By Christopher Miskimon
As the age of the carrier dawned the Pacific Fleet, the most powerful in the U.S. Navy, was still dominated by battleships. While critics decried this state, the Navy was aware of the potential of aircraft and was actually building both air and battleship strength, hedging its bets against the need for both. The Pacific Fleet’s leaders worked to integrate both types into its battle plans for war with Japan. The most crucial development in the Pacific fleet proved to be the large fleet trains, able to support the combatant vessels thousands of miles from their home ports. These were as important to victory in World War II as carriers, aircraft and submarines. While the Pacific Fleet suffered tactical and operational defeat at Pearl Harbor, it laid the strategic foundations for victory in the coming war.
The author deftly cuts through misconceptions about the Pacific Fleet and the Navy just prior to the war. The book effectively shows where the Navy’s preparations and thought were taking the force when the war interrupted planning. It also shows where shortcomings existed, whether recognized or not. This work makes good use of the publisher’s customary original artwork and maps and its always-excellent use of photographs. all unit at war and its effects on its members.
U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet 1941: America’s mighty last battleship fleet (Mark Lardas, Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2024, 80 pp., maps, photographs, bibliography, index, $23, HC)
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