The Amphibians Are Coming! Emergence of the 'Gator Navy and its Revolutionary Landing Craft (Amphibious Operations in the South Pacific in WWII)

The first volume in William L. McGee's acclaimed Pacific war trilogy is a detailed history of the revolutionary World War II landing craft and the unsung heroes who manned them. Exhaustive research, hundreds of interviews, and a point-blank writing style capture the very essence of the amphibious assignments in the World War II 'Gator Navy.

From the Back Cover
The primary objective of Volume I is to provide a close-up look at the most prevalent of the revolutionary World War II shore-to-shore landing craft and the unsung heroes that manned them:

• Puts the reader aboard the landing craft specifically designed and built to speed assault troops directly to the beach.
• Provides a brief history of amphibious warfare from the Revolutionary War to the 1942 Guadalcanal and North Africa campaigns.
• Profiles the famed "Green Dragons," the high-speed destroyer transports that filled a pressing Marine Corps need for ship-to-shore delivery prior to the availability of the new landing craft.
• Focuses on the "Earlybird" Flotilla Five LCTs, LSTs and LCIs and their crews -- from landing craft design and construction, to amphibious training and crew and flotilla formations, to on-the-job warfare training in the Southern Solomons -- all in preparation for their first invasion of enemy-held territory, Operation TOENAILS.

308 pp, 110 b&w photos, plus appendices, notes, bibliography and index.

Other books in this series:
Vol. II, THE SOLOMONS CAMPAIGNS, 1942-1943: From Guadalcanal to Bougainville, Pacific War Turning Point

Vol. III, PACIFIC EXPRESS: The Critical Role of Military Logistics in World War II