The Amphibians Are Coming!: Emergence of the 'Gator Navy and Its Revolutionary WWII Landing Craft

"A deeply engaging biographical history of the World War II ship-to-shore landing craft and their crews. . . . A welcome and informative addition to personal and academic World War II history and reference collections."
- Midwest Book Review

Volume I in award-winning author William L. McGee's Pacific war series is a biographical history of the revolutionary amphibious landing craft of World War II - LCTs (Landing Craft, Tank), LSTs (Landing Ship, Tank) and LCIs (Landing Craft, Infantry) - each designed and built to land assault troops and equipment directly on a hostile or potentially hostile beach.

The reader will learn:

-A brief history of amphibious warfare from the Revolutionary War to the 1942 Guadalcanal and North Africa campaigns.

-A focus on the "Earlybird" Flotilla Five LCTs, LSTs, LCIs, and their crews, from landing craft design and construction, to amphibious training, to crew and flotilla formations, and to on-the-job warfare training in the Southern Solomons. . .all in preparation for their first invasion of enemy-held territory, Operation TOENAILS.

- A profile of 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.

110 b/w photos, 13 maps, plus charts, appendices, notes, bibliography, and index.

OTHER TITLES IN THE SERIES

Vol. II, THE SOLOMONS CAMPAIGNS, 1942-1943: From Guadalcanal to Bougainville, Pacific War Turning Point.
* Winner of the Military Writers Society of America 2018 Silver Medal for History.

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