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"The ability of the United States Navy to fight and win a protracted war in the Pacific was not solely the result of technology, tactics, or leadership. Naval aviation maintenance played a major role in the U.S. victory over Japan in the second World War. The naval war against Japan did not achieve sustained success until enough aircraft technicians were available to support the high tempo of aviation operations that fast carrier task force doctrine demanded. When the United States realized war was imminent and ordered a drastic increase in the size of its aviation fleet, the Navy was forced to reconsider its earlier practices and develop new policies in maintenance, supply, and technical training. Not only did a shortage of technicians plague the Navy, but the scarcity of aviation supply and repair facilities in the Pacific soon caused panic in Washington. While the surface navy's modernization of at-sea replenishment was beneficial, it did not solve the problems of sustaining war-time aircraft readiness levels sufficient to a winning a naval air war. Fisher outlines the drastic institutional changes that accompanied an increase in aviation maintenance personnel from fewer than 10,000 to nearly 250,000 bluejackets, the complete restructuring of the naval aviation technical educational system, and the development of a highly skilled labor force. The first comprehensive study on the importance of aircraft maintenance and the aircraft technician in the age of the aircraft carrier, Sustaining the Carrier War, provides the missing link to our understanding of Great Power conflict at sea."-- Provided by publisher.

Among all the celebrations of the RAF's centenary, it was largely forgotten that the establishment of an independent air force came at a cost - and it was the Royal Navy that paid the price. In 1918 it had been pre-eminent in the technology and tactics of employing aircraft at sea, but once it lost control of its own air power, it struggled to make the RAF prioritise naval interests, in the process losing ground to the rival naval air forces of Japan and the United States. This book documents that struggle through the cash-strapped 1920s and '30s, culminating in the Navy regaining control of its aviation in 1937, but too late to properly prepare for the impending war. However, despite the lack of resources, British naval flying had made progress, especially in the advancement of carrier strike doctrine. These developments are neatly illustrated by the experiences of Lieutenant William Lucy, who was to become Britain's first accredited air 'ace' of the war and to lead the world's first successful dive-bombing of a major warship. Making extensive use of the family archive, this book also reproduces many previously unseen photographs from Lucy's album, showing many aspects of life in the Fleet Air Arm up to the end of the Norway campaign. Although it is beyond the scope of this book, in November 1940 the inter-war concentration on carrier strike was to be spectacularly vindicated by the air attack on the Italian fleet at Taranto - it inspired the Japanese to a far larger effort at Pearl Harbor the following year, but the Royal Navy had shown the way.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

The technical details of British warships were recorded in a set of plans produced by the builders on completion of every ship. Known as the 'as fitted' general arrangements, these drawings represented the exact appearance and fitting of the ship as it entered service. Intended to provide a permanent reference for the Admiralty and the dockyards, these highly detailed plans were drawn with exquisite skill in multi-coloured inks and washes that represent the acme of the draughtsman's art. Today they form part of the incomparable collection of the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, which is using the latest scanning technology to make digital copies of the highest quality. This book is one of a series based entirely on these draughts which depict famous warships in an unprecedented degree of detail-complete sets in full colour, with many close-ups and enlargements that make every aspect clear and comprehensible. Extensive captions point the reader to important features to be found in the plans, and an introduction covers the background to the design. HMS _Victorious_ was a ship with two almost separate incarnations-as built in 1941 she was one of a new type of armoured carrier which saw strenuous wartime service; post-war the ship underwent a massive reconstruction lasting nearly eight years that saw her recommission in1958 as one of the best equipped carriers in the world, ready for another decade of duty. Both these phases of the ship's life are fully documented, which allows this novel form of anatomy to cover two generations of carrier design.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

What defended the U.S. after the attack on Pearl Harbor, defeated the Soviet Union in the Cold War, and is an essential tool in the fight against terror? Aircraft Carriers. For seventy years, these ships remained a little understood cornerstone of American power. In his latest book, On Wave and Wing , Barrett Tillman sheds light on the history of these floating leviathans and offers a nuanced analysis of the largest man-made vessel in the history of the world.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Super carrier
• Thunder ballet
• The golden age
• The Kitty Hawk
• Cold wars and hot spots
• Next-generation aircraft
• New developments
• Vietnam
• The Forrestal fire
• Turning point and aftermath
• Evolution
• Challenges
• A dangerous world
• Into the sunset
• Acknowledgments
• Appendix A: Technical data
• Appendix B: Individual ships
• Appendix C: Aircraft technical data
• Appendix D: Air wings.

The book covers the Forrestal class supercarriers and the follow-on ships, which are basically of the same design, i.e. the Forrestal CV-59, Saratoga CV-60, Ranger CV-61, Independence CV-62, Kitty Hawk CV-63, Constellation CV-64, America CV-66 and Kennedy CV-67. (The Enterprise CVN-65 is unique and is not covered beyond an explanation of the reasons for returning to conventional power in the America and Kennedy that followed her.) As in The Essex Aircraft Carriers and The Independence Light Aircraft Carriers, the main emphasis is on the operational history of these ships, which covers a span of over fifty years. There are 81 photographs included in four signatures covering the whole history of the supercarriers interspersed within the body of the book. Maps include the Western Pacific, Vietnam, Mediterranean, Middle East, Indian Ocean and Caribbean. The front end paper illustration shows the Saratoga as representative of the Forrestal class with port and starboard profiles and an overhead view. The rear end paper shows similar views of the Constellation as part of the Kitty Hawk class. Appendix A gives a brief overview of the design technical data for the ships including their dimensions, propulsion systems, arresting gear, catapults, armament, and radars. Illustrations include an annotated inboard profile of the class as built, as well as annotated cross sections comparing the differences between Forrestal and the John F. Kennedy. Appendix B profiles individual ships with a short description of significant items that are not included in the main body of the book. Data for each ship includes the builder as well as dates for keel laying, launch, commissioning, redesignations and decommissioning. Illustrations include the command shield for each ship. Appendix C provides technical data (power plants, dimensions, weights, performance, crew, and armament) for aircraft that operated from the ships over the course of their careers. Included is a table comparing the old Navy designations with the uniform system adopted in 1962 as well as an explanation of each system. Appendix D includes a description of the air wing and its component squadrons and how they have evolved over time, as well as an explanation of the tail code system. For each ship, every deployment is covered with tables showing the dates of deployment, the squadrons assigned within the air group/air wing, the modex and aircraft types. Where the tail code letters are different from the air wing, they are shown next to the modex.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Beginnings
• A purpose-built ship and numerous conversions
• Take-off decks
• Take-off platforms, catapults and lighters
• HMS Furious
• HMS Argus
• USS Langley
• Progress
• Different navies, different techniques
• Flight from ships other than carriers
• HMS Implacable described and compared
• Flying from a straight-deck carrier
• Design innovation and the 'rubber deck'
• Transformation
• Flying from an angled-deck carrier
• Helicopters
• Short take-off, vertical landing
• What might have been
• Cross-deck operations
• Postscript.

The U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier fleet must meet the forward presence requirements of theater commanders. With a decreasing fleet size, planners must balance the timing of maintenance, training, and deployment with presence and surge demands. Evaluating multiple one- and two-deployment scenarios per cycle, RAND examines the feasibility of different cycle lengths, their effect on carrier forward presence, and their impact on shipyard workloads.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• v. 1. 1909-1945
• v. 2. 1946-2006.

In the post-1945 era, the aircraft carrier has remained a valued weapon despite the development of nuclear weapons, cruise and ballistic missiles, and highly capable submarines. At times, as in the early days of the Korean and Vietnam Wars and in the Falklands conflict, carriers alone could deploy high-performance aircraft to the battlefield. In other operations, such as enforcing the no-fly zones and the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, only carriers could provide the bases needed for sustained combat and support operations. This second volume of Norman Polmar's landmark study details the role of carriers in the unification of the U.S. armed forces and strategic deterrence, fiscally constrained Great Britain, the development of British Commonwealth and ex-colonial navies, and the efforts of France and the Netherlands to rebuild their fleets. The role of the modern carrier-nine nations currently possess them-is discussed, as are the issues confronting nations that might acquire them. Chapters on the Soviet Union's effort to produce carriers are included for the first time. The development of both carrier planes and the many"oddball" aircraft that have flown from carriers-such as the U-2 spy plane-are also examined. Appendixes include comprehensive data on all carriers built and converted through 2006. This volume is a valuable companion to the critically acclaimed Volume I, which covers aircraft carrier development and operations from 1909 to 1945.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

This DVD traces the rise of the biggest warships in the world as the United States air power went from early biplanes landing on converted battleships to the huge modern supercarriers of today.

Recent campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq have demonstrated that American carrier air power can conduct coordinated deep-strike missions well beyond coastal reaches, providing around the clock target coverage, consistently accurate target attack, and multiple successful target attacks per sortie.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Preface and Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations
• Illustrations and Maps
• The Dawn of Naval Air Power: From Dreadnoughts to Flattops
• Mobilizing for War
• Flattops in the Atlantic
• The Rising Sun
• Carriers at War: Fighting for Time
• Coral Sea
• Midway - The Turning Point
• Evolution of Combat Tactics: The Eastern Solomons
• The Battle for Guadalcanal
• Refining Carrier Tactics
• Island-Hopping in the Pacific
• The Marianas Turkey Shoot
• Ascent of the Air Admirals: The New Air Navy
• Prelude to the Philippines
• Leyte Gulf
• The Setting Sun
• Command of the Seas: Korea - Carriers and Politics
• Vietnam - President Johnson's War
• Cold Wars and Brush Fires
• The Desert Wars
• Afterword
• Notes
• Bibliography.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

This book explores the development, technology, and tactics of aircraft carrier warfare. The aircraft carrier emerged in the twentieth century as a major new weapon of war. Since World War II, there have been no engagements between carrier air groups, but flattops have been prominent and essential in every war where targets could be struck from planes at sea. Carriers can range at will, with planes that can be refuelled in the air to strike targets thousands of miles inland. From the improvised wooden platforms of the early 20th century to today's nuclear-powered supercarriers, Hearn explores how combat experience of key individuals drove the development, technology, and tactics of carriers in the world's navies. In the early 20th century, during the days of the dreadnoughts, naval officers first wondered whether aeroplanes could be launched from the deck of a surface vessel. From these early experiments, the first carriers emerged in the 1920s. While the rest of the world viewed them as defensive weapons, Japan focused on offensive capabilities and produced the finest carrier in the world by 1940. World War II would see the carrier emerge as the greatest surface ship afloat. Since then, no war has been fought without them. It has been published under the new Praeger Security International imprint and will appeal to readers interested in either naval or airpower history. It includes the key individuals responsible for the evolution of carriers and provides a comprehensive look at carrier development.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Introduction
• Fleet modernization options and their implications for fleet size and composition
• Adequacy of the industrial base
• Life-cycle cost analysis
• Synthesis
• Appendix. A. CVN 21 design and technology advances
• B. Shipyard production labor demand by skill
• C. How life-cycle cost elements were estimated.

What are the pros and cons of speeding up production of the Navy's newest carrier? As the Navy builds the last of its Nimitz-class carriers, it asked RAND to study the trade-offs involved in accelerating the production of its new CVN 21 carrier while hastening the retirement of some of the Nimitz fleet. What are the trade-offs involved in terms of cost, capability, and fleet size? RAND researchers looked at the Navy's existing plan and compared it with several alternatives and discovered that the Navy could modernize its fleet with the higher-performance, lower-cost CVN 21 at a cost premium no greater than 12 percent over its current plan.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

Examines ways in which the UK Ministry of Defence can reduce the whole-life costs and manpower requirements of the Royal Navy's two Future Aircraft Carriers (CVFs). In 2012 and 2015, respectively, the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence will replace its three Invincible-class aircraft carriers with two Future Aircraft Carriers (CVFs), the largest ships ever constructed for the Royal Navy. The research described in this report focuses on possible reductions in whole-life costs and manpower requirements of the carriers.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Introduction
• Shipbuilding outsourcing practices and implications for the CVF
• Advanced outfitting practices and implications for the CVF
• Appendix: Outsourcing survey
• Advanced outfitting survey.

Advises how the United Kingdom should best use modern outsourcing and outfitting practices for shipbuilding in the years to come. The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence (MOD) is preparing for the construction of the Royal Navy's two new Future Aircraft Carriers (CVFs), slated to enter service in 2012 and 2015, respectively. The CVFs will be the largest warships built in the United Kingdom in decades. At the request of the MOD, the RAND Corporation looked at the risks of current contractor plans and estimated the cost implications of using alternative manufacturing options in the coming years.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

With the advent of the atomic bomb in 1945 and its impact on strategic thinking, the future of naval aviation looked bleak. Rapid demobilization after the war eliminated many carriers, and most policy makers believed that future wars would be fought with nuclear weapons delivered by land-based aircraft. In "Nuclear Weapons and Aircraft Carriers", Jerry Miller traces the struggle of respected naval leaders to promote a different vision and the innovations in the design and engineering of carriers and aircraft that resulted. He argues that the Navy's hard-won nuclear capability played a significant role in ending the Cold War.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

The U.S. Navy is in the process of designing the CVX, its next-generation aircraft carrier. One technological advance for the CVX, compared with the current Nimitz class of carriers, is a new propulsion system. To help in deciding between a nuclear and non-nuclear propulsion system for the CVX, the Navy asked RAND to determine the effects of the CVX propulsion choice on the industrial bases supporting nuclear propulsion systems and those supporting conventional propulsion systems. RAND began the research in April 1998 and provided the results of the analyses to the CVX program office in August 1998. Shortly thereafter, the decision was made that the CVX class would use nuclear propulsion. The research findings described in this document helped influence that decision. This report offers the briefing presented to the program office along with accompanying annotation. The researchers delineated the various propulsion system options being considered and contacted suppliers and integrators of key system components to establish how a CVX decision would affect their company and their industry, as well as other Navy programs.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

Originally published in 1968, this now classic study is considered essential reading for its analysis of fast aircraft carrier development. It provides a fascinating record not only of the U.S. Navy's metamorphosis from a battleship-oriented to a carrier-centered fleet, but also of the heated debates that took place over the changing naval strategy. With an insider's grasp of the personalities involved, award-winning naval historian Clark G. Reynolds takes readers from the war rooms of Washington to the flight decks of the Pacific. He vividly describes the battles over the concept of fast carriers between the air admirals and battleship admirals and offers little-known details gleaned from personal interviews and private diaries.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• v. 1. 1946-1956
• v. 2. 1957-1963.

Arranged by country and class, the book discusses each basic design and presents appearance notes and career summaries.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

Arranged by country and class, the book discusses each basic design and presents appearance notes and career summaries.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)