The Magnificent Mitscher

by Theodore Taylor

Air Admiral Marc Mitscher, who led the U.S. attack across the Pacific, is a legend in military circles for developing an entirely new concept of war at sea. His skills as a carrier tactician and genius for leading men rank him with the best World War II combat commanders, yet because he shunned publicity and destroyed his private papers shortly before his death in 1947, his accomplishments are not widely known. Mitscher's sound decisions and successful tactics helped create the greatest striking weapon in history-the carrier force that could put up a thousand planes in half an hour, the task force that sank a thousand ships and destroyed the Japanese air force, the fleet that opened a direct route to Japan. Written by a former naval officer and well-known journalist, this book tells the full story of this pioneer of naval aviation and his innovations. Theodore Taylor traces the aviator's brilliant career from its beginnings in 1916, when Mitscher became one of the Navy first pilots. When first published in 1954, it was hailed as a first-class biography that set down the major role played by the admiral in developing the Navy's air program, and is also credited with providing a lively and detailed history of the progress of naval aviation. The author accomplishes all this with compassion, humor, and deep respect for his subject.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II

406 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Jfarley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another American bad ass from WWII

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book on a great fighting Admiral who helped lead the U. S. to victory in the Pacific during WW II. Mitscher was one who always wanted to engage the enemy and was never one to back down from a fight. This book is a short biography and not as thorough as some of the other biographies on other figures in WWII.

[Bob McNamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superior biography of one of the US Navy's finest combat leaders. Tough guy to write about in that he didn't keep any personal papers but Taylor does a good job from his early naval aviation career all the way to his admiralship. Recommended.

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's unfortunate that this is the only book written about Marc Mitscher, considering what a critical person he was in the Pacific War. This biography, written shortly after the war in 1954, suffers a bit in being so close to its subject matter. It also is not as heavily researched and cited as more modern biographies. Being written not even a decade after the end of the war, this book feels less like a scholarly biography and more like a hagiography that celebrates America's recent victory and one of its lost heroes. Certainly, Admiral Mitscher was an American hero who greatly contributed to the successful outcome of World War II. But he was also a man in charge of vastly complex operations coordinating dozens of ships and hundreds of aircraft across miles and miles of open water. What did he struggle with? Where did he make mistakes? What were the flaws that held him back? This book doesn't really say.

For one of the most critical and interesting point of Mitscher's career, the Battle of Midway, the biography takes Mitscher's version of the story as gospel. This is unsurprising since research still hadn't cobbled together all the discrepancies in the story of that battle. This is another reason why this book would've been better had it been written later. Mitscher was in charge of the aircraft carrier the USS Hornet at the Battle of Midway. Despite the overall American victory, the Hornet's air group massively underperformed. They never actually found the Japanese carriers. Half of the Hornet's aircraft were lost, most of them due to fuel exhaustion, and the only bombs dropped were against a cruiser at the end of the battle. Mitscher's after-action report makes it appear as if the air group under CAG Stanhope Ring went west-southwest towards the report sighting of the Japanese and that they only didn't see them because they had unexpectedly changed course. This conflicts with numerous eyewitness testimony, including a squadron commander who wrote in his logbook right after the event that the air group went almost due west. Interestingly enough, despite the standard practice of all unit commanders writing an after-action report, Mitscher's in the only one from the Hornet. No report exists from either the CAG or any of his subordinate squadron COs.

It would be far more interesting for a biography of Mitscher to analyze moments like this in the Admiral's life and attempt to find out what really was going on. Without such analysis, this biography isn't bad. It is just underwhelming. Instead of really learning about the man, I feel like I just read a highlight reel of battles with some quotes from subordinates about his personality thrown in.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book on the "Air" Admiral Marc Mitscher. Taylor traces his aviation career, and pioneer naval aviation, from its beginnings in 1916 when Mitscher became one of the Navy's first pilots to his involvement in the Pacific Theater of Operations where his "Air" knowledge, organizational skills and deep concern for his pilots developing an entirely new concept of war at sea. After reading the book, one realizes both the tactician and genius he was, making him one of the best World War II combat commanders and leaders. A private man who shunned publicity Mitscher's sound decisions, successful leadership and tactics helped create the greatest striking weapon in history, the Carrier Force . Taylor does a great job displaying Mitshcer human side with all his compassion, humor, and deep respect for his pilots and the war they waged. Well Worth the Read!

[Jamie Morrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author knows that he has limited first hand material and states this upfront. The book does a decent job of filling in the gaps from other sources but there are chapters of Mitscher's life that remain relatively unknown and little new information is given. It is sad that a man as influential as Pete Mitscher should remain obscure but I commend the author for attempting to illuminate him for the regular public.

[John Dorcey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A terrific biography of a true Navy hero.