History of US Naval Operations in WWII Vol 3: Rising Sun in the Pacific 1931 - April 1942

History of United States Naval Operations in World War II #3

by Samuel Eliot Morison

This spectacular fifteen-volume series that charts the U.S. Naval operations during World War II with an insider's perspective. Morison, a Harvard professor, was given a special rank and writing post by FDR. He had active duty aboard eleven different ships, allowing him to witness many crucial battles in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Volume Three -the first on the war in the Pacific-includes coverage of the attack on Pear Harbor and its aftermath as well as the Defense of the Malay Barrier. Filled with many maps and file photographs.

Genres: History, Military History, World War II, Military Fiction, Nonfiction, Nautical, War

411 pages, cloth

First published January 1, 1948

About the author

Samuel Eliot Morison, son of John H. and Emily Marshall (Eliot) Morison, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on 9 July 1887. He attended Noble’s School at Boston, and St. Paul’s at Concord, New Hampshire, before entering Harvard University, from which he was graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1908. He studied at the Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques, Paris, France, in 1908-1909, and returned to Harvard for postgraduate work, receiving the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1912. Thereafter he became Instructor, first at the University of California in Berkeley, and in 1915 at Harvard. Except for three years (1922-1925) when he was Harmsworth Professor of American History at Oxford, England, and his periods of active duty during both World Wars, he remained continuously at Harvard University as lecturer and professor until his retirement in 1955.

He had World War I service as a private in the US Army, but not overseas. As he had done some preliminary studies on Finland for Colonel House’s Inquiry, he was detailed from the Army in January 1919 and attached to the Russian Division of the American Commission to Negotiate Peace, at Paris, his specialty being Finland and the Baltic States. He served as the American Delegate on the Baltic Commission of the Peace Conference until 17 June 1919, and shortly after returned to the United States. He became a full Professor at Harvard in 1925, and was appointed to the Jonathan Trumbull Chair in 1940. He also taught American History at Johns Hopkins University in 1941-1942.

Living up to his sea-going background – he has sailed in small boats and coastal craft all his life. In 1939-1940, he organized and commanded the Harvard Columbus Expedition which retraced the voyages of Columbus in sailing ships, barkentine Capitana and ketch Mary Otis. After crossing the Atlantic under sail to Spain and back, and examining all the shores visited by Columbus in the Caribbean, he wrote Admiral of the Ocean Sea, an outstanding biography of Columbus, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1943. He also wrote a shorter biography, Christopher Columbus, Mariner. With Maurico Obregon of Bogota, he surveyed and photographed the shores of the Caribbean by air and published an illustrated book The Caribbean as Columbus Saw It (1964).

Shortly after the United States entered World War II, Dr. Morison proposed to his friend President Roosevelt, to write the operational history of the US Navy from the inside, by taking part in operations and writing them up afterwards. The idea appealed to the President and Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, and on 5 May 1942, Dr. Morison was commissioned Lieutenant Commander, US Naval Reserve, and was called at once to active duty. He subsequently advanced to the rank of Captain on 15 December 1945. His transfer to the Honorary Retired List of the Naval Reserve became effective on 1 August 1951, when he was promoted to Rear Admiral on the basis of combat awards.

In July-August 1942 he sailed with Commander Destroyer Squadron Thirteen (Captain John B. Heffernan, USN), on USS Buck, flagship, on convoy duty in the Atlantic. In October of that year, on USS Brooklyn with Captain Francis D. Denebrink, he participated in Operation TORCH (Allied landings in North and Northwestern Africa - 8 November 1942). In March 1943, while attached to Pacific Fleet Forces, he visited Noumea, Guadalcanal, Australia, and on Washington made a cruise with Vice Admiral W. A. Lee, Jr., USN. He also patrolled around Papua in motor torpedo boats, made three trips up “the Slot” on Honolulu, flagship of Commander Cruisers, Pacific Fleet (Rear Admiral W.W. Ainsworth, USN), and took part in the Battle of Kolombangara before returning to the mainland. Again in the Pacific War Area in September 1943, he participated in the Gilbert Islands operation on board USS Baltimore, under command of Captain Walter C. Calhoun, USN. For the remainder of the Winter he worked at Pearl Harbor, and in the Spring

Reviews

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Masterful. The benchmark for all naval histories written about WW2. Morison's work is relatively free of the racism that mars many works written by Americans during or shortly after the war (this book came out in the early fifties). In fact, his account of Japan's masterful execution of an extremely complex operation that resulted in the occupation of countless Pacific islands, as well as most of southeast Asia, leaves the reader astounded. This book, part of his multi volume naval history of the Pacific War, also includes clear intimations of the dysfunction in the Japanese government and military command that helped speed their undoing. The book ends in April 1942, which marked Japan's high water mark. The battle of Midway happened in June 1942, and that was the turning point.

Morison was a commissioned officer in the Navy, but he pulls no punches in his analysis of US failings that lead to the Pearl Harbor debacle, or the even more inexcusable collapse of the US military in the Philippines. This is my second trip through Morison's books and I find the narrative almost Tolkeinesque in its depiction of a plucky band of allies set back on their heels by an implacable force bent on domination.

[John Albers · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in 1948, The Rising Sun in the Pacific is still one of the best books covering the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese in 1941. Morison, who was allowed access to Naval documents during and after the war, made a much detailed (maybe too much detail), of the US navy during World War II. Even after close to 80 years it is still the book that historians and writers of history use as their model. Beware though that Morison was old school: an Ivy League educated historian whose racial prejudices sometimes show up a bit too much. Still, it's worth reading.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a classic of World War II history. Morison writes with verve and brings the figures like MacArthur and Halsey to life. With respect to the attack on Pearl Harbor, he pretty much gives a 9/11 style report on all the failures that led to the attack. Highly recommended. My grandmother's brother-in-law served in the India-China-Burma theater in WWII. It was interesting read about the actions around Java that opened Rangoon to invasion.

[Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was only interested in the part of the Battle of the Java Sea (defense of the Malay Barrier and the ABDA Command). A good read, with a slightly different look on the decision making. You only get a good picture of this battle when you read the Dutch, British, Australian, USA and Japanese version of the story. This was a time when the coordination between the allied navies was still at a low. This has cost many lives. This book is the best USA-version I have read so far.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good. Good. Good. This book discusses the early losses of the East Indies and the Japanese advance.

[lbert buro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the entire series excellent

[Michael Mandaville · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb book in the series by an author who was there under the behest and order of President Roosevelt.