Thomas C. Hone

Battle Line examines the twenty-year period that saw the U. S. fleet shrink under the pressure of arms limitation treaties and government economy and then grow again to a world-class force. The authors trace the Navy's evolution from a fleet centered around slow battleships to one that deployed most of the warship types that proved so essential in World War II. Based on years of study of official Navy department records, this book presents a comprehensive view of the foundations of a navy that would become the world's largest and most formidable. At the same time, the heart of the work draws on memoirs, novels, and oral histories to reveal the efforts and the skills of the sailors and officers who contributed to successes in World War II. This combination of popular history and archival history will appeal to a general audience of naval enthusiasts.

This book examines the twenty-year period that saw the US fleet shrink under the pressures of arms-limitation treaties, and then grow again to a world-class force. The authors trace the Navy’s evolution from a fleet centred around slow battleships to one that deployed most of the warship types that proved so essential in World War II. Both the older battleships and the newer ships are captured in stunning period photographs that have never before been published. An authoritative yet lively text explains how and why the newer ships and aircraft came into being. Desperately short of men and funding, the Navy nevertheless pioneered carrier aviation, shipboard electronics, codebreaking and, with the Marines, amphibious warfare– elements that made America’s later victory in the Pacific possible. Based on years of study of official records, this book presents a comprehensive view of the foundation of a navy that would become the world’s largest and most formidable. From their adventures on Yangtze River gunboats to carrier landings on the converted battle cruisers Saratoga and Lexington, the men are profiled along with their ships. This combination of popular history with archival history will appeal to a general audience of naval enthusiasts. Thomas C. Hone, an executive in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, is the author of American and British Aircraft Carrier Development, 1919–1941. He has taught at the Naval War College and the National Defense University among other institutions. Trent Hone has published several articles on the US Navy’s tactical development before World War II. Both father and son are residents of Arlington, Virginia.

During Desert Shield, the Air Force built a very complicated organizational architecture to control large numbers of air sorties. During the air campaign itself, officers at each level of the Central Command Air Forces believed they were managing the chaos of war. Yet, when the activities of the many significant participants are pieced together, it appears that neither the planners nor Lt. Gen. Charles A. Horner, the Joint Force Air Component Commander, knew the details of what was happening in the air campaign or how well the campaign was going. There was little appreciation of the implications of complex organizational architectures for military command and control. Against a smarter and more aggressive foe, the system may well have failed.