By June 1942, within six months of Japan's devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Navy had checked the Japanese military advance in the Pacific to the extent that the United States could return to its original war plan of defeating Germany first. That the Navy was able to accomplish this with six fleet aircraft carriers—two of which were based in the Atlantic at the time—and little more than 1,000 combat aircraft was not a miracle or simply a matter of luck but the culmination of more than 20 years of determined preparation. This book explains and illustrates, in terms of individual aircraft, airship, and ship development, the process of trial and error that ultimately enabled naval aviation to succeed in those critical, early months of the war. The book is introduced by a historical summary listing the major influences that shaped the course of naval aviation during the period.
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