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Naval Aviation Special IssueJanuary 1942
American
Naval Aviation
On the Eve
Of WWII
Flying and Popular Aviation was the leading magazine read by flying enthusiasts in the 1930s and 1940s. Issued by Ziff-Davis Publishing Company in Chicago, the magazine tracked the latest advances in aviation technology, and was a source of information on how aircraft were being used in the European and Asian wars.
Although half the American population opposed the wars — and an even larger percentage opposed American involvement in them — people were eager to read about them. Americans were amazed at Japanese domination of the skys over southeast Asia. And the German "blitzkreig" (lightning war) allowed it's army to gobble up whole European countries in a matter of days. The war machines of both countries appeared to be unstopable.
With wide oceans separating the United States from both conflicts, Americans tended to be isolationists. "Let 'em fight," we'd say. "It's nothing to us who wins."
But the public was also wondering how the United States could defend itself if the Germans and Japanese won their wars and began looking for more conquests. Most observers realized the Navy was necessary to keep war from our shores, and that Naval Aviation would be in the defensive forefront.
To calm public fears, Ziff-Davis and the U.S. Bureau of Aeronautics worked for several months in 1941 to produce a detailed assessment of American naval aviation might. The publishers printed the issue in December 1941, with a cover date of January 1942. (Magazines generally appeared earlier than the cover date to give the magazine longer newsstand life.) Just as the issue "hit the 'stands", the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941.
This Flying special issue is significant because it allows us to compare American naval planning and preparedness prior to Pearl Harbor, with the way the Navy actually responded in the months after the attack.
One point particularly stands out: pre-war naval thinking relied on battleships and a surface fleet. Naval Air's role was to protect the fleet and to scout for enemies. When the American Pacific surface fleet was destroyed in one morning by the Japanese air attack on Pearl Harbor, U.S. thinking changed radically.
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With all major warships gone and only five aircraft carriers left, naval strategists knew they couldn't defend the country's Pacific coast. Their only alternative was to use the carriers to hunt down and destroy the Japanese fleet. In March 1942 — just three months after Pearl Harbor — planes from a carrier attacked Tokyo. In May, American carriers tracked the Japanese fleet to the Coral Sea and fought what became known as "the Mariannas Turkey Shoot," which seriously crippled Japanese air forces. Then — just one month later — American carrier forces destroyed what was left of Japan's aircraft carriers and planes at the Battle of Midway.
Until the Japanese surrender in August 1945, American naval aviation controlled skies over the Pacific. Japan's only air responses were suicide attacks (kamakazies), as American naval and marine forces "island hopped" from Guadalcanal to Okinawa.
Aircraft carriers became the backbone of the American Navy.
Tailhook Ebooks is pleased to present a reprint of the complete 260-page January 1942 issue of Flying and Popular Aviation magazine. Contents include articles by the Secretary of the Navy, the Chief of Naval Operations, and members of the Bureau of Aeronautics. All departments of the Bureau are recognized — from aircraft and carriers to training, photography and radio. Photos of early and contemporary carriers and planes are included, as well as advertisements by major suppliers. All pages are in Adobe Acrobat format, which requires a free *.pdf reader to view. If you want hard copies, the entire issue may be printed from your computer.
Buy Flying and Popular Aviation January 1942
260 Pages — $50
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