Peter Kilduff is an aviation historian, perhaps best known for his considerable work in the field of Aviation in the First World War and especially in Manfred von Richtofen scholarship. He was editor of the American W.W.I aviation history magazine CROSS & COCKADE JOURNAL for 17 years. However, with experience on the US carrier LAKE CHAMPLAIN in the 1960's, he also has maintained an interest in US Naval Aviation, with articles in THE HOOK, the magazine of the Tailhook Association, and a volume on the A-4 Skyhawk.
Kilduff's US CARRIERS AT WAR was first published in 1981, in the UK by Ian Allan Ltd. The US Naval Institute published in the US a second, revised edition in 1997. This is a book of about 9"x12" format, only 128 pages, but printed on quality gloss acid-free paper, with very clear photographic reproduction, and an attractive cover painting, R.G. Smith's view of SBD Dauntlesses leveled out over the burning Japanese carrier AKAGI. No index, one-half page of bibliography.
This book is in a category that I always tend to like, so my review may reflect that prejudice. US CARRIERS AT WAR is not a history on the order of Reynolds's THE FAST CARRIERS, nor a popular history like a Richard Hough book. Instead it collects a variety of first person narratives and some extracts from official reports, giving snapshots of the activities of aircrew of several different US carriers. These are framed by the author's discussion placing each narrative in historical context. In some ways this means that the title is a bit misleading, as the focus is primarily on the aircrew rather than the ships themselves, but US CARRIER AIR GROUPS AT WAR probably just doesn't work as well as a title.
The topics covered include:
- reminiscences of a torpedo pilot who flew TBD Devastators from the LEXINGTON (CV-2) at Coral Sea, and later TBF Avengers from the ESSEX class LEXINGTON (CV-16)
-reminiscences and official reports of Max Leslie, commander of the SBD Squadron on YORKTOWN (CV-5) at Midway, as well as the report of his Executive Officer, Lt. DeWitt Shumway
- the narrative of an F4F Wildcat pilot who flew from USS RANGER (CV-4) during Operation TORCH, the North African Invasion
- reports from pilots flying from US escort carriers operating against U-boats in the Atlantic
- an account from an F6F Hellcat pilot flying from the INDEPENDENCE class light carrier USS COWPENS ("The Might Moo")
- a long profile of and notes from David McCampbell, the top US Navy fighter Ace of all time, and Medal of honor winner.
- the reminiscences of a Hellcat pilot who flew with the night detachment aboard USS YORKTOWN (CV-10)
- in a chapter entitled "Bad Day at Kure", the report of Air Group 17, operating from USS HORNET (CV-12) in the strikes on Kure and Kobe on the Japanese home islands, 19 March 1945.
- the final chapter, "Intrepid Indeed", gives the most coverage to the ship vice the aircrew of any segment of the book, covering the unlucky USS INTREPID (CV-11) , which acquired several nicknames reflecting the frequency with which she took damage.
All these accounts are highly interesting reading; they are well selected and in many cases make accessible information often seen only in older, out-of-print volumes.
There are many excellent features of this book. Some of note: Aviation authority Kilduff makes a point of clearly identifying the air group or carrier markings of USN aircraft illustrated in the photographs; a majority of the photographs are not the most frequently published ones from the literature, and those that are commonly seen, are nonetheless among the most dramatic or interesting ones. He includes a small treat for the aviation fanatic - even mentioning Bureau Numbers or "BuNo's" of aircraft where known, in the text or photographic captions. There are indeed people out there who are as interested in the Buno's of USN aircraft as they might be in the "Werke Nummers" of German aircraft. As mentioned earlier, the photographs are reproduced clearly and often at a usefully large size.
Nothing is perfect, either; there are a few minor errors, which were probably in the first edition as well. They are:
- the introduction implies that CV-2 & 3, LEXINGTON and SARATOGA were chosen for conversion to carriers because they were the only battlecruisers laid down of the planned six; in fact all 6 had begun construction, but LEX and SARA were the most advanced.
- A photo caption in the LEXINGTON pilot's chapter strangely repeats the W.W.II misnaming of the Japanese carrier SHOHO sunk at Coral Sea with the fictional name "Ryukaku", a misreading of the Japanese characters of the vessel's name
- Japanese battleship NAGATO, the only Japanese battleship still afloat at the end of the war, is erroneously listed with vessels sunk in strikes on the Japanese mainland in May (and the sinkings were in fact in July)
- a photo of an aircraft descending, trailing flame back to a large smoke cloud, continues a long-established error in other books. It is labeled as a Yokosuka D4Y "Judy" shot down by US carrier gunners; but a few years ago it was determined that this photo in fact shows a US Wildcat accidentally shot down by friendly fire as it approached a task group without the proper identification procedures.
- a photo of aircraft on deck on USS ESSEX labeled as showing Grumman Avengers actually shows only F6F Hellcats.
- a picture captioned as showing three G4M "Betty" bombers attacking USN ships in 1945 is instead from the strike on the Guadalcanal invasion fleet in August 1942.
Despite the errors cited above, this remains an interesting and highly readable book. By making these narratives and official reports available, with the excellent photographic reproduction, this book is a useful and out-of-the-ordinary-mold work. The aviation enthusiast will get more out of it than the ship enthusiast, but it is definitely worthwhile.
Reviewer: Brooks A Rowlett is an engineer who spent 17 years as a civilian US Navy employee and is now with Hughes Technical Services Corporation, an element of Hughes Aircraft. He is a long-time naval history book collector.
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M1ke Adamczyk
For deck-addicted geeks ;)
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 21, 2016