Clash of the Carriers: The True Story of the Marianas Turkey Shoot of World War II
Author of specialty histories about U.S. Navy planes of the Pacific War, Tillman here writes up the war's largest carrier--versus--carrier battle. Exacting in his attention to data about planes and weapons, Tillman's narrative of the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944 remains sufficiently straightforward to follow through the fury of dogfights and bombing attacks. Briefing readers about the strategic precipitator for the battle, the American capture of the Mariana Islands, Tillman explains what the Japanese navy proposed to do about it. Having rebuilt its naval air force after the Midway disaster, the Japanese retained one technical advantage: superior aircraft range. Unfortunately for them, the arsenal of democracy had built a superior fighter plane since Midway: the Hellcat, which in this battle destroyed every Japanese carrier strike. In his metier describing these melees of aerial combat, Tillman zooms in on the few Japanese pilots who survived the Hellcats to press home their attacks, and then turns to the American counterattack that sealed the victory. An active account that will entice the tailhook audience.Gilbert TaylorCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved