ESSEX CLASS AIRCRAFT CARRIERS, 1943-1991: RARE PHOTOGRAPHS FROM NAVAL ARCHIVES (Images of War)

摘要

Your reviewer has a great interest in naval aviation, and the Essex-class of aircraft carriers are one of the most important of all. So, I started reading this book with interest. The author is well known to readers of Warship World, and has several books to his name. This one covers the origins of naval aviation and of flight at sea, including the series of American aircraft carriers that preceded the Essex class. It is hard to emphasise just what a significant class of warships this is, and the astonishing efforts of the US shipbuilding industry to get fourteen of a very large and complex design constructed in time to see combat, and a further four only narrowly missing action, and four more in 1946. Their baptism of fire in the fierce naval battles of the Pacific War from 1943 are well covered. There are chapters on their involvement in the Korean War, the modifications to the ships to cope with larger, heavier and faster aircraft, including the radical requirements to deal with jets. In particular the British breakthroughs of the angled deck and steam catapult. The final chapter covers the last days of service, including supporting the US Space programme. It is here a completely unnecessary mistake is made - in one caption it describes the first manned launch of Apollo as Apollo 3, with a launch pad explosion killing all three astronauts. The author is presumably referencing Apollo 1, where the three astronauts died in a cabin fire during a rehearsal, with no intention to launch. There was never an Apollo 3. The other great disappointment are the illustrations. The title 'Images of War' gives a clue that the bulk of the book is composed of photographs. Unfortunately, many are reproduced very darkly, and the extensive captions often refer to features that are simply indiscernible due to this and to the size being simply too small. A larger format book, and perhaps glossy paper would overcome this shortfall. Despite many good points, difficult to recommend.