Chapter · 2:58:13-3:05:48

Two books on naval aviation's wartime evolution

David Hobbs's Taranto and Rod Macdonald's Task Force 58 make a paired study of carrier warfare in the Mediterranean and Pacific.

Notes

The Taranto discussion follows strike damage, Italian dispersal and the connected cruiser raid in the Strait of Otranto. It shows that the carrier attack belonged to a wider operational night rather than standing alone as a famous air strike. Task Force 58 then covers the later development of American carrier power, using Guadalcanal to connect carrier aircraft with Henderson Field, fast battleships, surface actions and troop transport. Read together, the books trace how naval aviation operated inside larger fleets and campaigns in two very different theatres.