Clash Of The Carriers: The True Story Of The Marianas Turkey Shoot Of World War II, by Barrett Tillman

In fairly examining this book, one must ponder why it is that there are so few books written about the Marianas Turkey Shoot, the massive and decisive naval battle also known (less colorfully) as the Battle Of The Philippine Sea. During this battle Japan lost three carriers and the vast majority of its trained fighters, ending its ability to offer resistance in the sort of carrier fights that it had engaged in successfully during the two years or so after Pearl Harbor. The book’s title is a bit of an odd one too, as this reader is unaware of any other Marianas turkey shoots besides this particular one, so it is puzzling to think of what other Marianas turkey shoot besides the World War II one the author could be referring to in the subtitle of this book. Be that as it may, this particular naval battle is ignored unfairly perhaps because the fleet admiral in charge of the battle’s operations, Admiral Spruance, played the battle cautiously and sought to fight Ozawa, his able Japanese counterpart, while also preserving the safety of the American landings on Saipan. Thus despite the massive tonnage of ships and the staggering number of carrier planes involved in the battle, the results were not quite as decisive or as thrilling as many naval historical readers would wish. As a result, the battle has received far less attention than naval battles like Midway and Leyte Gulf.

Nevertheless, even if the Battle of the Philippine Sea was not the sort of battle that naval history readers enjoy the most, which would be a decisive battleship vs. battleship slugfest or a Midway-style carrier sinking extravaganza, there is a lot to appreciate about the course of this battle, particularly when it comes to the effectiveness of American fighters against their Japanese counterparts, most of whom were put out of action as a result of this battle. In light of the fact that it was the plane vs. plane matchup that ended up being the most decisive aspect of the battle, and that there have been other narrative histories that the author quotes from that cover the story of the battle, it is perhaps unsurprising (even if might be disappointing to some readers) that the author focuses on trying to verify the actual numbers of downed planes and who was responsible for sinking them. Far more than I expected, this particular book focuses on the accounts of individual naval pilots and their efforts on both sides, showing that Japan’s efforts were heroic but their planes were outmatched and many of their fighters a bit rusty, all of which meant that Americans racked up some impressive statistics when it came to downed enemy planes as opposed to losses. One of the most compelling parts of the story of this book is the way that American naval captains put their ships at risk trying to provide an opportunity for naval aviators to touch down on their carriers and seeking to engage in pilot rescuing efforts, showing the United States was better at stewarding its fighter pilots than Japan, which sadly wasted a lot of its own flight personnel on ill-advised attacks.

In terms of its contents, this book is a bit more than 300 pages and is divided into six parts. The book begins with a foreword by Stephen Coonts and a preface and prologue that set the stage for the battle in light of the context of the Pacific War as a whole that had gone up to this point. The first part of the book of the book tries to discuss the scene for soldiers as well as citizens during the summer of 1944 when the United States commenced the liberation of the Marianas Islands from Japan–islands whose importance to the Japanese home defense was so important that their loss led to the fall of Hojo’s government. This is followed by a discussion of the cautious and conservative plans of both admirals as the battle approached. After this comes a discussion of the initial raids and encounters between Japanese and American pilots and other naval and aviation forces. A discussion of the dramatic last raid then follows, where after initial efforts the Japanese sought to escape and American pilots flew to the end of their fuel reserves seeking to get a knockout blow. The last part of the book then discusses the efforts by American carrier groups to turn the lights on to allow the pilots a chance to find a deck to land on safely in the dark, despite the risks this provided. This is followed by appendices which include a detailed list (as detailed as possible) of the various flight groups, pilots, and naval assets of the battle, including a listing of most of the ship commanders on both sides down to the smallest ships and subs. The book then ends with acknowledgements, a bibliography, notes, and an index.