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Clear the Deck!: Aircraft Carrier Accidents of World War II
Aircraft carrier operations were a dangerous business, especially in wartime. When air operations are confined to a flight deck of 50,000 square feet (escort carrier size), it was one of the most hectic and hazardous places on earth. Accidents were bound to happen. In wartime, the stakes were even higher as heavily loaded and armed combat planes went about their missions in unprecedented numbers. Commonly, there was no alternate airfield, no time to lose, and absolutely no room for error.
Clear the Deck! showcases many never-before-published amazing and dramatic World War II-era, U.S. Navy battle damage, accident, and flight operations photographs gathered from the National Archives, National Museum of Naval Aviation, the Seattle s Museum of Flight, and numerous other collections.
This book features U.S. Naval aircraft in action from Eugene Ely to the Brewster Buffalo, to the ultimate fighters of World War II Corsairs, Hellcats, Tigercats, and Bearcats many coming to grief on pitching, rolling carrier decks. The action begins in the 1920s, heats up during the carrier battles of 1942-44, and concludes in the waters off the Japanese home islands as damaged fighters and torpedo bombers come back aboard ship often times with disastrous consequences.
Clear the Deck! showcases many never-before-published amazing and dramatic World War II-era, U.S. Navy battle damage, accident, and flight operations photographs gathered from the National Archives, National Museum of Naval Aviation, the Seattle s Museum of Flight, and numerous other collections.
This book features U.S. Naval aircraft in action from Eugene Ely to the Brewster Buffalo, to the ultimate fighters of World War II Corsairs, Hellcats, Tigercats, and Bearcats many coming to grief on pitching, rolling carrier decks. The action begins in the 1920s, heats up during the carrier battles of 1942-44, and concludes in the waters off the Japanese home islands as damaged fighters and torpedo bombers come back aboard ship often times with disastrous consequences.
131 pages, Paperback
First published May 15, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 15, 2016
Primarily this is a collection of pictures, nearly all of them spectacular, of accidents and mishaps that happened to US carrier aircraft during WW2. The author is meticulous in documenting whether the crew survived or not. These photographs, especially the ones taken "in action" during the course of the accident, are fascinating.
The text, however, is nothing more than a short history of the US carrier operations in World War II, which amounts to a short history of the war in the Pacific: Not bad, but it doesn't have much added value either. It is a missed opportunity and I could not help regretting that this wasn't written by "Winkle" Brown or Tommy Thomason, because they would have made an effort to explain the course of events and the complexity of aircraft carrier operations.
Overall, a nice to have book, but it could have been better.
The text, however, is nothing more than a short history of the US carrier operations in World War II, which amounts to a short history of the war in the Pacific: Not bad, but it doesn't have much added value either. It is a missed opportunity and I could not help regretting that this wasn't written by "Winkle" Brown or Tommy Thomason, because they would have made an effort to explain the course of events and the complexity of aircraft carrier operations.
Overall, a nice to have book, but it could have been better.
November 13, 2013
Good book filled with photos of aircraft crashes aboard U.S. aircraft carriers during World War 2. Good captions and great photos, text is okay, not detailed but not horrible.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews