“LEYTE GULF 1944 (Volume 2) – – Surigao Strait and Cape Engano” complements the firstvolume’s coverage of the IJN’s First Diversion Attack Force at the Battles of the Sibuyan Sea andoff Samoa. This brilliantly illustrated second volume focuses on the forces supporting the mainJapanese thrust. The size and complexity of the battle is unmatched. We deployed two entirefleets, the Third and Seventh with a total of over 220 principal combatants (destroyer size andlarger). Among these were 34 aircraft carriers of all types, 12 battleships, and an array ofcruisers and destroyers. This imposing collection of warships was sent to Leyte to escort aninvasion force of 420 amphibious ships carrying 132,400 men.Enjoy for yourself, reader, what happened in the tense hours and days that followed. Beprepared for the riveting narrative skill of Mark Stille and the wonderful illustrations of JimLaurier. You will be mesmerized to the battle’s final minutes when the last battleship duel inhistory culminates in a colossal U.S. victory.As for “The Polish Navy 1918-1945 – – From the Polish-Soviet War to World War II”, authorPrzemyslaw Budzbon explains how Poland had to rapidly develop new naval forces to fight offthe Soviet Union and later Germany. In 1939, the new Polish naval forces were no matchagainst Hitler’s navy, the Kriegsmarine. Only three destroyers managed to get away to Britain,followed by two submarines, while the rest of the fleet was sunk or captured.In this trim, superbly filled illustrated book we are privy to the design, development, andoperational histories of Poland’s surviving warships. A must-read chapter deals with how thetiny Polish destroyer, “Piorun” took on the fleeing mammoth, “Bismarck”, in a lone gun duel. Inaddition, author Budzbon presents us with an excellent treatment of how Poles contributed tothe Allied effort in the Battle of the Atlantic, the Arctic Convoys, and at the Normandy landings.“German and Italian Aircraft Carriers of World War II”, by Douglas C. Dildy and Ryan K. Noppen,illustrations by Paul Wright explain the role of naval aviation in the two powers’ rearmamentprograms, and how unseen wartime events proved challenging in building and operatingaircraft carriers. Packed with new artwork and archival photos, the authors and illustrator detailthe history of the “Graf Zeppelin”, and the Italian attempts to convert the liners, “Roma” andAugustus”, into swift carriers, but the attempts failed miserably, primarily because of relentless
RAF bombings, all to Allied delight.
