PACIFIC CARRIER WAR
Mark Stille Osprey (2021) £30 304 pages (hardback) ISBN:9781472826336 Carrier warfare in the Pacific has always had a fascination: a new tactical and strategic weapons system, but also a myriad factors such as training (the initial Japanese aircrew were reckoned the best in the world), differing tactical concepts, weather, reconnaissance, industrial might, and just plain luck.
The author covers each of the five main carrier ‘battles’ – Pearl Harbor, Coral Sea, Midway, Santa Cruz, and the Philippine Sea – plus supporting chapters on men and equipment. Maps are clear, as are the (300+?) photographs: many of the latter show the nature of carrier combat, often in close-up. The text is both riveting and informative, including helpful Orbat charts for each engagement with numbers of aircraft by…
