"This is a terrific history of the Seventh Fleet's vital service to the United States in the Vietnam War. remarkably researched and interpreted" - Admiral Jonathan W. Greenert Chief of Naval Operations 20112015 and Commander Seventh Fleet 20042006 "Combines a crisp text by the leading authority on the subject with well-chosen contemporary photographs new maps and excellent art work an excellent introduction to a complex conflict and the operational lessons learnt. " - Professor Andrew Lambert Laughton Professor of Naval History King's College London A superbly illustrated examination of how the US Navy''s most powerful fleet fought the Vietnam War covering all of its elements from aircraft carriers and heavy cruisers to minesweepers and oilers. The US Navy''s Seventh Fleet was at the forefront of America''s campaign in Vietnam for a decade from the Gulf of Tonkin Incident that began it all to the final evacuation of South Vietnam. Its mission was highly strategic and while its primary role was to provide carrier-based air power over North Vietnam from Rolling Thunder through Linebacker the fleet''s operations were complex sensitive and varied and required all the capabilities of the fleet. This book is the first overall examination of how US Navy''s most powerful fleet fought and operated in Vietnam. Distilled from thousands of declassified secret documents by renowned US Navy specialist Dr Edward J. Marolda it offers a unique new portrait of how the Seventh Fleet fought the Vietnam War from the offensive strike power of naval aviation to the vital role of fleet logistics. As well as the carrier operations he examines the surface combatant fleet''s gunfire support role and its raids against the North Vietnamese coast. Dr Marolda also looks at amphibious warfare fleet air defense search-and-rescue and mining and interdiction operations. Illustrated throughout with archive photos 3D diagrams and spectacular new artwork and informed by never-before-translated official documents publications and personal accounts from North Vietnamese Soviet and Chinese sources this is the real story behind the US Navy''s Vietnam War. . Language: English