Edward J. Marolda - Böcker

"This is a terrific history of the Seventh Fleet’s vital service to the United States in the Vietnam War... remarkably researched and interpreted"- Admiral Jonathan W. Greenert, Chief of Naval Operations, 2011–2015 and Commander Seventh Fleet, 2004–2006"Combines a crisp text by the leading authority on the subject, with well-chosen contemporary photographs, new maps, and excellent art work… an excellent introduction to a complex conflict, and the operational lessons learnt."- Professor Andrew Lambert, Laughton Professor of Naval History, King’s College LondonA superbly illustrated examination of how the US Navy's most powerful fleet fought the Vietnam War, covering all of its elements from aircraft carriers and heavy cruisers to minesweepers and oilers.The US Navy's Seventh Fleet was at the forefront of America's campaign in Vietnam for a decade, from the Gulf of Tonkin Incident that began it all to the final evacuation of South Vietnam. Its mission was highly strategic, and while its primary role was to provide carrier-based air power over North Vietnam – from Rolling Thunder through Linebacker – the fleet's operations were complex, sensitive, and varied, and required all the capabilities of the fleet.This book is the first overall examination of how US Navy's most powerful fleet fought and operated in Vietnam. Distilled from thousands of declassified secret documents by renowned US Navy specialist Dr Edward J. Marolda, it offers a unique new portrait of how the Seventh Fleet fought the Vietnam War, from the offensive strike power of naval aviation to the vital role of fleet logistics. As well as the carrier operations, he examines the surface combatant fleet's gunfire support role, and its raids against the North Vietnamese coast. Dr Marolda also looks at amphibious warfare, fleet air defense, search-and-rescue, and mining and interdiction operations.Illustrated throughout with archive photos, 3D diagrams and spectacular new artwork, and informed by never-before-translated official documents, publications, and personal accounts from North Vietnamese, Soviet, and Chinese sources, this is the real story behind the US Navy's Vietnam War.

This remarkable collection of works by some of the most authoritative naval historians in the United States draws on many formerly classified sources to shed new light on the U.S. Navy's role in the three-year struggle to preserve the independence of the Republic of Korea. Several of the essays concentrate on fleet operations during the first critical year of the war and later years when United Nations forces fought a static war. Others focus on the leadership of Admirals Forrest P. Sherman, C. Turner Joy, James H. Doyle, and Arleigh A. Burke and on carrier-based and ground-based naval air operations as well as the contributions of African American Sailors.As a whole, this book documents how the Navy's domination of the seas around Korea enabled Allied forces to project combat power ashore the length and breadth of the Korean peninsula. It also shows how the powerful presence of U.S. and Allied naval forces discouraged China and the Soviet Union from launching other military adventures in the Far East, thus keeping the first limited war of the Cold War era confined to Korea. But far from being an aberration unlikely to be replicated, the Korean War proved to be only the first in a long line of twentieth-century and early twenty-first century conflicts involving U.S. naval forces confronting Communist and nontraditional adversaries, and a full understanding of the Korean War experience, as provided in this book, helps define the role of sea power in today's world.

By now the world knows well the exploits of World War II admirals Ernest King, Chester Nimitz, and "Bull" Halsey. These brilliant strategists and combat commanders--backed by a powerful Allied coalition, a nation united, gifted civilian leaders, and abundant war-making resources--led U.S. and allied naval forces to victory against the Axis powers.Leadership during the Vietnam War was another story.The Vietnam War and its aftermath sorely tested the professional skill of four-star admirals Harry D. Felt, Ulysses S. Grant Sharp, Thomas H. Moorer, Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr., and James L. Holloway III. Unlike their World War II predecessors, these equally battle-tested leaders had to cope with a flawed American understanding of U.S. and Vietnamese Communist strengths and weaknesses, distrustful and ill-focused Washington leaders, an increasingly discontented American populace, and an ultimately failing war effort.Like millions of other Americans, these five admirals had to come to terms with America's first lost war, and what that loss meant for the future of the nation and the U.S. armed forces. The challenges were both internal and external. A destabilized U.S. Navy was troubled by racial discord, drug abuse, anti-war and anti-establishment sentiment, and a host of personnel and material ills. At the same time, increasingly serious global threats to US interests, such as the rise of Soviet nuclear-missile and naval power, were shaping confrontations on the postwar stage. Critical to the story is how these naval leaders managed their relationships with Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Carter, and Secretaries of Defense McNamara, Laird, and Schlesinger.Based on prodigious research into many formerly classified sources, Edward J. Marolda relates in dramatic detail how America's top naval leaders tackled their responsibilities, their successes, and their failures. This is a story of dedication to duty, professionalism, and service by America's top admirals during a time of great national and international adversity.

By now the world knows well the exploits of World War II admirals Ernest King, Chester Nimitz, and "Bull" Halsey. These brilliant strategists and combat commanders--backed by a powerful Allied coalition, a nation united, gifted civilian leaders, and abundant war-making resources--led U.S. and allied naval forces to victory against the Axis powers.Leadership during the Vietnam War was another story.The Vietnam War and its aftermath sorely tested the professional skill of four-star admirals Harry D. Felt, Ulysses S. Grant Sharp, Thomas H. Moorer, Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr., and James L. Holloway III. Unlike their World War II predecessors, these equally battle-tested leaders had to cope with a flawed American understanding of U.S. and Vietnamese Communist strengths and weaknesses, distrustful and ill-focused Washington leaders, an increasingly discontented American populace, and an ultimately failing war effort.Like millions of other Americans, these five admirals had to come to terms with America's first lost war, and what that loss meant for the future of the nation and the U.S. armed forces. The challenges were both internal and external. A destabilized U.S. Navy was troubled by racial discord, drug abuse, anti-war and anti-establishment sentiment, and a host of personnel and material ills. At the same time, increasingly serious global threats to US interests, such as the rise of Soviet nuclear-missile and naval power, were shaping confrontations on the postwar stage. Critical to the story is how these naval leaders managed their relationships with Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Carter, and Secretaries of Defense McNamara, Laird, and Schlesinger.Based on prodigious research into many formerly classified sources, Edward J. Marolda relates in dramatic detail how America's top naval leaders tackled their responsibilities, their successes, and their failures. This is a story of dedication to duty, professionalism, and service by America's top admirals during a time of great national and international adversity.