Taylor, Theodore

The Magnificent Mitscher

Acknowledgments xi Foreword xv Introduction xvii Culmination 3(8) I. THE AIR ABOVE THE SEA 11(96) Early Days 13(7) The Naval Academy 20(8) First Sea Duty 28(7) Flying on Wood, Wire, and Canvas 35(5) Sea Aviator 40(8) In Command at Miami 48(7) The ``Nancys'' 55(4) NC-I---Down at Sea 59(9) The Navy versus Billy Mitchell 68(12) First Aircraft Carrier 80(6) Lean Years 86(4) The End of the Dirigibles 90(2) Flight to Pearl Harbor 92(5) Prelude to War 97(10) II. FROM TOKYO TO THE SOLOMONS 107(60) Hornet 109(6) Doolittle's Raiders 115(8) Carrier Operations 123(3) Air Group Eight 126(4) The Battle of Midway 130(9) Shore-Based 139(5) Guadalcanal Command 144(5) The Interception of Admiral Yamamoto 149(7) Last Days at Guadalcanal 156(7) Fleet Air, West Coast 163(4) III. FAST-CARRIER TASK FORCE 167(134) Command Organization 169(5) The Invasion of the Marshall Islands 174(7) Truk 181(4) Scouting the Marianas 185(5) Arleigh Burke Arrives 190(9) ``Bald Eagle'' 199(3) Hollandia and Truk Again 202(6) Softening the Marianas 208(9) The Japanese Fleet Comes Out 217(7) First Battle of the Philippine Sea (1) 224(6) First Battle of the Philippine Sea (2) 230(8) The Controversial Decision 238(3) Leader of Pilots 241(6) Next Stop Manila 247(6) Leyte Gulf (1) 253(7) Leyte Gulf (2) 260(8) Return to Pearl Harbor 268(7) The End of the Japanese Fleet 275(11) Bombed Out 286(9) Last Days of Combat 295(6) IV. PEACE AGAIN 301(41) Fishing 303(4) Home to Hillsboro 307(5) The Lessons Learned 312(7) The ``Super Carrier'' 319(8) Eighth Fleet 327(6) The Last Effort 333(9) Epilogue 342(3) Bibliography 345(8) Index 353