Herder, Brian Lane/Hwee, Dorothee (Illustr.) The Naval Siege of Japan 1945: War Plan Orange triumphant

The final months of Allied naval bombardments on the Home Islands during World War II have, for whatever reason, frequently been overlooked by historians. Yet the Allies' final naval campaign against Japan involved the largest and arguably most successful wartime naval fleet ever assembled, and was the climax to the greatest naval war in history. Though suffering grievous losses during its early attacks, by July 1945 the United States Third Fleet wielded 1,400 aircraft just off the coast of Japan, while Task Force 37, the British Pacific Fleet's carrier and battleship striking force, was the most powerful single formation ever assembled by the Royal Navy. In the final months of the war the Third Fleet's 20 American and British aircraft carriers would hurl over 10,000 aerial sorties against the Home Islands, whilst another ten Allied battleships would inflict numerous morale-destroying shellings on Japanese coastal cities.
In this illustrated study, historian Brian Lane Herder draws on primary sources and expert analysis to chronicle the full story of the Allies' Navy Siege of Japan from February 1945 to the very last days of World War II.

Although the U.S. Navy's 3rd Fleet had suffered heavy losses during its early attacks against the Japanese home territory, it had over 1400 aircraft off the coast of Japan, while "Task Force 37", the carrier and battleship fleet of the British Pacific Fleet, was the most powerful single formation ever assembled by the Royal Navy. In the final months of the war, the 20 American and British aircraft carriers of the American 3rd Fleet and British Task Force 37 undertook more than 10,000 air sorties against the Japanese home islands, while an additional ten Allied battleships carried out devastating bombardments of various Japanese coastal cities, which proved to be extremely devastating to Japanese morale. In this illustrated study, historian Brian Lane Herder draws on primary sources and expert analyses to document the entire history of Allied naval operations against Japan from February 1945 to the final days of World War II.