Wasp (CV 18) - Naval Cruise Book

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91,793 A v r I 1 X l H 1 9 Y H 3 Ex 35 5

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Prologue THE YVAR AGAINST THE JAPANESE in the Pacific saw the U. S. aircraft carrier emerge as the foremost naval weapon afloat. Mobile, capable of striking deep at the heart of an enen-ry, defensible against air, surface, and undersea attack, this vast, complex and compact lighting unit, resulting from years of vis- ionary planning and determined efforts on the part of its naval and civilian proponents, became the insuperable bulwark which thwarted the imperialistic aims of the Japanese aggressor. NVith the end of yVorld l'Var ll and the United States' entry into international affairs in the dominant role, the hopes of the oppressed peoples of all the world were directed towards a nearer realization of those Utopian concepts so long suppressed by the defeated dietatorships. Almost before the sound of the last shot had died, however, a new and ominous threat to world peace was arising in the East. Desires, recently born of victory, died in their infancy. Rallying to meet this new challenge, the leaders of our great country sought to rekindle in our distant friends the spark from which the hres of freedom might emanate. Symbolic of our determination, the aging carriers of XVorld XVar ll shed their cocoon-like coverings and once again put out to seag and even while within our own country, Navy men were fighting a diplomatic battle for the retention of the carrier poten- tial, these gallant ladies were sending forth their planes into the skies over the lands bordering the Nlediterranean Sea, recreating in the minds of our friends there hope for a new and better world. ln the few years which have followed, the Sixth Fleet and her aircraft carrier components have cruised continuously in that sea and the ports which were built on her shores. This is the story of one of these carriers on such a cruise, and the men who called her home!

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