Storm Landings: Epic Amphibious Battles in the Central PacificThe Pacific War changed abruptly in November 1943 when Admiral Chester Nimitz unleashed a relentless 18-month, 4,000-mile offensive across the Central Pacific, spearheaded by fast carrier task forces and U.S. Marine and Army assault troops. The sudden American proclivity for amphibious frontal assaults against fortified islands astonished Japanese commanders, who called them “storm landings” because they differed so sharply from the limited landings of 1942-43. This is the story of seven epic assaults from the sea against murderous enemy fire—Tarawa, Saipan, Guam, Tinian, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. Each risky battle enhanced the U.S. capability to concentrate overwhelming naval force against a distant island and literally kick down the front door. While the assault forces learned priceless operational lessons from each landing, so did the Japanese. The ultimate U.S. victory in the seven “storm landings” came at the total cost of 100,000 killed and wounded. The survivors faced the prospect of even bloodier future beachheads against mainland Japan. Award-winning historian Joseph Alexander relates this extraordinary story with an easy narrative style bolstered by years of analyzing U.S. and Japanese battle accounts, personal interviews with veterans, and his own amphibious warfare experience. Abounding with human-interest stories of colorful “web-footed amphibians,” his book vividly portrays the sheer drama of these naval battles whose magnitude and ferocity may never again be seen in this world. |
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Storm Landings: Epic Amphibious Battles in the Central Pacific Joseph H. Alexander No preview available - 2012 |
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2d Marine Division 4th Marine Division Admiral airfields American amphibian amphibious assault amphibious forces amphibious landings amphibious operations amphibious task force amphibious warfare artillery ashore attack aviation Battalion battle battleships beach beachhead Betio boats bombardment bombers bombing Buckner campaign casualties Central Pacific combat command coral counterattack D-Day defense doctrine DUKWs enemy executed Fifth Fleet fighters fighting fire fortified Gavutu Geiger Gilberts Guadalcanal Guam guns Holland Smith hundred IGHQ Imperial Imperial General Headquarters infantry invasion island Iwo Jima Japan Japanese defenders kamikazes Kelly Turner Kuribayashi Kyfishfi Kyushu landing craft landing force logistics lst Marine Division LVTs MacArthur’s Marianas Marine Corps Marshalls MCHC MCOHC naval gunfire Naval Institute Navy night Nimitz officers Okinawa Old Breed oral memoir Pacific War Peleliu reef regiment Saipan Sherman ships Spruance staff storm landings strategic tactical tanks Tarawa Tenth Army thousand Tinian transports troops units USMC USMC Operations veteran warfare weapons