Nuclear Weapons and Aircraft Carriers: How the Bomb Saved Naval Aviation

Sea Power, Jun 2001 by Peterson, Gordon I

SHIP'S LIBRARY

NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND AIRCRAFT CARRIERS: How the Bomb Saved Naval Aviation, by Jerry Miller. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2001. 296 pp. $32.95.

At a time when the efficacy, utility, and survivability of the U.S. Navy's big-- deck aircraft carrier and its multi-- mission air wing are being challenged anew by armchair strategists and "Inside-- the-Beltway" analysts, retired Vice Adm. Gerald E. "Jerry" Miller has contributed an important perspective on how the Navy's post-WWII efforts to develop an aircraft and aircraft carrier capable of delivering a nuclear bomb paved the way for the design of the most effective and versatile platform for seaborne aviation in the world today-the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

Miller documents each step along the way in an informative, easy-to-read style eminently suitable for what might otherwise be an arcane treatise on engineering and aeronautical design. He turns back the pages of history more than 50 years to the day that then-Cdr. Frederick Lincoln "Dick" Ashworth reported to Los Alamos, N.M., in 1944 to serve on the "Manhattan Project" to develop the first nuclear bomb. The need to document the story of the Navy's struggle to validate its postwar nuclear mission began with Miller's dialogue with Ashworth-himself a veteran combat aviator in the Pacific War.

The personalities, aircraft, ships, tactics, and targeting policies associated with the Navy's Cold War mission are all well-represented, including the famous "Revolt of the Admirals" that saw respected naval leaders like Adm. Arthur W. Radford, then-Capt. Arleigh A. Burke, and others risk their careers to argue for a new role for the Navy in transporting, targeting, and delivering nuclear weapons.

Miller writes with a familiarity and authority forged by many years of command at sea during a distinguished 38-- year career that included surface combat in a cruiser during World War II, command of a fighter squadron during the Korean War, and command of a carrier division during the Vietnam War. His experiences as the commander of both the U.S. Second and Sixth Fleets during the 1970s-and, later, as deputy director of the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff-provide the reader with fresh insights into the almost always highly classified story of how U.S. nuclear weapons were targeted during the height of the Cold War.

In 1991, President George Bush announced that all nuclear weapons would be removed from Navy ships and submarines. Naval aviation's more than four-decade association with nuclear weapons came to an end. But, as Miller writes, "The prenuclear carriers had a questionable future. The postnuclear carriers appear to have no limit."

Personal Note: As an aviator who had the privilege to serve as officer in charge of Miller's helicopter detachment during his tour as commander of the US. Sixth Fleet, this reviewer found it exhilarating to relive some vintage examples of Jerry Miller's dynamic leadership, energy, and vision on the pages of his first book on naval aviation. A second is said to be in the works. The legions of Jerry Miller fans around the world can only hope that more will follow.

Reviewed by

Gordon I. Peterson

Senior Editor