Naval History and Heritage Command
The Navy Department Library
Aircraft Carrier Bibliography by Author
"A"
Adcock, Al. Escort Carriers in Action. Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1996.
Atkinson, Scott R. Civilian-Military Differences on Soviet Aircraft Carrier Deployment. Alexandria, VA: Center for Naval Analyses, 1990.
"B"
Baldwin, Sherman. Ironclaw: A Navy Carrier Pilot’s Gulf War Experience. New York: William Morrow and Company.
Beaver, Paul. Carrier Air Operations since 1945. Harrisburg, PA: Arms and Armour Press, 1983.
Belote, James H. and William M. Belote,. Titans of the Sea for 1941-1944: The Development and Operations of Japanese and American Carrier Task Force During World War II. New York: Harper & Row, 1975.
Bennett, Christopher. Supercarrier. Osceola, WI: Motorbooks, 1996. [USS George Washington (CVN-73)]
Bergaust, Erik. Aircraft Carrier in Action. New York: Putnam, 1968.
Blue Ghost: the Ship that Couldn’t be Sunk, USS Lexington 1942-1991. (Commemorative ed.). Pensacola, FL: Pensacola Engraving Co., 1991. [WW II carrier operations]
Bonds, Ray. Modern Carriers. New York: Prentice Hall Press, 1988.
Bradshaw, Thomas I. Carrier Down: The Story of the Sinking of the USS Princeton (CVL-23). Austin, TX: Eakin Press, 1990. [WW II]
Brown, David. Aircraft Carriers. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1944.
Brown, David. Carrier Operations in World War II. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1974.
Bryan, James T. The Unknown Memorial: The Fighting Lady, the National Memorial to Carrier Aviation USS Yorktown CV-10, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. New York: James T. Bryan, 1991.
Bryan, J. and Philip G. Reed. Mission Beyond Darkness. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1945. [WW II- USS Lexington’s Air Group 16’s attack in the concluding phase of the 1st battle of the Philippines on June 19, 1944]
Burns, Eugene. Then There Was One. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1944. [WW II- USS Enterprise (CV-6) during the first year of war]
"C"
CAG-9. Carrier Air Group 9 Second Pacific Cruise, March 1944 - July 1945, USS Lexington and USS Yorktown. Allentown, PA: Miers-Bachman, 1945.
CAG-9. Carrier Air Group 9, USS Essex; The Record of the First Two Years, From the Forming of the Air Group in March 1942 to the Return from Action Against the Enemy. Chicago, IL: Lakeside Press, 1945.
CAG-10. Carrier Air Group 10, September 15, 1944 to November 26, 1945, Aboard USS Intrepid. Los Angeles, CA: Metropolitan Engravers, 1946.
CAG-86. Carrier Air Group 86. New York: North River Press, 1946. [WW II Pacific operations]
Carlin, Michael. Trial, Ordeal of the USS Enterprise, 14 January 1969. West Grove, PA: Tuscarora Press, 1993. [The fire aboard the USN’s first nuclear carrier]
Carrier Warfare. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1992.
Castillo, Edmund L. Flat-tops: The Story of Aircraft Carriers. New York: Random House, 1969.
Chesneau, Roger. Aircraft Carriers of the World, 1914-Present. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1984.
Condon, John Pomeroy. Corsairs and Flattops: Marine Carrier Air Warfare, 1944-1945. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1997.
Couhat, Jean Labayle and Bernard Prezelin. Combat Fleets of the World, 1988-89: Their Ships, Aircraft and Armament. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1988. [Personnel levels, merchant marines, naval aviation, indigenous weapons and electronics]
Cracknell, W. H. Profile War Ship 15: USS Enterprise/(CVAN-65). Berkshire, England: Profile Publications Ltd., 1972.
Cressman, Robert. That Gallant Ship U.S.S. Yorktown (CV-5). Missoula, MT: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, 1985. [WW II operational history of CV-5]
Cressman, Robert and Michael J. Wenger. Steady Nerves and Stout Hearts: The Enterprise (CV-6) Air Group and Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941. Missoula, MT: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, 1990. [WW II]
"D"
Davis, Jacquelyn K. Aircraft Carriers and the Role of Naval Power in the Twenty-first Century. Cambridge, MA: Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis, 1993.
Dresser, James. Escort Carriers and their Air Unit Markings during World War II in the Pacific. Ames, IA: J. Dresser, 1980.
Dunn, Patrick T. The Advent of Carrier Warfare. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI, 1991. [WW II operations]
"E"
Ewing, Steve. USS Enterprise (CV-6) The Most Decorated Ship of WW II.
"F"
Fahey, James C. Ships and Aircraft of the US Fleet. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.
Faltum, Andrew. The Essex Class Carriers. Baltimore, MD: Nautical and Aviation Publishing Co. of America, 1996. [Carrier aviation in WW II, Korea, and Vietnam and the carrier’s roles]
Francillon, Rene J. Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club US Carrier Operations Off Vietnam. London: Conway Maritime Press Ltd., 1988. [The operations and deployments of Task Force 77]
Friederich, Rudolf J. Aircraft Carriers (United States Navy): an Operational History of the 60 United States Fleet Aircraft Carriers, 1922 to 1991. Knoxville, TN: Rudolf J. Friederich, 1991.
Friedman, Norman. Carrier Air Power. Greenwich, CT: Conway Maritime, 1981. [Political and technical factors which have affected the development of carriers and their aircraft]
Friedman, Norman. US Aircraft Carriers: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1983.
From the Sea: Preparing the Naval Service for the 21st Century. Washington: Dept. of the Navy, US Marine Corps, 1992.
Fry, John. USS Saratoga CV-3: An Illustrated History of the Legendary Aircraft Carrier, 1927-1946. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Pub., 1996. [WW II]
"G"
Garrison, Peter and George Hall. CV: Carrier Aviation, Airpower No. 1001. Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1987. [Accounts of landing and launching sequences]
Gillcrist, Paul T. Feet Wet: Reflections of a Carrier Pilot. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1997. [The transition of old carriers to new]
Grant, Zalin. Over the Beach: The Air War in Vietnam. New York: W. W. Norton Co., 1986. [Aircraft operations aboard the USS Oriskany (CV/CVA-34)]
Grove, Eric. Sea Battles in Close Up: WW II, Volume 2. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1993. [Highlights the Marianas Turkey Shoot and Leyte Gulf]
"H"
Hammel, Eric. Guadalcanal: The Carrier Battles. New York: Orion Books, Crown Publishers Inc., 1987. [WW II]
Hammel, Eric. Guadalcanal: Decision at Sea. New York: Crown Publishers, 1988. [WW II- actions of the Enterprise, Saratoga, Wasp, and Hornet]
Hanson, Norman. Carrier Pilot. Bar Hill, Cambridge, England: Patrick Stephens Ltd., 1979. [Fleet Air Arm pilot’s WW II experiences flying Corsairs from British carriers]
Harper, John A. Paddles! The Foibles and Finesse of One World War II Landing Signal Officer. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1996.
Hezlet, Sir Arthur Richard R. Aircraft and Sea Power. New York: Stein and Day, 1970.
Hines, Eugene G. The "Fighting Hannah": A War History of USS Hancock (CV-19). Nashville, TN: Battery Press, 1989. [WW II]
Holmes, Tony. Carriers: United States Naval Air Power in Action. New York: Military Press: Distributed by Crown, 1990.
Holmes, Tony. Seventh Fleet Super Carriers: US Naval Air Power in the Pacific. London: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 1987. [USS Enterprise, Carl Vinson, and Ranger]
Holmes, Tony and Jean-Pierre Montbazet. World Super Carriers, Naval Air Power Today. London: Osprey Publishing Co., 1988.
Hoyt, Edwin P. The Carrier War. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1945.
Hoyt, Edwin P. Carrier Wars: Naval Aviation from World War II to the Persian Gulf. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1989.
Hoyt, Edwin P. The Men of the Gambier Bay. Middlebury, VT: P. S. Eriksson, 1979. [WW II- only US flattop lost to enemy surface gunfire]
Humble, Richard. United States Fleet Carriers of World War II in Action. New York: Blandford Press, 1984.
"J"
Jensen, Oliver. Carrier War. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1945. [WW II- Task Force 58]
Johnston, Stanley P. Queen of the Flattops: The USS Lexington and Coral Sea Battle. New York: E. P. Dutton & Company, 1942. [WW II- Carrier CV-2; CV/CVA/CVS/CVT/AVT-16]
Jordon, John. Illustrated Guide to Modern Naval Aviation and Aircraft Carriers. New York: Arco, 1983.
Jordan, John. Modern Naval Aviation and Aircraft Carriers. London: Salamander Books Ltd., 1983.
"K"
Kasulka, Duane. USN Aircraft Carrier Air Units, Vol. I 1946-1956. Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1985.
Kasulka, Duane. USN Aircraft Carrier Air Units, Vol. II 1957-1963. Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1985.
Kasulka, Duane. USN Aircraft Carrier Air Units, Vol. III 1964-1973. Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1988.
Kaufman, Yogi. City at Sea. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1995. [Aircraft carriers]
Kenney, Douglas and William Butler. No Easy Days: The Incredible Drama of Naval Aviation. Louisville, KY: Butler, Kenney, Farmer, 1995. [Mishaps on carriers from WW II to present]
Kernan, Alvin. Crossing the Line: A Bluejacket’s World War II Odyssey. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1994. [WW II- enlisted life aboard a carrier]
Kilduff, Peter. US Carriers at War. Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1981. [WW II- invasion of North Africa and the kills of Vichy French Hawks]
Kinzey, Bert. USS America in Detail & Scale. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Tab Books, 1989. [Carrier- CVA/CV-66]
Kinzey, Bert. The USS Enterprise CVA(N)-65 to CV(N)-65. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Tab Books, 1991.
Kinzey, Bert. USS Forrestal in Detail and Scale. Waukesha, WI: Kalmbach Books, 1993. [Carrier- CVA/CV-67 and Air Wing 3]
Kinzey, Bert. USS Lexington. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Tab Books, 1988. [WW II- Carrier- CV-2; CV/CVA/CVS/CVT/AVT-16]
"L"
Lawson, Robert L. Carrier Air War in Original WWII Color. Osceola, WI: Motorbooks International, 1996.
Layman, R. D. Before the Aircraft Carrier: The Development of Aviation Vessels (1849-1922). Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1989. [Attempts to operate flying machines at sea before the development of the modern flight-deck carrier.]
Layman, R. D. To Ascent from a Floating Base: Shipboard Aeronautics and Aviation, 1783-1914. Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson Univ. Press, 1979.
Lehman, John F. Aircraft Carriers. CA: Sage Publications, 1978.
Lehman, John F. Command of the Seas: Building the 600 Ship Navy. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons MacMillan Publishing Co., 1988.
Lindley, John M. Carrier Victory: The Air War in the Pacific. New York: Elsevier-Dutton, 1978. [WW II]
"M"
MacDonald, Scot. Evolution of Aircraft Carriers. Washington: GPO, 1964.
MacGlashing, John W. Batmen: Night Air Group 90 in World War II. Phalanx Publishing Company Ltd., 1995. [Night operations aboard the Enterprise (CV-6) in 1944 and 45]
MacIntyre, Donald G. F. W. Aircraft Carrier. New York: Ballantine Books, 1968.
Markey, Morris. Well Done! New York: D. Appleton-Century Co., 1945. [WW II- Carrier- USS Essex (CV/CVA/CVS-9)]
McCracken, Kenneth. Baby Flat-Top. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1944. [WW II- Carrier- USS Princeton (CVL-23; CV/CVA/CVS/LPH-37)]
Mears, Frederick. Carrier Combat. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran and Company, 1944. [WW II]
Melhorn, Charles M. Two-Black Fox, The Rise of the Aircraft Carrier, 1911-1929. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1974. [Development of the aircraft carrier as the advanced weapons system needed to achieve strategic balance in the Pacific]
Messimer, Dwight R. Pawns of War: The Loss of the USS Langley and the USS Pecos. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1983. [WW II- Carrier- Langley (CV-1)]
Miller, Max. Daybreak for our Carrier. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1944. [WW II]
Mizrahi, J. V. Carrier Fighters. CA: Sentry Books, 1969.
Morrison, Wilbur H. Above and Beyond, 1941-1945. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1983. [WW II- carrier airpower as told by participants in the Pacific War]
"N"
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. 9 vols. Washington: Naval Historical Center, 1954-1991. [Also see vol. 2, appendix 1, "Aircraft Carriers 1908-1962."]
Norman, C. J. Aircraft Carriers. New York: F. Watts, 1986.
"O"
O’Leary, Michael and Eric Schulzinger. Airwing Enterprise. Osceola, WI: Motorbooks International.
"P"
Pattie, D. A. To Cock a Cannon. Zephyrhills, FL: Pattie Properties, 1983. [WW II pilot’s experiences on small deck carriers in the Atlantic and Pacific]
Pawlowski, Garth L. Flat-Tops and Fledglings: A History of American Aircraft Carriers. London: Thomas Yoseloff Ltd.
Polmar, Norman. Aggressors, Vol. 2, Carrier Power vs. Fighting Ship. Charlottesville, VA: Howell Press, 1990.
Polmar, Norman. Aircraft Carriers: A Graphic History of Carrier Aviation and Its Influence on World Events. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1969.
Polmar, Norman. The Naval Institute Guide to the Ships and Aircraft of the US Fleet. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1996.
Polmar, Norman. The Ships and Aircraft of the US Fleet. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1987.
Poolman, Kenneth. Allied Escort Carriers of WW II in Action. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1988.
Poolman, Kenneth. Escort Carriers of World War Two. New York: Sterling Pub., 1989.
Power, Hugh Irvin. Carrier Lexington. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 1996. [WW II- CV-2; CV/CVA/CVS/CVT/AVT-16]
Preston, Anthony. Aircraft Carriers. London: Hamlyn, 1979.
"R"
Raven, Alan. Essex-class Carriers. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1988. [Beginnings, development, and operational history of the carriers]
Reese, Lee Fleming ed. Men of the Blue Ghost, (USS Lexington CV-16) 1943-1946. Lexington Book Company, 1980.
Reynolds, Clark G. The Carrier War: The Epic of Flight. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1982. [WW II]
Reynolds, Clark G. The Fast Carriers: The Forging of an Air Navy. Huntington, NY: Robert E. Krieger, 1978. [WW II]
Reynolds, Clark G. The Fighting Lady, The New Yorktown in the Pacific War. MT: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, 1986. [WW II- Carrier- CV/CVA/CVS-10]
Roberts, John. The Aircraft Carrier Intrepid. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1982. [WW II- CV/CVA/CVS-11]
Romano, Angelo. Wings from the Coral Sea: A Pictorial Survey of the Carrier Air Wing Thirteen and its Aircraft. Italy: Golden Wings Publications, 1986. [WW II]
Rose, Lisle Abbott. The Ship that Held the Line: The USS Hornet and the First Year of the Pacific War. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1996. [WW II- Carrier- CV-8]
Rowe, John S. and Samuel L. Morison (comps). The Ships and Aircraft of the US Fleet. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1972.
"S"
Self, Chuck. The USS Hornet CV-12, CVA-12, CVS-12. Shreveport, LA: Chuck Self, 1995. [WW II Carrier]
Skiera, Joseph A. (ed.). Aircraft Carriers in Peace and War. New York: F. Watts, 1965.
St. John, Philip A. USS Yorktown: CV-10, CVA-10, CVS-10: The Fighting Lady. Paducah, KY: Turner Pub., 1993. [WW II]
Stafford, Edward P. The Big E: The Story of the USS Enterprise. New York: Random House, 1962; Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1988. [WW II- Carrier- CV/CVA/CVS-6; CVAN/CVN-65]
Steichen, Edward. The Blue Ghost: A Photographic Log and Personal Narrative of the Aircraft Carrier USS Lexington in Combat Operation. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1947. [WW II- CV-2; CV/CVA/CVS/CVT/AVT-16]
Stern, Robert C. The Lexington-Class Carriers. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1993. [WW II- CV-2 (USS Lexington) and CV-3 (USS Saratoga)]
Sumrall, Robert F. (ed.). USS Hornet (CV-8): Lost in Action in the Battle of Santa Cruz, 27 October 1942. Missoula, MT: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1985. [WW II]
Sweetman, Bill. US Naval Air Power: Supercarrier in Action. Osceola, WI: Motorbooks International, 1987. [USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70)]
"T"
Tanner, Jane. The USS Saratoga: Remembering One of America’s Great Aircraft Carriers, 1956-1994. Atlanta, GA: Longstreet Press; Jacksonville, FL: Published in cooperation with the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, 1994. [CV/CVA-60]
Terzibaschitsch, Stefan. Aircraft Carriers of the US Navy. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1989.
Terzibaschitsch, Stefan. Escort Carriers and Aviation Support Ships of the US Navy. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1989. [Service history information on aircraft squadrons]
Thomas, Geoff. US Navy Carrier Colors: Units, Colors and Markings of US Navy Carrier-borne Aircraft during the Second World War. Surrey, UK: Air Research Publications, 1989.
"U"
US General Accounting Office. Navy Carrier Battle Groups: The Structure and Affordability of the Future Force: Report to the Congress. Washington: The Office, 1993.
US Navy. Escort Carrier Force. The Escort Carriers in Action: The Story, in Pictures, of the Escort Carrier Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, 1945. Atlanta, GA: Ruralist Press, 1946. [WW II]
US Navy. Naval History Division. Historic Ship Exhibits in the United States. Washington: GPO, 1969. [Carriers]
Utz, Curtis Alan. Carrier Aviation Policy and Procurement in the US Navy, 1936-1940. Mater’s thesis, University of Maryland at College Park, MD, 1989.
"W"
Wilson, George C. Supercarrier: an Inside Account of Life Aboard the World’s Most Powerful Ship, the USS John F. Kennedy. New York: MacMillan, 1986. [CV/CVA-67- Mediterranean deployment 1983-84]
Winston, Robert A. Aircraft Carrier. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1942. [WW II]
Winton, John. Air Power at Sea, 1945 to Present. New York: Carroll and Graf , 1987.
Wooldridge, E. T. (ed.). Carrier Warfare in the Pacific, An Oral History Collection. Washington: Smithsonian Institute Press, 1993.
"Y"
Y’Blood, William T. Hunter-Killer: US Escort Carriers in the Battle of the Atlantic. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1983. [WW II- CVE aircraft hindering U-boat operations]
Y’Blood, William T. The Little Giants. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1987. [WW II- US escort carrier actions against Japan]
