Evening star., 1945-03-11
Saga of America Aircraft Carriers
Chronicles New Era of Naval Warfare

town at Midway ana the wasp anO
then the Hornet of the Solomons.
Aboard the new Yorktown, as she
evoked the admiration of the signal
man, was the author of this book
He was 1t. Oliver Jensen, 6 feet 4
inches, Yale. '36 CPhi Beta Kappa
whose talent at the new journalism
had won him a place on the staff
of Life.
i Story Of the Carriers.
This book is both an intimate
story of the achievements and ac-
cidents of the flyers of air groups
and 9 on the Yorktown and the Es-
sex and a comprehensive account OF
the part of all the carriers in the Pa
cific war in the year that followed.
1t closes with the naval battle that
crippled the Japanese fleet when
it tried to interfere with the land
|ings at Leyte.
With its writers, photographers
and moviemen behind every gun
turret. the Navy is doing much to
acquaint the citizens with a new
world, the floating island of
modernity that is the carrier.
Although it contains no Buck
Rogers nonsense, the new world of
the carrier is hard to grasp. Some
of the marvels are easy to accept
such as elevators as large as tennis
courts lifting planes to the flight
deck. And the screen displaying
battle information to the flyers in
the conditioned ready rooms Is
the same one that gives stock sales
in the customers room Of q bro
kerage Office.
Marvels Of Battle Science.
But the direction by talking radio
of 300-mile-an-hour planes battling
Zeros from fighter plot" on the
carrier by a man who is radar-
aware of the whereabouts of his
own and enemy planes within an
orbit far wider than sight-that's S
beyond the beyond.
You had better catch Fighting
Lady" at your neighborhood movie
house and buy this book at your
corner drugstore or from your IA
vorite bookseller. Simon g. Schus-
ter, with journalistic enterprise, are
putting it out at so cents and at
$3.50 (paper or boards, you take your
choice). You had better do these
things or you will be as ignorant
as the man who did not know about
internal-combustion engines and
whether the new car had 6 or IL
cylinders.
1t. Jensen has done a good Job
within limitations beyond his con-
troll. Security still prevents explain
ing the wonder-world of radar
awareness. And this book is an of
fetal" book Assistant Secretary of
the Navy Artemus L. Gates has
placed his imprimatur on it with a
foreword over his signature.
Paying Dividends.
Although officials try to be very
liberal, there are things that Just
cannot be gore into. Take the con-
troversy over Admiral Spruanceis al
legged overcautious direction OF Ad-
miral MitScher's Task Force So in
the June battle west of the Mar
ianas. Some air officers believe the
air arm could have destroyed the
Japanese feet on June 10 had not
Task Force So been ordered to hug
the shore. While neither admiral
had peeped, as far as is known,
one would think it a Sampson
Schley feud to hear air and deck
officers in dispute.
An Official" book cannot hint at
anything like this. It is like biog-
raphy of Albert written for Victoria's s
eye or history as presently produced
in the Soviet Union. The only refer
ence to the dispute in Carrier War
Is listing Of the dividends" of the
course taken.