The USS Enterprise took part in twenty battles during World War II--no other American ship came close. Enterprise is credited with sinking or wrecking 71 Japanese ships and destroying 911 enemy aircraft. This is the epic, heroic story of this legendary aircraft carrier--nicknamed "the fightingest ship" in the U.S. Navy--and of the men who fought and died on her. She was commissioned in 1938, and her bombers sank a submarine just three days after the Pearl Harbor attack, claiming the first seagoing Japanese vessel lost in the war. Barrett Tillman has been called "the man who owns naval aviation history." He's mined official records and oral histories as well as his own interviews to give us not only a portrait of the ship's unique contribution to winning the Pacific war, but also unforgettable portraits of the men who flew from her deck and worked behind the scenes to make success possible.--From publisher description.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Prologue: Kearny, New Jersey, 1958 "I have done the state some service" (1938-1941) "Keep cool, keep your heads, and fight" (December 1941-May 1942) "Revenge, sweet revenge" (June 1942) "We didn't know a damned thing" (August 1942) "A fighting chance" (October 1942) "The most exciting part of your day" (November 1942-January 1943)

"A long and teedjus journey" (February-December 1943) "If any of them lived it wasn't our fault" (January-June 1944) "Vector two seven zero" (June-July 1944) "Only human" (August-December 1944) "Live with great enthusiasm" (January-May 1945) "The Enterprise has a soul" (1945-1958).