Fabled Fifteen · The Pacific War Saga of Carrier Air Group 15

The record of Carrier Air Group 15 in World War II is astonishing by any measure: it scored 312 enemy aircraft destroyed, 33 probably destroyed, and 65 damaged in aerial combat, plus 348 destroyed, 161 probably destroyed, and 129 damaged in ground attacks. Twenty-six Fighting 15 pilots became aces, including their leader, Commander David McCampbell, who became the U.S. Navy s Ace of Aces. Twenty-one squadron pilots were killed in action and one in an operational accident aboard the carrier Essex. The fighter squadron s partners, Bombing Squadron 15 and Torpedo Squadron 15, scored 174,300 tons of enemy shipping, including 37 cargo vessels sunk, 10 probably sunk, and 39 damaged. As well, Musashi, the world s largest battleship, was sunk, along with a light aircraft carrier, a destroyer, destroyer escort, two minesweepers and other craft plus the Zuikaku, the last surviving carrier that participated in the Pearl Harbor attack. Incredibly, every pilot of Torpedo 15 was awarded the Navy Cross, the highest award for bravery after the Medal of Honor. All of this took place between May and November, 1944. No other American combat unit in any service came close to a similar score in such a short time period. Air Group 15 participated in the two greatest naval battles in history, the Philippine Sea also known as the Marianas Turkey Shoot and Leyte Gulf, which saw the end of Japanese naval power. On June 19, 1944, Fighting 15 shot down 68.5 attacking Japanese aircraft, a one-day record unmatched by any other U.S. fighter squadron. In documenting the saga of Air Group 15 s momentous six months at war, the author provides an intimate and insightful view of the group s fabled combat tour, including details of daily life and human interactions aboard the fleet carrier USS Essex during the busiest phase of the Pacific War.

REVIEWS -

Few authors cover aviation and war with the authenticity that Thomas McKelvey Cleaver brings to "Fabled Fifteen." The carrier based naval aviators who fought in the Pacific in World War II had a difficult, demanding, exciting job and Cleaver captures their experience, from a well known Medal of Honor ace to an obscure, lowly ensign. This is a fast paced, character driven narrative that will grab you and hold you.-- Robert F. Dorr, author Mission To Tokyo.

Cleaver's book is a splendid effort that is eminently readable, detailed, and action packed. Buttressed by years of research, the book is not just a dry recounting of dates and missions; rather, it examines the men and their lives through interviews with surviving members, diaries and contemporary letters. Cleaver uses it all to transform words on a page into real and empathetic men.-- LCOL Jay A. Stout USMC (Ret), author, Fighter Group.

Cleaver provides a very clear sequence of both naval strategy and tactics of both sides of the two greatest naval battles in history, the Marianas Turkey Shoot and the Battles of Leyte Gulf.-- CDR Jack D. Woodul, USN (Ret).

Cleaver does a magnificent job in telling the human side of the story of Carrier Air Group 15, perhaps the most successful of its type. The author gives the human story of the heroism of the fighter, dive bomber and torpedo plane pilots who inflicted tremendous losses on the Japanese. But he also places Air Group 15 s exploits in the context of the larger events of the war.-- COL Walter J. Boyne, USAF (Ret), retired curator, National Air And Space Museum, author The Wild Blue.

Thomas McKelvey Cleaver's FABLED FIFTEEN, The Pacific War Saga of Carrier Air Group 15 is a great bit of history mixing factual research and the personal touch through letters and interviews. The sagas of USS Enterprise, Air Wing 15 and its CAG, David McCampbell, have each been told before, but, until now, not together in a comprehensible and readable whole. This book is on the top of my reference stack. CDR Robert R. Boom Powell, USN (Ret).

Previous accounts of Air Group 15's activities have mostly been a summary of flight records with little other detail, so we have learned little of the men who actually flew and maintained the planes during that time. They all have fascinating stories to tell that the author has captured for our enjoyment.-- CDR David P. McCampbell, USN (Ret).