Carrier Strike--The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands October 1942 By Eric Hammel (407 pages, photos, drawings, maps) Reviewer:  James Healy Overall Rating: Four Stars: Highly recommended. An excellent book. The Pacific theater in World War II was unquestionably the greatest challenge ever faced by the United States Navy. The service required 3.8 million men and women, and another 600,000 marines to fight a two-ocean war. Vice Admiral Marc Mitschner opined that it was "carrier supremacy" that carried the day in the Pacific. However, in 1942 supremacy was not the case in the bitter days of the Guadalcanal campaign. For a time only the carrier Hornet (CV-8) was available to impede the Japanese reinforcement of their island garrison. The Japanese army wanted to retake Henderson field from the marines. The Japanese navy wanted to break the will of the U.S. Navy--for despite the great U.S. victory at Midway, the Imperial Navy had subsequently severely bloodied the U.S. Navy in the Solomon Islands. They were ready for--and wanted--a showdown. It is at this junction that author Eric Hammel details the October 26, 1942 battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. With more than 30 military history books to his credit, Hammel combines the big military picture with individual drama to great effect. He details events leading up to the carrier battle and the ultimate loss of the Hornet--even including the names of the Japanese pilots who brought their determination to the battle. He also compares U.S. and Japanese naval aviator training and tactics. Judged a Japanese victory because the U.S. task force withdrew, it was the last serious carrier-versus-carrier confrontation initiated by the Japanese. Japan's pilot (and ship) losses in both quality and quantity could not soon be replenished. In the words of the author, "Japanese carriers ceased to be a strategic weapon."