This book delves into the experiences of famous fighters in the old navy, providing readers with an intimate and unique look at naval warfare. Through the eyes of these legendary fighters, readers can experience the excitement and danger of naval battles first hand. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

A tactical and technical history of the development of British, American, and Japanese naval air defense from the 1920s to the 1980s. This is an account of the evolution of naval fighters for fleet air defense and the parallel evolution of the ships operating and controlling them, concentrating on the three main exponents of carrier warfare: the British Royal Navy, the U.S. Navy, and the Imperial Japanese Navy. It describes the earliest efforts from the 1920s, but it was not until radar allowed the direction of fighters that organized air defense became possible. Thus, major naval-air battles of the Second World War like Midway, the Pedestal convoy, the Philippine Sea, and Okinawa are portrayed as tests of the new technology. This was ultimately found wanting by the Kamikaze campaigns, leading to postwar moves towards computer control and new kinds of fighters. After 1945 the threats of nuclear weapons and standoff missiles compounded the difficulties of naval air defense. The second half of the book covers R.N. and U.S.N. attempts to solve these problems, looking at the American experience in Vietnam and British operations in the Falklands War. It concludes with the ultimate U.S. development of techniques and technology to fight the Outer Air Battle in the 1980s, which in turn point to the current state of carrier fighters and the supporting technology. Based largely on documentary sources, some previously unused, this book will appeal to both the naval and aviation communities. “Fighters Over the Fleet provides more information about fleet air defense than any other work currently available. It is recommended for specialist as well aviation-minded readers.” —Naval Historical Foundation

This volume is the 1960 follow-up to the 1959 publication “Famous Bombers of the Second World War: Volume One,” William Green here covers a further extensive number of aircraft focussing on the fighters used by the Axis and Allies during the Second World War. As before the types in approximate order of introduction to operational service and providing a brief developmental and operational history of each type. Includes ME Komet, Hawker Hurricane, Supermarine Spitfire, Mustang, FW190, the Russian YAK series, Hellcat, Mitsubishi Zero, BF109 and the Lockheed Lightning. An Invaluable companion to Volume One, as beautifully and comprehensively illustrated as before.