The Philippine Sea 1944: The last great carrier battle

by Mark Stille, Jim Laurier (Illustrator)

Overview

After suffering devastating losses in the huge naval battles at Midway and the Soloman Islands, the Imperial Japanese navy attempted to counter-attack against the US forces threatening the Home Islands. Involving the US Fifth Fleet and the Japanese Mobile Fleet, the battle of the Philippine Sea took place during the United States' amphibious invasion of the Mariana Islands during the Pacific War.

The two fleets clashed on June 19-20, 1944 and the Japanese carrier fighters were shot down in devastating numbers by US aircraft in what became known as the “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot,” before US counterattacks and submarine strikes forced the withdrawal of the Japanese fleet.

Fully illustrated with stunning specially commissioned artwork, Mark Stille tells the enthralling story of the last, and largest, carrier battle of the Pacific War, the one that saw the end of the Imperial Japanese Navy as a formed fighting force.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472819208
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	09/19/2017
Series:	Campaign , #313
Pages:	96
Sales rank:	1,070,691
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.60(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

Mark E. Stille (Commander, United States Navy, retired) received his BA in History from the University of Maryland and also holds an MA from the Naval War College. He has worked in the intelligence community for 35 years including tours on the faculty of the Naval War College, on the Joint Staff and on US Navy ships. He is currently a senior analyst working in the Washington DC area. He is the author of numerous Osprey titles, focusing on naval history in the Pacific.

Table of Contents

Origins of the campaign

Chronology

Opposing commanders

Opposing armies

Orders of battle

Opposing plans

The campaign

Aftermath

The battlefields today

Further reading

Index