War-at-Sea
1942- The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 12 – Guadalcanal, From the Start, A New and Different Context; First Day Overview (1/4)
RS Note: With the close of Chapter 2 of the Testimony of Pilot series, this posts continues with the 1942- The Year of the Aircraft Carrier series picking up with the story of the initial attack on Guadalcanal 7-8 August, 1942. Given the long break here is the link to Part #9 the Guadalcanal Introduction: http://rememberedsky.com/?p=2201 Blown Slick Series #13 Part 12 (1/4) First Day’s Air Support – Overview An hour before dawn on 7 August, Dog Day, Fletcher’s three TF-61 carriers (with Noyes, CTG-61.1, in tactical command) closed Point Victor, thirty miles west of Guadalcanal. … TF-61 was ready to begin the first Allied [...]
1942- The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; (Part 11+) – “Why Is China’s Navy Studying the Battle of Guadalcanal?”
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 11+ The National Interest magazine recently published Why Is China’s Navy Studying the Battle of Guadalcanal? by Lyle J. Goldstein a research professor in the China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) at the United States Naval War College in Newport, RI. The following provides key excerpts and points. The original article can be found here. China’s military has not had much combat experience in recent decades, and this is recognized among Chinese military leaders as a potentially serious problem. The reasons for this scarcity of battlefield know-how are obvious and might even be praise-worthy. It has been nearly [...]
FIGHT FIGHT – Book Recommendation
Highest recommendation for Kevin Miller’s (CAPT. USN, Ret) newest novel Fight Fight. I was going to do a normal “book review”/recommendation but decided to just leverage my comments to Kevin along with his response instead. I had done a recommendation on his first book Raven One in a somewhat normal/accepted manner, but this book has some deeper levels for me than just good naval aviation fiction so wanted to add some emphasis. Some bit ago the novel Ghost Fleet on a future war scenario was highly regarded. The books are similar in some ways, but Kevin’s book strikes home (for me [...]
1942- The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 10 – Guadalcanal Campaign Major Events Overview
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 10 Watchtower Guadalcanal is no longer merely a name of an island in Japanese military history. It is the name of the graveyard of the Japanese army. —Major General Kiyotake Kawaguchi, IJA Commander, 35th Infantry Brigade at Guadalcanal As noted in Part #9, unlike Midway which was almost entirely a carrier vs. carrier battle, the fight to gain and hold Guadalcanal was a land, sea, land-based air, and sea-based air six month give and take. Each element was dependent on the other and the equality of the Japanese and American carrier airpower played a major part [...]
1942- The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 9 – Guadalcanal
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 9 On Land, on Sea, in the Air – Introduction 9 February, 1943 Major General Alexander Patch, USA, Commander, Guadalcanal to Vice Admiral William Halsey, Jr., USN, Commander, South Pacific Area, TOTAL AND COMPLETE DEFEAT OF JAPANESE FORCES ON GUADALCANAL EFFECTED 1625 TODAY… AM HAPPY TO REPORT THIS KIND OF COMPLIANCE WITH YOUR ORDERS … ‘ TOKYO EXPRESS ’ NO LONGER HAS TERMINUS ON GUADALCANAL . Under extreme secrecy, on the nights of 1, 4, and 7 February 1943, the Japanese had completely fooled the ground and sea commanders, pilots, ships and PT boats of the [...]
1942 – The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 8 – Midway Trilogy Epilogue
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 8 Decisive victory? Depends on how you look … a fundamental transformation in naval power had just taken place. Carriers usurped the prime strategic role of battleships in that their principal opponents were their enemy counterparts, and they should only to be committed to battle in the proper circumstances .. Black Shoe Carrier Admiral: Frank Jack Fletcher at Coral Sea, Midway & Guadalcanal , Lundstrom, John B.. Today, seventy six years after the battle, Midway still has its paradoxes and conundrums; […]
1942 – The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 7 – Midway Trilogy (3 of 3)
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 7 “what did Midway really mean?” “An aircraft carrier is a noble thing. It lacks almost everything that seems to denote nobility, yet deep nobility is there. A carrier has no poise. It has no grace. It is top-heavy and lop-sided. It has the lines of a cow. It doesn’t cut through the water like a cruiser, knifing romantically along… It just plows… Yet a carrier is a ferocious thing, and out of its heritage of action has grown nobility. I believe that every Navy in the world has it as its No. 1 priority [...]
1942 – The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 6 – Midway Trilogy (2 of 3)
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 6 Into the Shredder The Battle of Coral Sea had provided the first hints that the Japanese high-water mark had been reached, but it was the Battle of Midway that put up the sign for all to see. Midway also marked the gateway to the attritional war that would be fought in the Solomons, a campaign that would irreparably ruin the Japanese Navy by destroying its elite naval aviation cadres and wrecking its surface forces beyond redemption. Midway didn’t produce these consequences by itself, but it created the circumstances whereby the Japanese Navy would be [...]
Thinking Airpower in Context: American War in Seven Charts
Blown Slick Series #9 Seven Charts That Help Explain American War How Many Years In Its History Has America Been at War? Where Has America Fought? Why Has America Fought? How Does America Fight ? Who Are America’s Formal Defense Partners? Why Is the American Military So Attracted to Technology? So How Much Does It All Cost? Give the focus of the Blown Slick series, upon reading this article by Aaron Bazin*, it seemed only natural to question what then is the impact of airpower on these seven and how is airpower influenced by how we approach the issues? In a concise way, [...]
BLOWN SLICK – Light Attack Fast Pursuit; Airpower Analysis by Boris
Blown Slick Series#4 “… it has been decades since the last significant contribution to airpower theory. Given the shifting character of war and rapid technological change, a solid modern airpower theory will be required for the West to achieve strategic success in future conflicts.” Reviewing Airpower Reborn;The Strategic Concepts of John Warden and John Boyd by JP ‘Spear’ Mintz Out of the process of reading, researching, communicating with old airwing friends, and in addition reaching out for the Air Force side – leveraging the “Rats” of the Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association, plus all the while observing the more [...]
Blogroll
War-at-Sea
1942- The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 12 – Guadalcanal, From the Start, A New and Different Context; First Day Overview (1/4)
RS Note: With the close of Chapter 2 of the Testimony of Pilot series, this posts continues with the 1942- The Year of the Aircraft Carrier series picking up with the story of the initial attack on Guadalcanal 7-8 August, 1942. Given the long break here is the link to Part #9 the Guadalcanal Introduction: http://rememberedsky.com/?p=2201 Blown Slick Series #13 Part 12 (1/4) First Day’s Air Support – Overview An hour before dawn on 7 August, Dog Day, Fletcher’s three TF-61 carriers (with Noyes, CTG-61.1, in tactical command) closed Point Victor, thirty miles west of Guadalcanal. … TF-61 was ready to begin the first Allied [...]
1942- The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; (Part 11+) – “Why Is China’s Navy Studying the Battle of Guadalcanal?”
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 11+ The National Interest magazine recently published Why Is China’s Navy Studying the Battle of Guadalcanal? by Lyle J. Goldstein a research professor in the China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) at the United States Naval War College in Newport, RI. The following provides key excerpts and points. The original article can be found here. China’s military has not had much combat experience in recent decades, and this is recognized among Chinese military leaders as a potentially serious problem. The reasons for this scarcity of battlefield know-how are obvious and might even be praise-worthy. It has been nearly [...]
FIGHT FIGHT – Book Recommendation
Highest recommendation for Kevin Miller’s (CAPT. USN, Ret) newest novel Fight Fight. I was going to do a normal “book review”/recommendation but decided to just leverage my comments to Kevin along with his response instead. I had done a recommendation on his first book Raven One in a somewhat normal/accepted manner, but this book has some deeper levels for me than just good naval aviation fiction so wanted to add some emphasis. Some bit ago the novel Ghost Fleet on a future war scenario was highly regarded. The books are similar in some ways, but Kevin’s book strikes home (for me [...]
1942- The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 10 – Guadalcanal Campaign Major Events Overview
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 10 Watchtower Guadalcanal is no longer merely a name of an island in Japanese military history. It is the name of the graveyard of the Japanese army. —Major General Kiyotake Kawaguchi, IJA Commander, 35th Infantry Brigade at Guadalcanal As noted in Part #9, unlike Midway which was almost entirely a carrier vs. carrier battle, the fight to gain and hold Guadalcanal was a land, sea, land-based air, and sea-based air six month give and take. Each element was dependent on the other and the equality of the Japanese and American carrier airpower played a major part [...]
1942- The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 9 – Guadalcanal
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 9 On Land, on Sea, in the Air – Introduction 9 February, 1943 Major General Alexander Patch, USA, Commander, Guadalcanal to Vice Admiral William Halsey, Jr., USN, Commander, South Pacific Area, TOTAL AND COMPLETE DEFEAT OF JAPANESE FORCES ON GUADALCANAL EFFECTED 1625 TODAY… AM HAPPY TO REPORT THIS KIND OF COMPLIANCE WITH YOUR ORDERS … ‘ TOKYO EXPRESS ’ NO LONGER HAS TERMINUS ON GUADALCANAL . Under extreme secrecy, on the nights of 1, 4, and 7 February 1943, the Japanese had completely fooled the ground and sea commanders, pilots, ships and PT boats of the [...]
1942 – The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 8 – Midway Trilogy Epilogue
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 8 Decisive victory? Depends on how you look … a fundamental transformation in naval power had just taken place. Carriers usurped the prime strategic role of battleships in that their principal opponents were their enemy counterparts, and they should only to be committed to battle in the proper circumstances .. Black Shoe Carrier Admiral: Frank Jack Fletcher at Coral Sea, Midway & Guadalcanal , Lundstrom, John B.. Today, seventy six years after the battle, Midway still has its paradoxes and conundrums; […]
1942 – The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 7 – Midway Trilogy (3 of 3)
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 7 “what did Midway really mean?” “An aircraft carrier is a noble thing. It lacks almost everything that seems to denote nobility, yet deep nobility is there. A carrier has no poise. It has no grace. It is top-heavy and lop-sided. It has the lines of a cow. It doesn’t cut through the water like a cruiser, knifing romantically along… It just plows… Yet a carrier is a ferocious thing, and out of its heritage of action has grown nobility. I believe that every Navy in the world has it as its No. 1 priority [...]
1942 – The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 6 – Midway Trilogy (2 of 3)
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 6 Into the Shredder The Battle of Coral Sea had provided the first hints that the Japanese high-water mark had been reached, but it was the Battle of Midway that put up the sign for all to see. Midway also marked the gateway to the attritional war that would be fought in the Solomons, a campaign that would irreparably ruin the Japanese Navy by destroying its elite naval aviation cadres and wrecking its surface forces beyond redemption. Midway didn’t produce these consequences by itself, but it created the circumstances whereby the Japanese Navy would be [...]
Thinking Airpower in Context: American War in Seven Charts
Blown Slick Series #9 Seven Charts That Help Explain American War How Many Years In Its History Has America Been at War? Where Has America Fought? Why Has America Fought? How Does America Fight ? Who Are America’s Formal Defense Partners? Why Is the American Military So Attracted to Technology? So How Much Does It All Cost? Give the focus of the Blown Slick series, upon reading this article by Aaron Bazin*, it seemed only natural to question what then is the impact of airpower on these seven and how is airpower influenced by how we approach the issues? In a concise way, [...]
BLOWN SLICK – Light Attack Fast Pursuit; Airpower Analysis by Boris
Blown Slick Series#4 “… it has been decades since the last significant contribution to airpower theory. Given the shifting character of war and rapid technological change, a solid modern airpower theory will be required for the West to achieve strategic success in future conflicts.” Reviewing Airpower Reborn;The Strategic Concepts of John Warden and John Boyd by JP ‘Spear’ Mintz Out of the process of reading, researching, communicating with old airwing friends, and in addition reaching out for the Air Force side – leveraging the “Rats” of the Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association, plus all the while observing the more [...]