The Buzzard Brigade: Torpedo Squadron Ten at war : carrier warfare in the Pacific from Guadalcanal to Okinawa with one of the Navy's most famous Avenger squadrons

The recent publication of the marvelous A DAWN LIKE THUNDER, the history of Torpedo Eight, points out how few histories have been published on Navy torpedo squadrons. In 1996 Stephen Moore and Pictorial Histories Publishing put out THE BUZZARD BRIGADE, a chronicle of an even more illustrious unit, the legendary VT-10. Torpedo Squadron 10 saw combat from the 1942 Battle of Santa Cruz to Okinawa, compiling a combat record second to none, a record ably covered in Moore's magnificent history. VT-10 logged three cruises during WWII, two of them on USS Enterprise. Beginning in 1942, Torpedo 10, flying TBF Avengers under John Collett and later 'Scoofer' Coffin, saw action at Santa Cruz and various strikes around Guadalcanal, helping sink the BB Hiei among other achievements. In 1944, under the legendary Bill Martin, VT-10 returned to combat, the first fully-trained night-flying squadron, logging many successful strikes and helping damage the carrier Ryuho in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. John Lawrence brought the 'Buzzard Brigade' back in 1945 on board USS Intrepid, helping sink BB Yamato in April 1945. Damaged by kamikazes, Intrepid returned stateside, returning combat just briefly at war's end. In all, VT-10 claimed to have sunk or damaged 300,000 tons of Japanese shipping in its three combat cruises. In return, Torpedo 10 lost 30 aircraft with 27 crewmen KIA or POW. Superlatives come easy in describing Moore's book. Exceptionally well-researched, THE BUZZARD BRIGADE gives the reader a detailed, up-close-and-personal look at the life and times of this illustrious unit. Work-ups, combat strikes and squadron life are well covered, Moore incorporating dozens of first-person reminiscences by VT-10 personnel in his smooth-flowing narrative. Over one hundred and forty photos are included showing aircrew, aircraft, ships, strike missions and so on. All in all, THE BUZZARD BRIGADE - all 316 pages - is one impressive package...and a worthy tribute to an oustanding Navy squadron. I would give it six stars if possible. Highly recommended.