Book Description

The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands in the bitter Guadalcanal Campaign was history's fourth carrier-versus-carrier naval battle. Deemed a Japanese victory because U.S. naval forces withdrew, Santa Cruz, on a strategic level, was an American victory because the U.S. Navy was able to hold the line and buy time, while Japan failed to achieve her goal of defeating the U.S. Pacific fleet in a decisive, all-or-nothing battle. Eric Hammel provides an exciting narrative based upon American and Japanese battle reports and the recollections of several aviators and seamen who took part in Santa Cruz. Written in the edge-of-the-seat style that Hammel's readers have enjoyed in nearly 30 acclaimed military history books, Carrier Strike is filled with the latest information on the battle that cost Japan any hope of winning the war in the Pacific.

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Great Addition to Guadalcanal Campaign History        Rating:

I read Hammel's "Carrier Clash: The Invasion of Guadalcanal & The Battle of the Eastern Solomons, August, 1942". I thought it was strange that the Battle of Savo Island wasn't dealt with in any detail in that book, though that action was fairly significant at the time. Likewise, in this companion/follow-up book "Carrier Strike: The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, October, 1942", Hammel mentions but does not deal in detail with the Battle of Cape Esperance. Even though Hammel details several destroyer/submarine clashes, the sinking of the Wasp, and other events with adequate detail, it is surprising that these major surface actions were not given the detailed narrative more minor actions command in his books.

Having said this, I think Hammel once again has written an outstanding book which will expand knowledge of the crucial Guadalcanal campaign. The detail he puts into the air battle in and around Guadalcanal and ultimately at Santa Cruz is trememdous...how that detail was gathered is a wonder for any reader. I greatly appreciated the detailed accounts of the land-sea-air actions during the months of September/October to get troops/supplies to the respective Guadalcanal garrisons. The description of "Black Tuesday" (Oct. 13, 1942) when battleships Kongo and Harana pulverized the Marine position, and the Marines valiant effort to renew air operations in its aftermath was excellent. And sadly, the shortcomings of Vice Admiral Ghormley were laid bare so as to understand why Nimitz had to replace him with Rear Admiral Halsey.

I agree with another reviewer that it would have been good to know of the travails of the crew of the Shokaku, which received perhaps 6 hits from American SBDs during this action. Clearly it was put out-of-action, but there is no coverage on the successful damage control efforts of the Japanese whereas there was plenty said of the efforts to save the Wasp and Hornet once they were mortally struck. Interestingly enough, Shokaku was hit at Coral Sea (it reportedly almost capsized on its way to Japan for repairs), was hit again at Eastern Solomons, then again at Santa Cruz. Obviously, this crew became quite adept at damage control. The next carrier battle was in the Phillipine Sea, when American forces invaded the Mariana Islands. Shokaku was sunk by an American submarine right at the start of hostilities during that action.

Finally, I would have appreciated a more in-depth analysis on the part of Hammel regarding Halsey and Kinkaid being out-of-position to inflict greater damage on the Japanese than the Japanese were able to inflict on the Americans. No doubt, the Japanese won this round as the Pacific Fleet lost the Hornet with nothing but damage to Japanese flight decks to balance the account. Fletcher/Spruance manuevered for flank attacks on Nagumo's fleet at Midway; why Halsey/Kinkaid went for a foolish frontal assault at Santa Cruz deserves discussion and analysis. And the result of strained relations between Halsey/Kinkaid in the after-action reports are given only a hint in Hammel's narrative.

Carrier Strike        Rating:

Another fine bit of research from Eric Hammel. The author does a first rate job of bringing to life the struggle in the Soloman Island campaign. He includes fascinating bits of some of the fierce fighting on the ground, as the Japanese try to retake the island of Guadalcanal.
Hard to beat this story.

Holds your interest from cover to cover        Rating:

The subtitle of this 1999 work is "The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands." It is that for sure, but there is much more. The front half of the book provides a rather complete telling of the first few months of the Guadalcanal campaign and the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, followed by a thorough history of the Santa Cruz battle, which saw the loss of USS Hornet (CV-8). The book is actually drawn from a larger work by Hamel, "Guadalcanal: the Carrier Battles," published in 1987.

As a chronicler of naval air action, Hamel's style holds the reader's interest from cover to cover. For one thing, he is exceptionally thorough. You get the feeling that virtually every sortie in the three battles, on both sides, is described with about all of the specifics you can imagine. When a Zero slashes at a TBF menacing the Shokaku, we not only know everything about the three men in the TBF, but also the name, rank, squadron, and ship of the Zero pilot. When three Kates bore in on the Hornet, we know who is leading them and where his plane is in the formation. It's hard to imagine how Hamel managed that level of detail in his research, but it's all there.

For me, the main attraction of the book was its coverage of the USS Hornet between Midway and Santa Cruz. To my knowledge, there is only one book that focuses totally on that carrier, "The Ship That Held the Line" by Lisle Rose, and it has been panned rather severely by historians and veterans who know a lot about that carrier. Hamel's book seems to provide a much better history of CV-8, as evidenced by the opinions of some of its vets. A Hornet pilot (retired USN captain) sent the book to me with a strong endorsement, and another one told me that "at least I'm still alive at the end of this one," alluding to one of the many errors in the Rose book.

A good but unbalanced account        Rating:

This book will leave the reader with a clear understanding of the progression of the battle as well as events that led up to it . For that alone this book merits four stars . Eric Hammel gave a thorough synopsis of the the events that led up to the actual battle . The weapons , logistics and even battle doctrine held by both the USN and the IJN at that time is explored . This prelude to the battle accounts for nearly half the book yet it doesn't get bogged down with insignificant details that can thwart the readers' interest .
Hammel presents the battle in such a manner that the outcome is not a foregone conclusion in spite of the fact that the events occured over sixty years ago .
The one flaw to this book is that while dealing with human drama as events unfolded for Americans , little is offered from the Japanese perspective . For example ; nothing is said of efforts to contain damage aboard the Shokaku after the American strike whereas almost every detail of the damaged Hornet and efforts to save the ship by it's crew are covered .
In spite of my critcism , the reader will have a good understanding of the events that led up to the battle , the battle itself as well as a decent epilogue to these events .

should be the definitive account of Santa Cruz        Rating:

Eric Hammel's CARRIER STRIKE The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, should be the definitive work on this, the last of the 4 major carrier battles of WWII. As the second of two volumes about the Guadalcanal/Eastern Solomons campaigns, CARRIER STRIKE carefully details the action in well researched form. In an almost minute-by-minute account, the clash of the two carrier task forces on Oct 26,1942 will leave you breathless. A fitting tribute to the brave warriors who gave their lives for the cause. A superb book, and a must have for those studying the campaigns in the Southern Pacific.

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