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"March 20, 1922, marked the beginning of carrier aviation in the US Navy with the commissioning of the experimental carrier USS Langley CV-1. Today, some 48 years later, the aircraft carrier is our Navy's number one line of defense.
Naval aviation first went to sea on November 14,1910, when Eugene Ely, a Curtiss exhibition pilot, took off from a platform built on the deck of the light cruiser USS Birmingham CL-2, anchored in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Three months later on January 18, 1911, Ely landed on the afterdeck of the armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania CA-4. On February 17, 1911, Glen H. Curtiss flew a Curtiss seaplane from Naval Air Station North Island to the Pennsylvania anchored in San Diego Harbor. The seaplane landed alongside the armored cruiser and was hoisted aboard by a launch crane. Later, he took off and returned to North Island. This was the first seaplane demonstration with the Navy. Lt.(jg) P. N. L Bellinger piloted an AE-3 off the battleship USS Mississippi BB-23 on April 25, 1914.
These first four significant shipboard experiments proved that aircraft could be operated from ships. First aviation operations with the fleet took place at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in connection with the winter maneuvers in early 1913. For these maneuvers, the aircraft were transported to the scene by ships and actual flight operations were conducted from shore.
The first airplane was catapulted from a moving vessel on November 6, 1915. piloted by Lieutenant Commander Henry C. Mustin, USN, from the armored cruiser USS North Carolina CA-12. Similar tests were conducted from the armored cruiser USS Huntington CA-5 the following year, but were interrupted by World War I.
Even after the war's end, tests were not immediately resumed for two reasons. First, the extent to which the installation had interfered with use of the ship's guns indicated the need for further refinement of the catapult itself. Second, and most important, the success of British experiments and operations with a flight deck superstructure on HMS Furious and HMS Argus demonstrated the possibility of a specially designed ship for operating aircraft on the high seas.
It wasn't easy to convince the top brass that the battleship would soon be a thing of the past but an Act of Congress dated July 11, 1919 included $25 million to be expended for the conversion of the USS Jupiter into an 'aeroplane carrier.'
Fiat-Tops and Fledglings traces the history of the American aircraft carrier from the early days of the twenties and thirties of experiment and theory which would not be proven until the outbreak of World War II when the aircraft carrier became the backbone of our task forces in the Pacific and Atlantic campaigns. The role of the aircraft carrier in Korea, the cold war period and the Vietnam conflict is described at length.
The second section of the book details aircraft that have operated from the decks of the carriers since October 17, 1922 when Lieutenant Commander V. C. Griffin made the first take off from the Langley piloting a VE-7SF, to the present day A7A Corsair II just assigned to carriers of the Pacific and Atlantic Fleets.
The book closes with awards earned by the carriers in time of peace and war, showing the eligibility dates of each ship.
The book also includes over 400 illustrations.
Everyone interested in seagoing craft is certain to enjoy Flat-Tops and Fledglings."

New York, N.Y., Castle Books:1971

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"War news front the Pacific the summer of 1942 was not good. Less than six months after Pearl Harbor, Corregidor, the last U.S. stronghold in the Philippines, surrendered to the enemy. Now the Japanese navy dominated the seas from the western Pacific to the Indian Ocean. When would they attack California or Oregon or Washington?
And while we waited and worried, the Japanese were secretly mounting the most powerful naval force in history. Their goal: not the West Coast, but Midway, a small U.S. naval base far out in the Pacific. Why did the Japanese want it so badly? And what could the U.S. do, with their weak Pacific fleet, to keep strategic Midway out of enemy hands?"

New York, N.Y., Scholastic Book Services:1976, paperback

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"Historic Naval Aircraft is a behind-the-scenes look at thirty-two important U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aircraft, based on the definitive 'Historic Aircraft' column in Naval History magazine by Norman Polmar.
The featured aircraft, some famous and others virtually unknown, reflect a variety of fighters, bombers, patrol planes, transports, trainers, helicopters, and the Pitcairn XOP-1 autogiro, the first rotary-wing aircraft to be operated by the Navy and the Marine Corps. They span the period from the Vought VE-7, the first aircraft to take off from the Navy's first carrier, the USS Langley, through the Grumman A-6 Intruder, which flew in the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars before being retired from service in 1996. Prominently featured are the classic aircraft that the Navy and Marine Corps flew to victory in World War II.
With his expert ability at combining technical detail and the drama of military flight, Polmar makes each aircraft seem to fly off the pages. Historic Naval Aircraft collects years of dedicated historical research and entertaining writing into one beautiful volume."

Dulles, VA, Brassey's:2004, ISBN 1-57488-572-3

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"An exciting chronicle and encyclopedia of World War II, here is the most penetrating record of this conflict ever written by Americans. It is also an unparalleled source of information on battlefront and home-front life. From Bataan to Iwo Jima, North Africa to Normandy, from the P-38 Lightning to the atomic bomb, and from Yalta to the Nuremberg trials, the world at war is brought vividly to life. Included are more than 2,400 entries on battles, weapons, intelligence operations, people, politics, places, and culture. The book is divided into two main parts. The 'War Chronology' provides a day-by-day account of key events highlighted with quotes from the time. The encyclopedic 'War Guide' is a vast information resource on people, places, weapons, and events. The book also contains an insightful essay describing the events leading up to America's entry into war and another essay on how World War II shaped the Cold War era."

New York, N.Y., Random House:1991, ISBN 0-394-58530-5

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"Carrier Lexington, one of the most famous and formidable of the U.S. Navy warships, lies permanently berthed at Corpus Christi, Texas, On November 8, 1991, the ship became the last of the World War II-era aircraft carriers to retire from active duty, and her decks and cabins since have been converted into a museum that pays tribute to her illustrious war and peacetime record and to the history of naval aviation.
Lexington entered World War II as the second of the greatest Essex-class carriers to be commissioned. One of the most decorated of all U.S. carriers during the war, Lexington destroyed more than a thousand Japanese aircraft, sank more than a million tons of enemy shipping in the Pacific, and helped establish the aircraft carrier as the most powerful of warships, replacing the big-gunned dreadnoughts that had ruled the seas through most of the first half of the century. Through beautiful photography, detailed floor plans, and illuminating text, this volume takes the reader on a guided tour of Lexington and traces the ships role in the fascinating history of U.S. Naval aviation and the emergence of the aircraft carrier as the high seas most fearsome weapon."

College Station, Texas, Texas A&M University Press:1995, ISBN 0-89096-681-8 (softcover) Provided by a gift from Jim and Allison Garner

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"With the infamy of Pearl Harbor still fresh in their minds, the men of the U.S. Pacific Fleet waited for the Japanese Imperial Navy at Midway Island. This time, however, the element of surprise had shifted, and the American troops would be the victors of a battle that marked the turning point of the war. in the Pacific. Like At Dawn We Slept, Miracle at Midway brings together eyewitness accounts from the men who commanded and the men who fought on both sides. The sweeping narrative takes you into the thick of action and shows exactly how American strategies and decisions led to the triumphant victory and the crushing defeat of Japan."

New York, N.Y., Penguin:1983, ISBN 0-1400-6814-7 (softcover)

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"The aircraft carrier is one the most flexible and powerful naval weapons. Born in World War I, this ship came of age during World War II. Japan's brilliantly-conceived and executed strike against Pearl Harbor marked the begining of the carrier's ascendancy and was the prelude to the great naval air battles in the Pacific. Coral Sea, Midway, the Great Marianas' Turkey Shoot and Leyte Gulf were fought largely by naval aircraft, with the ships of the opposing fleets often scores of miles apart.
In the postwar years carrier forces played an important part in the wars in Korea and Vietnam. Today the United States' nuclear-powered carriers, each carrying an air wing of some 90 warplanes, are rivalled only by ballistic-missile armed submarines in naval might and will play a key role in any future conflict. The Soviet Union also sees the importance of naval aviation and is building up a powerful carrier force of its own, while in Europe the vertical take-off aircraft has led to a revolution in carrier design.
Aircraft Carriers is written by Antony Preston, who is a noted naval historian and an authority on modern warships and navies. In this book he deals not only with the aircraft carrier, but also with its aircraft and the battles that they fought. illustrated with more than 100 color and black and white pictures Aircraft Carriers is a must for anyone with an interest in ships and aircraft."

London, England, Bison Books:1982, ISBN 0-86124-067-7 (hardcover)

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"The aircraft carrier is the archetypal weapon of the twentieth century. Born in World War I it became the most significant weapon during the Pacific campaign in World War II. Today it is still a powerful tool in the hands of both the American and Soviet navies. The history of the Aircraft Carriers describes not only their use throughout many conflicts. Technical descriptions of the development of the planes and the ships themselves are illustrated through cut-away diagrams and line drawings. The aircraft carriers, the men who fought on them, the planes that flew from them and the battles in which they fought are brilliantly described by Britain's foremost naval historian, Antony Preston, author of numerous works such as Destroyers, U-Boats, Navies of World War II and Navies of the American Revolution. With over 300 photographs in colour and black and white, together with drawings, charts and maps, the history of the Aircraft Carriers should prove to be a collector's item for all naval buffs and students of war at sea in the twentieth century for many years to come."

New York, N.Y., Grosset & Dunlap:1979, ISBN 0-448-15473-0 (hardcover)

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New York, N.Y., Gallery:1990, ISBN 0-8317-6060-5 courtesy San Antonio Public Library

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