5000 Miles Towards Tokyo

How the United States won the Naval Struggle in the Pacific…

HERE AT LAST IS THE ACCOUNT OF the brilliant but hitherto undescribed strategy which carried American amphibious forces from the American West coast to the gates of Tokyo. Written by Green Peyton, novelist, journalist, and most recently a naval officer in the Pacific, it tells why Japan was already on her knees when the first atomic bomb landed and Russia marched on Manchuria.

Within one year, the United States changed from a nation fighting a delaying or defensive war in the Pacific to an aggressive, offensive force. The story of this amphibious war in the Pacific is told through Air Group 60 on the converted tanker Suwannee, whose members took part in every important invasion from Tarawa in November 1943, which was the Navy’s first major offensive against Japan, to Leyte in October 1944, which was the climax of the naval war in the East. Other actions included the invasion of Kwajalein, Eniwetok, Hollandia, Saipan, Guam, and Morotai. These actions carried the United States Navy from Hawaii to Asia. The Suwannee and other carriers and the air groups aboard these specialized in amphibious operations, covering the Marine and Army landings on the beaches, protecting the beach heads until new fields for fighter aircraft were in operation on shore.

Thus the book is, in effect, a history of the amphibious campaigns in the Pacific and a fascinating analysis of the strategy employed by Admiral Nimitz and General MacArthur, as well as an intimate narrative of the life and exploits of the intrepid airmen of Air Group 60. It provides brief word-sketches of the men who make up the Navy, from admirals down to the brave, hard-working, rarely publicized mechanics, gunners, and air crewmen. For the layman this book is the payoff on invasion tactics. The narrative shows exactly how a complex invasion armada carried out its landings on hostile beaches.