History is replete with lost wars, often caused by rivalries between top decision makers over strategies, type of munitions, tactics, and of course, political turf wars. It is refreshing to read a book which outlines how five different men, all driven (by patriotism, some also by glory) managed to create the most powerful navy in the history of the world and use it in a manner which contributed to the total victory over the forces of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. As the book focuses on these five men, the actions of the hundreds of thousands who served under them and were at the “sharp end of the stick” are not covered, but one is struck by the force of their personalities and how those personalities much have inspired many of those lower down the ladder.
It is interesting how each personality managed to merge well with others as we are reading here of towering egos and firm convictions as to how the war was to be handled. Coming out of the lean years between the wars, when the Japanese Empire was moving ahead with cutting edge technology and tactics and the U.S. was cutting it’s military to the bone, these men kept up with the various theories attached to each weapon group and were able in a very short time to create a huge navy that not only outfought the larger Japanese navy, but was able to shun the offered help of its primary ally, Britain. This ability to work well together was in large part due to each of the men having interests in naval warfare that tied in with and complimented each of the others. One was an early believer in the aircraft carrier, another was the behind the scenes logistical man, others were out and out fighters who only wanted to get at the enemy. Together, they formed a team that was able to harness and direct the overwhelming material strength of the United States.
For anyone interested in the management of a naval war, this is an excellent volume. Well written and documented, it moves along well, moving from one Admiral to another, laying out a path to victory. Although in hindsight that victory seemed pre-ordained, it was in the early months, a very close thing. There were times when literally a half dozen aircraft were moved thousands of miles to a new danger zone, or, when men and ships had to be sacrificed to buy literally a couple of days. The men who would shoulder those decisions had to be hard realists and, in this area, and their ability to put their personalities to the common good, they deserved every one of their five stars.
