A fleet carrier of World War II was a floating city. The Essex class, for example, carried an air group of roughly 90 aircraft and a ship's company of more than 3,000 men. The crew was divided into specialized departments — air, engineering, gunnery, medical, supply — and every man had a battle station, a watch rotation, and a bunk to share in hot-bunk rotation. Around the clock, the ship vibrated with the sound of engines, blowers, and machinery. Flight operations imposed their own relentless rhythm: reveille before dawn, pilots briefed and airborne at first light, the flight deck a controlled chaos of spotted aircraft, roaring engines, hand signals, and the crash of the arresting wire.
Living through a Pacific deployment meant months at sea, frequent General Quarters drills, and the ever-present danger of enemy attack. Kamikaze strikes beginning in late 1944 turned the flight deck into a killing ground, and even in quieter periods the deck was one of the most hazardous workplaces in the Navy — propellers, jet blast, arresting cables, and ordnance all claimed lives. Despite the danger, carrier sailors developed a fierce pride in their ship and their air group, and the morale and efficiency of these crews drove the fast-carrier task forces that swept across the Central and Western Pacific from 1943 to 1945.
This rare color film offers a firsthand glimpse of that world. Thanks to Sy Rosenthal for finding it and Ralph Laurino for posting it.