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"In 1910 the U. S. Navy decided that the airplane was here to stay and appointed Captain Washington I. Chambers as a one-man operation to deal with all aviation matters. Thereafter - as Roger Caras shows in this absorbing book — progress was swift and exciting.
By 1913 the Navy was testing aircraft in submarine spotting and aerial bombing, and in World War I — thanks in part to a far-seeing young Assistant Secretary of the Navy named Franklin D. Roosevelt - Navy aviators were able to sink a dozen German submarines, develop a full-fledged ace, collect a few Medals of Honor, and generally act like a fighting air arm.
Wings of Gold tells the story of naval aviaion from its modest beginnings up through the sleek aircraft and nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of today. The author sees men and not machines as the real source of strength and power in our naval air arm, and he makes this a story first of the airmen and then of their planes and equipment. He traces the trends of thought, the development of new and better equipment, the epochal flights. He recalls the immeasurable contributions made by naval aviators and flying marines in World War II and the Korean War and describes their continuing efforts in peacetime — in the great task forces patrolling our East and West Coasts, hurricane spotting, space exploration, the Deepfreeze Operations in Antarctica. Operation Skyhook, and elsewhere.
Especially valuable to the student of air history, Wings of Gold will also be enjoyed as a rousing good story of men and planes who gamble with fate."

Philadelphia/New York, J. B. Lippincott Company: 1965, LCCC 65-15250 Provided by a gift from Rose and Margaret Foerster

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"It seems incredible that the man who led the greatest military assemblage in world history would not have made enemies. But even the Japanese consider Admiral Nimotz to be one of the three greatest admirals, along with their own Admiral Heihachiro Togo and Britain's Admiral Horatio Nelson. Nimitz's former gunnery officer, Rear Admiral E. M. Eller, said he was 'the wise, calm tower of strength in adversity and success, the principal architect of victory in the Pacific.' Former Nimitz staffer William H. Ewing called him 'the greatest man I have ever known.'
Perhaps the finest testimonial came from author James Michener: 'Later I came to know Nimitz, and when I saw him in action I understood the sources from which his unusual intellectual powers came. He was a well disciplined man, but not rigid. He was willing to take a chance but was never flamboyant. He could look single facts in the eye and decide what they were worth, and he could assemble multiplex facts and make them yield a conclusion. In my life I have been fortunate in knowing a good many unusual men and women. Chester Nimitz stands at the top of the list.'
I hope that you will enjoy this fine story of his life."
from the Forward by Douglass Hubbard, Superintendant, Admiral Nimitz State Historical Park

Austin, Texas, Eakin Press:1983 ISBN 0-89015-364-7

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"Aircraft Carriers of the World is the first comprehensive reference work to detail in one volume - with data, line drawings and photographs - the 360-plus carriers designed or projected by the world's navies.
Although only five (and until recently only four) nations have ever completed the building of aircraft carriers, such vessels have seen service in twelve of the world's navies. Depending upon precisely how one defines the term ‘aircraft carrier', some 329 ships of this type have been operated throughout the world, more than half by the US Navy; in addition, scores of carriers have been projected. All of these vessels are catalogued in Aircraft Carriers of the World, arranged chronologically according to country. Each basic design is discussed, and appearance notes and career summaries are presented for each individual carrier. In addition, each main entry is accompanied by a table giving design specifications, by a pair of constant-scale general arrangement line drawings, and by a selection of photographs carefully chosen to give as far as possible a comprehensive picture of each class and the variations within it.
The catalogue section of the book is preceded by a detailed narrative tracing the origins and evolution of the aircraft carrier as a viable fighting unit, with particular emphasis on the conflicting design requirements of, on the one hand, the ship, and, on the other, her aircraft - a problem that has proved to be one of the most taxing ever to face naval constructors. Flight deck operations and carrier tactics are also discussed, and an insight into the political argument that has continually accompanied carrier development is offered.
Containing over 400 photographs and line drawings, Aircraft Carriers of the World provides the reader with all the essential information he may wish to seek concerning what has become the largest and most complex fighting machine devised by man."

London, England, Arms and Armour Press:1984, ISBN 1-86019-875-9 (hardcover) Provided by a gift from Sigfried Richter

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"A rare insider's look at life aboard the greatest weapon ever created...
Tom Clancy takes you on a mind-blowing tour of the U.S. Navy's crown jewel - the aircraft carrier - its crew, its aircraft, and its domination of the high seas...
They are floating cities with crews of thousands. They are the linchpins of any military strategy, for they provide what has become the key to every battle fought since World War I: air superiority. The mere presence of a U.S. naval carrier in a region is an automatic display of strength that sends a message no potential enemy can ignore. Now, Tom Clancy welcomes you aboard for a detailed look at how these floating behemoths function. With his trademark style and eye for detail, Clancy brings you naval combat strategy as no one else can."

New York, New York, Berkley:1999, ISBN 0-425-16682-1

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"They are the very best America has to offer - the few and the proud. The Marine Corps has served our nation with distinction, and achieved an almost mythical status among America's defenders. Now, Tom Clancy tells us the real story of the men and women who serve in this most hallowed branch of the Armed Forces. With the same compelling style and eye for detail that marked his bestselling nonfiction works Submarine, Armored Cav, and Fighter Wing, Clancy paints the fascinating picture of the Corps as only he could."

New York, New York, Berkley:1996, ISBN 0-425-15454-8

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"'I can think of no living naval officer more qualified to discuss the qualities of combat leadership than `Jocko` Clark.'
From the foreword by Admiral Arthur W. Radford
A fearless and aggressive leader of men with an uncommon knowledge of naval aviation, Admiral Clark was not one to wait for his adversaries to attack. He believed in carrying the war to the enemy with the unprecedented mobility and firepower of a fast carrier task force.
In this book, which is unique in American naval literature, "Jocko" Clark recounts a story that no one else in naval aviation has ever told. Throughout his career he was involved with the men who developed American naval aviation. He knew them all personally, and flew with them in the early days. He tested their planes and theories of combat. He shared their frustrations and their magnificent moments of success in World War II and the Korean War.
Admiral Clark not only reviews the history of the aircraft carrier as a weapon, but he also writes from his own experience of its use in the Atlantic and the Pacific in World War II, in Korea, and in Vietnam, and of its potential for the future.
Samuel Eliot Morison described Admiral "Jocko" Clark as "Part Cherokee, part Southern Methodist, but all fighter." Born in Indian Territory on November 12, 1893, J. J. Clark attended Oklahoma A & M College, and in 1913 he entered the Naval Academy. Forty years later he retired with the rank of four-star admiral.
After becoming a naval aviator in 1925, "Jocko" Clark worked on many special problems for the officers who initiated our fleet carrier programs.
During World War II he earned thirteen battle stars as Executive Officer of the USS Yorktown, as the first Commanding Officer of two new carriers - the USS Suwanee and then the new USS Yorktown - and, subsequently, as the commander of a task group. During the military action in Korea he commanded Task Force 77 until May 1952, when he became Commander of the Seventh Fleet."

New York, N.Y., David McKay Company:1967

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New York, New York, Mallard:1989, ISBN 0-792-45142-2 courtesy San Antonio Public Library

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From the Preface:
"'Yorktown was a proud ship, with a seasoned air group that had covered both Atlantic and Pacific operations and which was supported by a veteran air department with a depth of true professionalism in warrant officers, chiefs, and leading petty officers. In gunnery we thought we had a pretty fine outfit and the same was true throughout the ship, engineers, supply, medical, etc. Add to the professionals the large number of eager and buoyant youngsters who joined the Navy to be 'Navymen' and you have Yorktown's ship's company.'

'Carriers are the largest warships afloat, cities of 2,000-odd men. They are so incredibly vast and complicated that men who have been aboard for a year sometimes get lost when they venture out of their own bailiwick... If you want shoes fixed, clothes laundered, typewriter repaired, haircut, tooth paste or hundreds of other services or articles, they're here. There seems to be nothing lacking. Everything is on a big scale.'

Missoula, MT, Pictorial Histories Publishing:1985, ISBN 0-933126-57-3

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"Award-winning historian Robert J. Cressman combines exhaustive research in official records and numerous never-before-seen photographs to examine the human side of life on board an aircraft carrier. He analyzes the evolving capability of this type of ship to both fight a war and keep the peace.
USS Ranger (CV-4) was the U.S. Navy's first aircraft carrier to be built as such from the keel up. Ranger helped maintain Franklin D. Roosevelt's Good Neighbor Policy, pioneered director-controlled antiaircraft fire, and trained many naval aviators. During World War II, Ranger occupied center stage in Operation Torch (against Vichy French positions in North Africa in 1942) and in Operation Leader (against German shipping in 1943), the Navy's only carrier operation above the Arctic Circle during the war. In both instances, the ship's air group was required to hit legitimate military targets while minimizing civilian casualties, a problem the United States would confront again in later conflicts.
Cressman's emphasis on the human element, in peace and in war, reinforces his observation that carriers, like people, have multifaceted personalities, represented not only by the ship and its company, but also by the air group for which it serves as home. USS Ranger is an indispensable addition to Cressman's extensive bibliography of superb naval histories."

Washington, D.C., Potomac Books:2003, ISBN 1-57488-519-7

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"On the fiftieth anniversary of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Thomas J. Cutler, author of the highly praised Brown Water, Black Berets, takes a fresh look at the greatest of all naval baffles. Using materials not available to previous authors, Cutler captures the milieu, analyzes the strategy and tactics employed, and re-creates the experiences of the participants - from seaman to admiral - both Japanese and American.
To describe the Battle of Leyte Gulf as the "greatest of all naval battles" is no exaggeration. The American, Japanese, and Australian ships engaged in the battle numbered 282, and hundreds more were involved in related peripheral operations. Nearly two hundred thousand men participated, in a geographical area spanning more than a hundred thousand square miles. Dozens of ships were sunk, including some of the largest and most powerful ever built, and thousands of men went to the bottom of the sea with them. Every facet of naval warfare - air, surface, submarine, and amphibious - was involved in this great struggle, and the weapons used included bombs of every type, guns of every caliber, torpedoes, mines, rockets, and even a forerunner of the guided missile.
But more than just the number of ships and men involved gave this baffle its significance. Its cast of characters included such names as Halsey, Nimitz, MacArthur, and even Roosevelt. It introduced the largest guns ever used in a naval battie and a new Japanese tactic that would eventually kill more American sailors and sink more American ships than any other used in the war. It was the site of the last clash of the dreadnoughts and the first and only time that an American aircraft carrier was sunk by gunfire. It was replete with awe-inspiring heroism, failed intelligence, sapient tactical planning and execution, flawed strategy, brilliant deception, incredible ironies, great controversies, and a plethora of lessons about operations.
All this and more is captured in this exciting and revealing new book, written by an award-winning author and career naval officer."

New York, N.Y., HarperCollins:1994, ISBN 0-06-016949-4 courtesy San Antonio Public Library

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