Nuclear Weapons and Aircraft Carriers How the Bomb Saved Naval Aviation

by Miller, Jerry

• ISBN13: 9781560989448
• ISBN10: 1560989440
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-04-17
• Publisher: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press

Summary

With the advent of the atomic bomb in 1945 and its impact on strategic thinking, the future of naval aviation looked bleak. Rapid demobilization after the war eliminated many carriers, and most policy makers believed that future wars would be fought with nuclear weapons delivered by land-based aircraft. In Nuclear Weapons and Aircraft Carriers, Jerry Miller traces the struggle of respected naval leaders to promote a different vision and the innovations in the design and engineering of carriers and aircraft that resulted. He argues that the Navy's hard-won nuclear capability played a significant role in ending the Cold War.

Author Biography

Jerry Miller was Former commander of the U.S. Second Fleet and NATO striking forces in the Atlantic.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xiii
Introduction	1	(9)
The Beginning	10	(12)
Policy and Strategy	22	(18)
Weapons	40	(37)
Heavy Attack	77	(43)
Light Attack	120	(34)
Delivery Tactics	154	(24)
Ships	178	(21)
Testing the Capability	199	(7)
Targeting	206	(22)
The Past, the Present, and the Future	228	(8)
Reflections	236	(27)
Notes	263	(26)
Index	289