On the Seas and in the Skies: A History of the U. S. Navy’s Air Power.
first edition
1970 · New York
by Roscoe, Theodore.
New York: Hawthorn Books, Inc., (1970). First Edition. Octavo, blue cloth (hardcover), gilt letters, xiii + 690 pp. Very Good, in a Very Good dust jacket. From dust jacket: For years before World War I, in spite of striking developments in air transportation and navigation going on under their very noses, Secretaries of the Navy and their assistants continued to put their entire faith in seaborne vehicles of offense and defense. America’s entry into World War I found the nation woefully behind Great Britain, France, Italy, and the enemy powers in means and equipment of rwar in the air. “Only then did the airplane appear to the incredulous as more than a vehicle for stunts at county fairs and become an effective weapon. Belatedly, contracts for planes and efficient devices to guide them went out to American manufacturers. After American aces had conclusively demonstrated their own bravery and what it could accomplish, the administrators of the Navy finally and reluctantly conceded that the airplane was here to stay and was as essential as battleships, cruisers, and submarines. Still, Washington’s officaldom clung to tradition, refusing to recognize the power of air-dropped bombs and the swifteness with which airborne attacks could destroy surface craft. (Inventory #: 60921bd)