The U.S. Navy Against the Axis: Surface Combat 1941–1945 (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The U.S. Navy Against the Axis: Surface Combat 1941–1945 Benjamin Armstrong The U.S. Navy Against the Axis: Surface Combat 1941–1945. By Vincent P. O’Hara. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2007. ISBN 1-59114-650-6. Tables. Figures. Maps. Appendixes. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. xvi, 364. $36.95. The development of naval air power and the success of submarine patrols have long dominated the naval history of the Second World War. The over the horizon battles of the fast carriers, and the solo heroics of undersea warfare, were the height of technological innovation and have received the lion’s share of the focus. Vincent O’Hara’s The U.S. Navy Against the Axis: Surface Combat 1941–1945 aims to address the missing component of that history: surface warfare. O’Hara questions many of the long standing dogmas of World War II naval history. His book refutes “the widely held notion that the attack on Pearl Harbor [End Page 973] suddenly rendered the battleships, guns, and torpedoes of the fleet obsolete and that aviation and submarines subsequently dominated the Pacific War” (p. 298). O’Hara begins with an efficient and welcome summary of the elements that affected the U.S. Navy throughout the war. While knowledgeable students of naval history will consider this material a review, it is well presented and important for those newer to the field. From there he initiates a string of battle histories, starting with early operations in the East Indies and moving chronologically through the surface battles of the Pacific and Atlantic. He covers both major battles and minor engagements. While other histories have aimed to cover specific battles in detail, O’Hara’s goal is larger. The benefit of covering the breadth of the conflict is that the author demonstrates how the war developed. The reader can see doctrine and tactics changing and the significant differences in how the U.S. and Japanese forces adapted from battle to battle. The inclusion of surface operations in the European theater, including several small engagements with German naval forces, provides a good deal of uncommon history. The highlight of this is an excellent chapter on the Battle of Casablanca between American and Vichy French forces. The book is well documented and annotated throughout, with numerous charts and maps. It also includes a set of appendices with statistical analysis, an extensive bibliography, and index. Much of the history is drawn directly from operational reports and other primary sources. The author does a good job of analyzing these for the inaccuracies that notoriously run through the reports of both American and Japanese officers. He deftly weaves the nuts and bolts of the operational reports with just enough detail from sailors’ personal accounts to create well crafted battle histories. Vincent O’Hara makes a compelling case for his thesis that surface warfare played a vital role in American success in the Pacific. He gives credit to aircraft and submarines where credit is due but illuminates the importance of battleships, cruisers, and destroyers to American victory. The U.S. Navy Against the Axis helps to fill a void in the history of the Second World War and will prove valuable to any student of naval history. Benjamin Armstrong Norfolk, Virginia Copyright © 2008 The Society for Military History