homepage Forums SimHQ Community Books Pacific Crucible

Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941–1942


Started this one last week. Finished first 3 chapters, chapter 1 is about the Pearl Harbor attack. Chapter 2 the aftermath of the attack in DC, across the US and Britain. Chapter 3 is a history of Japan's decision to go to war with the US and Britain.

Very good thus far.

Into chapter 6 now. Mostly about the early 1942 carrier raids.

I like this books format. Along the way you get several mini biographies of important figures; Yamamoto, Nimitz, King, Halsey so far. And the subject matter varies from action to political maneuvering between London/ DC, FDR/Churchill's relationships, strategic planning etc so you don't get burnt out with one topic. Very good.

Indeed an excellent book Dash. First of a trilogy.

Well worth reading the following two as well:
The Conquering Tide: War In The acific Islands 1942-1944
Twilight Of The Gods: War In The Pacific 1944-1945

The other 2 are on my list

I've been too busy to read much until today.

An interesting analysis of "Coral Sea". It's usually said that the battle was a tactical win for Japan but a strategic win for the US as it prevented the invasion of Port Moresby. The author makes the argument that given Japanese loss of Shoho, severe damage to Shokaku and the decimation of Zuikaku's air group (Japanese aircrew losses overall were almost 3x more than US), making the latter 2 unavailable for upcoming Midway, that the battle was a tactical as well as strategic victory for the US.

Post Coral Sea Lt Commander Jimmy Flatley advised Wildcat pilots on tactics vs the Zero. He concluded with words that would probably never be repeated on your typical History Channel program concerned WWII Pacific Theater aerial combat:

"You have the better plane if you handle it properly, and in spite of their advantages of maneuverability you can and should shoot them down with few losses to yourselves."

This is in May of 42. Already the myth of the mighty Zero was erased in the minds of those with a bit of experience.

Finished this one a couple of days ago. Very good overview of the first 6 months of the Pacific War. Last quarter of the book was all Midway of course but even though I have just read "Shattered Sword" I still found this, in comparison, "short synopsis" of that battle to be well done and informative. Still my favorite part of the book was the lesser known US carrier raids between Pearl Harbor and Coral Sea.