Walter Karig (1898-1956) was a Captain in the U. S. Navy and wrote a number of books referring to World War II. He was also an author of television scripts for war-related programs like "Victory At Sea."

Another dose of essential reading for anyone interested in the naval side of World War II.

What strikes one in this more than the other books is the sheer weight of men and munitions, and particularly the munitions and supply chain that delivered them, that the US was able to bring to bear at this late stage of the war. Then the British Pacific Fleet turns up with four carriers and two battleships, a fleet that'd have struck fear into anyone 18 months before, it is realistically almost a sideshow with the US fast carrier force numbering in the order of sixteen.

The eye-opened for me in this volume, having not read much serious literature about them, is the relative ineffectiveness of the Kamikazes. Yes when they got through they could be devastating, but it seems they needed to have multiple aircraft approaching from different angles to be able to penetrate the US defences at all. Raids of 100 Kamikaze might see one or two hits on ships, which isn't the popular perception at all. The other Kamikaze statistic was that some 6,000 aircraft and pilots were being hoarded in Japan to attack the landing craft of any invading fleet.

The land war for the Pacific islands, even where it involved Marines understandably plays second fiddle here, but the statistics for casualties on both sides, which included civilians on the Japanese side are horrific. Even without the massed Kamikazes it is clear that any invasion of the Japanese mainland would have been a bloodbath had the Japanese Army held sway in politics. Whatever one may think of the future use of atomic bombs and, indeed the use of a second, one can understand the decision to use one in the hope of avoiding the need for an invasion. ( )