*I recommend reading “December 8, 1941: MacArthur’s Pearl Harbor,” William H. Bartsch. It is the best book currently written about this topic.*
568 pages-I don’t think so. I read Wm. Manchester’s book on MacArthur “American Caesar.” It would not pin the blame on him for the loss of the P.I.
Meanwhile, a little known “true” story about the USS Enterprise at Pearl Harbor:
MILITARY BOOK NEWS No. 106, March 2001
GREENHILL PUBLISHERS
I’ve taken the following from pages 8 & 9 of the above publication. It is about their upcoming book Rising Sun Victorious, edited by Peter G. Tsouras.
For an ‘alternate’ view of Pearl Harbor, read “Pearl Harbor: Irredeemable Defeat” by [deleted] in Greenhill’s own new blockbuster Rising Sun Victorious.
The following events take place during the first of three Japanese strikes:
“The ad hoc strike group under the command of Lieutenant Commander Shigeharu Murata separated from the main force at 0745 to seek out Task Force 8. They found their prey at 0830, steaming south at 30 knots. On Enterprise and her escorts all hands stood at their battle stations. They had long since heard the radio message ‘Air raid Pearl Harbor. This is no drill.’ Circling at 20,000 feet was their combat air patrol of ten Wildcats. Enterprise’s thirty SBDs and six remaining TBDs were circling over the island of Maui, sent out of harm’s way by Halsey. His plan was to recall, refuel, and arm them to strike the Japanese fleet, once he had an idea of their location.
Commander Murata ordered his veteran torpedo pilots to split over their force in half, his element engaging the Enterprise while the others hit her escorts. The Vals were to strike after the Kates had made their run. Murata’s ten Kates began their runs at both sides of Enterprise, charging through a hail of anti-aircraft fire much heavier than that which their comrades were facing at Pearl. Three went down before launching their fish, but the remaining planes successfully loosed their torpedoes. Three hit Enterprise on her starboard side in quick succession, followed by another two on her port. She began to slow. Her advanced damage control design matched the effects of the five massive torpedo holes, but once the modified battleship shells dropped by the Vals exploded within her hull, destroying her watertight integrity, she began to settle slowly to the bottom of the Pacific.
Meanwhile her Wildcats had been engaged by the Zeros as they dived to attack the Kates. In a whirlwind fight, seven Wildcats went down, taking with them three Zeros and two Kates. The remaining Kates and Vals made their runs on the cruisers Northampton, Chester, and Salt Lake City. Swerving wildly and putting up a dense canopy of triple A, Chester and Salt Lake City took repeated hits and were soon ablaze and sinking. Of the nine escorting destroyers, Blach, Dunlop, and Benham were sunk. Northampton, flagship of Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, escaped with one torpedo hit and one bomb strike.
His job done, with Enterprise sinking, Murata led the remains of his strike force back to the home carriers.”
At the end of the chapter, the author pinpoints where his alternate view diverges from reality. Or you could go see the film.
Greenhill Books website is: http://www.greenhillbooks.com
Rising Sun Victorious will be released in Great Britain in April and in the United States in May, 2001. It is a primary selection of the Military Book Club.
Bartsch’s book is worth reading, if you are interested in very thorough and unbiased account of events in the Philippines on Dec 8, 1941. Try it, you’ll like it.
Of course I’m also a military historian and archivist who specializes in WWII, thus 400-500 page tomes are standard reading for me. ;)