The First Team

by Lundstrom, John B.

• ISBN13: 9781591144717
• ISBN10: 159114471X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-09-01
• Publisher: Naval Inst Pr

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
Preface	xiii
Acknowledgments	xv
Special Note	xvii
Abbreviations and Special Terms	xix
PART I The Early Operations	1	(154)
Introduction to War	3	(29)
The Fighting Squadrons: Missions, Men, and Aircraft	3	(12)
Air Raid on Pearl Harbor X This Is No Drill	15	(8)
Pearl Harbor Aftermath	23	(3)
The Sara to the Front	26	(6)
``We are in great need of a victory.'' The Wake Island Operation	32	(13)
Initial Moves	32	(7)
The Disappointment	39	(6)
Interregnum	45	(15)
The Weeks of Futility	45	(7)
The Samoan Operation---The Yorktown to the Pacific	52	(8)
``This Sunday it's our turn to shoot!'' The 1 February Raids	60	(23)
Approach to Battle	60	(3)
Task Force 8 in the Marshalls	63	(14)
The Yorktown's Strikes	77	(3)
Return to Pearl	80	(3)
The Battle off Bougainville: Fighting Three in the South Pacific	83	(28)
The Enterprise's Central Pacific Raids	111	(11)
Return to Wake Island	111	(6)
A Visit to Marcus	117	(5)
The Lae-Salamaua Raid	122	(14)
Gathering the Forces	122	(2)
A Change of Targets	124	(8)
Withdrawal and the Lexington Home	132	(4)
The Tokyo Raid	136	(19)
Preliminaries---Introducing the Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat	136	(6)
The Advent of Fighting Eight	142	(3)
Six Hundred Miles from Tokyo	145	(10)
PART II The Battle of the Coral Sea	155	(152)
Prelude to Battle	157	(10)
The Yorktown in the Coral Sea, March--April 1942	157	(6)
Fighting Two to the South Pacific	163	(4)
Opening Shots	167	(22)
Coral Sea Preliminaries	167	(2)
Tulagi Strike	169	(9)
Gathering Storm: 5--6 May in the Coral Sea	178	(4)
The Inscrutable Enemy	182	(7)
7 May 1942	189	(32)
The Battle off Misima	189	(17)
Afternoon Reassessment	206	(3)
The Japanese Dusk Attack	209	(12)
The Carrier Battle of 8 May	221	(62)
The Searches	221	(3)
The Attack on MO Striking Force	224	(19)
``Hey Rube''---The Attack on Task Force 17	243	(27)
Return of the Strike Groups	270	(8)
The Loss of the Lex	278	(5)
Coral Sea Aftermath	283	(24)
``We are all short of oil, running like hell.''	283	(2)
Task Force 16's Anabasis to the South Pacific	285	(11)
``Desire you proceed to the Hawaiian area.''	296	(4)
Coral Sea Combat Lessons	300	(7)
PART III The Battle of Midway	307	(142)
Getting Ready for Midway	309	(20)
The Reorganization of Fighting Three	309	(4)
The Carriers in Port	313	(7)
Midway---The Waiting	320	(9)
The Battle of 4 June	329	(90)
The Opening Moves	329	(12)
The Attack on Nagumo's Carriers	341	(28)
The Japanese Retaliate	369	(42)
Retribution	411	(7)
Summary for 4 June	418	(1)
Midway---The Pursuit	419	(16)
5--6 June off Midway	419	(6)
The Loss of the Yorktown	425	(1)
The Sara Back to the Front	426	(4)
``How good land will look this time''	430	(5)
The ``First Team'' Graduates	435	(6)
Midway Lessons---The F4F-4 Controversy	441	(8)
PART IV Conclusion	449	(52)
Appendixes
The Making of Carrier Fighter Pilots	451	(7)
U.S. Naval Flight Training	451	(3)
Japanese Naval Flight Training	454	(4)
Fundamentals of Aerial Fixed Gunnery	458	(11)
Fighting Colors, Insignia, and Markings	469	(8)
Naval Flight Formations and the ``Thach Weave''	477	(9)
Japanese Combat Methods	486	(4)
List of U.S. Navy Fighter Pilots	490	(6)
Bureau Numbers of Fighter Aircraft	496	(5)
Notes	501	(22)
Sources	523	(8)
Index	531