Europe.As he did in four companion volumes, Hammel has collected some of the very best air-combat tales from America's war against Germany. Nearly all the stories in Aces Against Germany have never before been told, and the others have been enhanced by details and viewpoints brought out by Hammel's superb interviewing Together, the five volumes of nearly 200 first-person aerial-combat stories from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam stand as an enduring testament to the combat airmen who fought their wars strapped into the cockpits of America's lethal high-performance fighter aircraft.Aces Against Germany is a highly charged emotional rendering of the now-dim days of personal combat at the very edge of our living national history. There was never a war like it, and there never will be again. These are the stories of America's eagles in their very own words.Critical Acclaim for The American Aces Speak SeriesThe Book World says: "Aces Against Japan" is a thunderous, personal, high-adventure book giving our 'men in the sky' their own voice."Book Page says: "Eric Hammel's book is recommended reading. It is a must for any historian's bookshelf."The Library Journal says: "No PR hype or dry-as-dust prose here. Hammel allows his flyers to tell their stories in their own way.Exciting stuff aviation and World War II buffs will love."The Providence Sunday Journal says: "A treat that deftly blends a chronology of the Pacific War with tales that would rival a Saturday action matinee."Infantry Magazine says: "If you would like to read one book that will give you a broad overview and yet a detailed look at what a fighter pilot's air war was like this is the book."The Bookshelf says: "Hammel is one of our best military historians when it comes to presenting that often complex subject to the general public. He has demonstrated this facility in a number of fine books before [Aces Against Germany] and now he does so again.Not to be missed by either buff or scholar."