On the morning of October 24, 1944, in the Sibuyan Sea amidst the Philippine Islands, VT-18, a close-knit squadron of six young American torpedo bomber pilots, departed the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid on a search and destroy mission. Their target: the super-battleship Musashi, the pride of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The pilots were tasked with preventing the immense enemy warship and the huge naval armada of which she was a part from inflicting unspeakable damage on the transports and supply ships that were supporting the American amphibious landings within nearby Leyte Gulf. Little did these young men know that they had embarked on the opening rounds of history’s greatest - and last - epic naval battle.
Two bomber crews launched in the first wave of attackers were shot out of the sky. Only pilot Will Fletcher survived the crash landing. Adrift at sea, Will made his way to land and escaped into the jungles of the Philippines, where he eluded capture by the Japanese with the help of Filipino guerrillas and joined their ranks against their common enemy.
Intrepid Aviators is the thrilling true story of the brave bomber pilots, their daring duel with the Musashi, and Will Fletcher’s struggle to survive as a guerrilla soldier. The sinking of Musashi inflicted a crucial blow in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and would mark the first time in history that aviators had sunk a Japanese battleship on the high seas.
©2012 Gregory G. Fletcher (P)2012 Gildan Media LLC
“Gregory Fletcher's enthralling Intrepid Aviators beautifully recreates the epic clash between the USS Intrepid's Torpedo Squadron 18 and the Japanese battleship Musashi, one of the most important engagements of World War II. A thrilling, deeply moving literary memorial to the American flyboys whose immense sacrifice and courage really did change the world.” (Alex Kershaw, New York Times best-selling author of The Longest Winter)
"TRUE PICTURE"
GREAT PORTRAYAL OF NAVY PILOTS IN WAR. EASY WRITING STYLE.
AS A NAVY PILOT FLYING OFF HORNET IN VIET NAM, I WAS AMAZED BY SIMILARITY OF EXPERIENCES. PLOTTING BOARDS & "FLAMING HOOKERS" LIVED FOR 20 YEARS.
"Loved this book!"
Info I never knew about the sinking of the Musashi
The pilot who survived & swam miles to be eventually rescued
I always prefer audio books, although I forget more.
The actual attack, the unbelievable effort involved to sink the Musashi.
I always wondered how this fight went down.....
Hair raising...this was no cake walk!
19 torpedo's & many brave airmen to sink this magnificent ship!
Does anyone know of an account of the sinking of the sister ship Yamato?
Janic234
"Great read, very well narrated."
The book was written and documented with a good deal of accuracy. Don Hagen did a great job of narration. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in WW II aviation.
N/A
This is the first of Mr. Hagen's books that I have heard, I will definitely look for more of his accomplishments in the future.
It was indeed hard to put down, it made looking forward to the next chapter something to look forward to.
"Detailed account of a lesser known part of the war"
very very detailed account of a part of the war that we don't hear a lot about. I enjoyed listening even though the account was almost documentary monotone. I stuck with it through the end and was glad that I did.
"A good story that got buried in detail"
While I don't generally like abridged books, this book could have been successfully shortened, keeping the great story line, but skipping the very detailed explanations of aircraft and ship performance specifications and dimensions as well as minute detail about ships courses and the like. In summary, the details sometimes got in the way of a good story.
This is generally easier to filter out in a print book, but doesn't transfer easily to an audiobook,