Product Overview
Many regard this work as the definitive account of the controversial June 1944 Battle of the Philippine Sea - better known as the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot. Drawing on ten years of research and told from the viewpoint of the fliers and sailors who were on the firing line, William T. Y'Blood leads the reader through every stage of the battle, from the dogfights to the persistent attacks on the Japanese carriers to the frantic efforts of the returning fliers to land on friendly carriers. He takes the battle from the initial planning through the invasion of the Marianas and the recriminations that followed, describing Adm. Raymond A. Spruance's decision to allow U.S. forces to remain on the defensive and giving blow-by-blow details of the action. This intensive study of what many believe to be a major turning point in the Pacific War and the greatest carrier duel of World War II has remained an important reference since it was first published in 1981.
