
USS Princeton
The Life and Loss of "Sweet P"
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Buy for $17.45
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
John Chancer
-
By:
-
David R. Leick
About this listen
An in-depth history of the US Navy’s light aircraft carrier the USS Princeton and its operational exploits in the Pacific Theater of World War II.
This new history of the life and loss of USS Princeton tells the story of the new class of aircraft carrier that proved essential to the US Navy’s victory over the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Pacific War.
USS Princeton (CVL-23) started life as the light cruiser Tallahassee before being converted while still under construction into a light carrier as part of the plan to ramp up the strength of US naval air power. The vessel joined the Pacific Fleet in August 1943 and was immediately put to work as the United States was assembling new ships and crews for the bitter struggle to come. Princeton played a key role in conducting multiple strikes against the Japanese bastion at Rabaul, and then joined Task Force 58/38 – the Fast Carrier Task Force – for the Central Pacific campaign, culminating in the invasion of the Philippines, where the ship was lost.
David R. Leick skillfully uses first-hand accounts to examine the engagements, aircraft, tactics, command decisions and life on board during the Pacific campaign against Japan from early 1943 until Princeton’s tragic demise in October 1944. He focuses closely on the ship’s crew and embarked Naval Aviators, describing in detail the toll that prolonged combat operations took on the frontline sailor.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Victory '45
- The End of the War in Eight Surrenders
- By: James Holland, Al Murray
- Narrated by: Al Murray
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In May 1945 and then again in August and early September, the seemingly endless World War II finally came to a close in eight dramatic surrender ceremonies, six in Europe and the last two in Japan. On the 80th anniversary of those historic moments, celebrated historians James Holland and Al Murray chronicle these momentous events in turn, focusing especially on the human dramas behind each surrender and relating stories and perspectives on the end of the war that have not previously been told.
By: James Holland, and others
-
Bagration 1944
- The Great Soviet Offensive
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 20 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Throughout the war on the Eastern Front, there were two consistent trends. The Red Army battled to learn how to fight and win, while involved in a struggle for its very survival. But by 1944 it had a leadership that was able to wield it with lethal effect and with far more effective equipment than before. By contrast, the Wehrmacht had commenced a slow process of decline after the invasion of the Soviet Union. Hitler became increasingly unwilling to delegate decision-making to commanders in the field, which had been crucial to earlier success.
-
-
Impressive amount of detail, as expected from the author.
- By Zoran Jovic on 03-30-25
By: Prit Buttar
-
Mediterranean Sweep
- The USAAF in the Italian Campaign
- By: Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
- Narrated by: Christopher Ragland
- Length: 15 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With the defeat of the Germans and Italians on Sicily in mid-July 1943, the focus of the war in the air shifted toward the battle for the Italian mainland itself. This campaign took place in the context of the coming invasion of northwest Europe, with many of the best units from the North African and Sicilian campaigns withdrawn to prepare for the new front, while those units that remained had a lower priority for replacements of men and material.
-
-
Mediterranean Sweep
- By Ross Gordon on 03-27-25
-
The Battle for Moscow
- By: David Stahel
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In November 1941, Hitler ordered German forces to complete the final drive on the Soviet capital, now less than 100 kilometers away. Army Group Center was pressed into the attack for one last attempt to break Soviet resistance before the onset of winter. From the German perspective, the final drive on Moscow had all the ingredients of a dramatic final battle in the east, which, according to previous accounts, only failed at the gates of Moscow.
-
-
Classic Stahel
- By abulbulian on 06-15-24
By: David Stahel
-
The Mighty Moo
- The USS Cowpens and Her Epic World War II Journey from Jinx Ship to the Navy's First Carrier into Tokyo Bay
- By: Nathan Canestaro
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The USS Cowpens and her crew weren’t your typical heroes. She was a flattop that the US Navy initially didn’t want, with a captain nearly scapegoated for the loss of his last command, pilots who self-trained on the planes they would fly into combat, and sailors that had been in uniform barely longer than the ship had been afloat. Despite their humble origins, Cowpens and her band of second-string reservists and citizen sailors served with distinction, fighting in nearly every major carrier operation from 1943 to 1945, including the Battles of the Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf.
-
-
Sacrifice
- By Joe Riley on 06-01-25
By: Nathan Canestaro
-
When Britain Saved the West
- The Story of 1940
- By: Robin Prior
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
- Length: 13 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the comfortable distance of seven decades, it is quite easy to view the victory of the Allies over Hitler's Germany as inevitable. But in 1940 Great Britain's defeat loomed perilously close, and no other nation stepped up to confront the Nazi threat. In this cogently argued book, Robin Prior delves into the documents of the time - war diaries, combat reports, Home Security's daily files, and much more - to uncover how Britain endured a year of menacing crises.
-
-
Very detailed; a bit dry in spots
- By No on 09-07-15
By: Robin Prior
-
Victory '45
- The End of the War in Eight Surrenders
- By: James Holland, Al Murray
- Narrated by: Al Murray
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In May 1945 and then again in August and early September, the seemingly endless World War II finally came to a close in eight dramatic surrender ceremonies, six in Europe and the last two in Japan. On the 80th anniversary of those historic moments, celebrated historians James Holland and Al Murray chronicle these momentous events in turn, focusing especially on the human dramas behind each surrender and relating stories and perspectives on the end of the war that have not previously been told.
By: James Holland, and others
-
Bagration 1944
- The Great Soviet Offensive
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 20 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Throughout the war on the Eastern Front, there were two consistent trends. The Red Army battled to learn how to fight and win, while involved in a struggle for its very survival. But by 1944 it had a leadership that was able to wield it with lethal effect and with far more effective equipment than before. By contrast, the Wehrmacht had commenced a slow process of decline after the invasion of the Soviet Union. Hitler became increasingly unwilling to delegate decision-making to commanders in the field, which had been crucial to earlier success.
-
-
Impressive amount of detail, as expected from the author.
- By Zoran Jovic on 03-30-25
By: Prit Buttar
-
Mediterranean Sweep
- The USAAF in the Italian Campaign
- By: Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
- Narrated by: Christopher Ragland
- Length: 15 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With the defeat of the Germans and Italians on Sicily in mid-July 1943, the focus of the war in the air shifted toward the battle for the Italian mainland itself. This campaign took place in the context of the coming invasion of northwest Europe, with many of the best units from the North African and Sicilian campaigns withdrawn to prepare for the new front, while those units that remained had a lower priority for replacements of men and material.
-
-
Mediterranean Sweep
- By Ross Gordon on 03-27-25
-
The Battle for Moscow
- By: David Stahel
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In November 1941, Hitler ordered German forces to complete the final drive on the Soviet capital, now less than 100 kilometers away. Army Group Center was pressed into the attack for one last attempt to break Soviet resistance before the onset of winter. From the German perspective, the final drive on Moscow had all the ingredients of a dramatic final battle in the east, which, according to previous accounts, only failed at the gates of Moscow.
-
-
Classic Stahel
- By abulbulian on 06-15-24
By: David Stahel
-
The Mighty Moo
- The USS Cowpens and Her Epic World War II Journey from Jinx Ship to the Navy's First Carrier into Tokyo Bay
- By: Nathan Canestaro
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The USS Cowpens and her crew weren’t your typical heroes. She was a flattop that the US Navy initially didn’t want, with a captain nearly scapegoated for the loss of his last command, pilots who self-trained on the planes they would fly into combat, and sailors that had been in uniform barely longer than the ship had been afloat. Despite their humble origins, Cowpens and her band of second-string reservists and citizen sailors served with distinction, fighting in nearly every major carrier operation from 1943 to 1945, including the Battles of the Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf.
-
-
Sacrifice
- By Joe Riley on 06-01-25
By: Nathan Canestaro
-
When Britain Saved the West
- The Story of 1940
- By: Robin Prior
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
- Length: 13 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the comfortable distance of seven decades, it is quite easy to view the victory of the Allies over Hitler's Germany as inevitable. But in 1940 Great Britain's defeat loomed perilously close, and no other nation stepped up to confront the Nazi threat. In this cogently argued book, Robin Prior delves into the documents of the time - war diaries, combat reports, Home Security's daily files, and much more - to uncover how Britain endured a year of menacing crises.
-
-
Very detailed; a bit dry in spots
- By No on 09-07-15
By: Robin Prior
-
Hero City
- Leningrad 1943–44
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
- Length: 22 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the height of World War II the people of Leningrad endured a bitter 900-day siege. Prit Buttar tells the story of how the siege was finally broken. The Red Army had suffered multiple setbacks in the preceding two years but achieved a partial success by breaking the blockage in early 1943. However, this was followed by further failed attempts to lift the siege completely. This compelling history uses original Russian source material to vividly describe the deprivations visited upon those trapped. But it also details the tactical successes and strategic failures of both sides.
-
-
Another great Prit Buttar book
- By Gary on 10-13-24
By: Prit Buttar
-
Midway
- The Pacific War’s Most Famous Battle
- By: Mark Stille
- Narrated by: John Chancer
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Midway is the most famous naval battle of the Pacific War, and one of the most mythologized. The traditional view of the battle, popularized in its immediate aftermath and surviving through to the present day, is of a heavily outnumbered American force snatching victory in the face of overwhelming odds. This view is simplistic and, in many respects, wrong. Pacific War expert Mark Stille provides a detailed analysis of this pivotal battle, and argues that Midway was neither a miraculous American victory, nor a product of good fortune.
-
-
Authors need to leave personal opinions out of history books
- By Roberto G on 12-28-24
By: Mark Stille
-
Killing Shore
- The True Story of Hitler's U-Boats off the New Jersey Coast
- By: K.A. Nelson
- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Length: 22 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Six weeks after the United States entered World War II, Imperial Japan is annihilating American forces across the Far East while the Nazis stand triumphant over much of Europe. Adolf Hitler's forces are about to commence an assault along the East Coast of the United States, but this "Atlantic Pearl Harbor" would prove far more devastating than Japan's attack on Hawaii. The Western Hemisphere holds the key to victory, but only if the vast economic and military resources of North and South America can be carried across the Atlantic by Allied merchant ships.
-
-
Just amazing if you like history this is a must
- By Jason on 09-23-24
By: K.A. Nelson
-
The Convoy
- HG-76: Taking the Fight to Hitler's U-boats
- By: Angus Konstam
- Narrated by: Philip Pope
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
HG-76 sailed from Gibraltar to Britain in December 1941 and was specially targeted by the Germans. A wolfpack of U-boats was sent against it, and the Luftwaffe was heavily committed too in a rare example of German inter-service cooperation. German intelligence agents in Gibraltar and Spain also knew every detail of HG-76 before it had even sailed, seemingly stacking the odds in favour of the Kriegsmarine. Despite this the convoy fought its way through.
-
-
Real life edge of your seat suspense
- By Used to be happy customer on 11-14-23
By: Angus Konstam
-
Leyte Gulf
- A New History of the World's Largest Sea Battle
- By: Mark E. Stille
- Narrated by: John Chancer
- Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pacific War expert Mark Stille examines the key aspects of battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval encounter in history and probably the most decisive naval battle of the entire Pacific War, with new and insightful analysis and dismantles the myths surrounding the respective actions and overall performances of the two most important commanders in the battle, and the “lost victory” of the Japanese advance into Leyte Gulf that never happened.
-
-
Perhaps a little scholarly
- By Michael Kiehn on 11-14-24
By: Mark E. Stille
-
The Battle for Hell's Island
- How a Small Band of Carrier Dive Bombers Helped Save Guadalcanal
- By: Stephen L. Moore
- Narrated by: Pete Bradbury
- Length: 15 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the author of Pacific Payback comes the gripping true story of the Cactus Air Force and how this rugged crew of dive bombers helped save Guadalcanal and won the war. November 1942: Japanese and American forces have been fighting for control of Guadalcanal, a small but pivotal island in Japan's expansion through the South Pacific.
-
-
agonizing audiobook full of facts
- By chris on 04-13-16
By: Stephen L. Moore
-
Destroyer Captain
- The Life of Ernest E. Evans (American War Heroes)
- By: James D. Hornfischer, David J. Hornfischer
- Narrated by: Lou Del Bianco, David J. Hornfischer
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For the first time ever, acclaimed naval historian James D. Hornfischer, “the dean of World War II naval history," writing with his son David J. Hornfischer, explores Capt. E. Evans’s incredible story, from his humble upbringing as a child of a Cherokee and Creek family in Pawnee, Oklahoma, and his graduation from the Naval Academy in 1931, to his service on fighting ships during the Pacific War and his selfless bravery and cool command during a valiant faceoff with the pride of the Japanese Navy.
-
-
Fantastic!
- By Mark Mears on 09-02-24
By: James D. Hornfischer, and others
-
High Tide in the Korean War
- How an Outnumbered American Regiment Defeated the Chinese at the Battle of Chipyong-ni
- By: Leo Barron
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By early 1951, American forces and their UN allies had been driven more than 100 miles down the Korean peninsula by the Chinese. The situation was bleak when Gen. Matthew Ridgway ordered a last stand at the village of Chipyong-ni. There a single regiment (the 23rd Infantry) of fewer than 5,000 U.S. soldiers defeated a Chinese division of 25,000 men in what has been called the Gettysburg of the Korean War.
-
-
Extreme bravery against all odds…
- By John W. Rayls on 03-02-24
By: Leo Barron
-
Meat Grinder
- The Battles for the Rzhev Salient, 1942–43
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Nathan Osgood
- Length: 21 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The fighting between the German and Russian armies in the Rzhev Salient during World War II was so grisly, so murderous, and saw such vast losses that the troops called the campaign 'The Meat Grinder'. Though millions of men would fight and die there, the Rzhev Salient does not have the name recognition of Leningrad or Moscow. It has been largely ignored by Western historians – until now.
-
-
A totally absurd effort in racist German Bashing with some grudging respect for the German soldier and German Army.
- By Anonymous User on 05-01-24
By: Prit Buttar
-
Descent into Darkness
- Pearl Harbor, 1941, A Navy Diver's Memoir
- By: Edward C. Raymer
- Narrated by: Peter Johnson
- Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On December 7, 1941, as the great battleships Arizona, Oklahoma, and Utah lie paralyzed and burning in the aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. A crack team of U.S. Navy salvage divers headed by Edward C. Raymer are hurriedly flown to Oahu from the mainland. Their two-part orders are direct and straightforward: (1) rescue as many trapped sailors and Marines as possible, and (2) resurrect what remains of America's once mighty pacific fleet. Descent Into Darkness tells their story.
-
-
A Massive Disappointment
- By Matthew on 10-14-15
By: Edward C. Raymer
-
Through the Valley
- My Captivity in Vietnam
- By: William Reeder Jr.
- Narrated by: Corey M. Snow
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1971 William Reeder was a senior captain on his second tour in Vietnam. He had flown armed, fixed-wing OV-1 Mohawks on secret missions deep into enemy territory in Laos, Cambodia, and North Vietnam, on his first tour. He returned as a helicopter pilot eager to experience a whole new perspective as a Cobra gunship pilot. Believing that Nixon's Vietnamization would soon end the war, Reeder was anxious to see combat action. To him, it appeared that the Americans had prevailed, beaten the Viet Cong, and were passing everything over to the South Vietnamese Army so Americans could leave.
-
-
Best narration.
- By Speed77 on 01-05-25
-
Intrepid's Fighting Squadron 18
- Flying High with Harris' Hellcats
- By: Mike Fink
- Narrated by: Tom Campbell
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
USS Intrepid's Fighting Squadron 18 (VF-18) was one of the U.S. Navy's highest-scoring carrier units of World War II. Despite having only one combat veteran in its roster, its aviators were credited with shooting down more than 170 planes during their eighty-one-day tour of duty, earning the squadron the nickname "Two-a-Day 18" in newspapers nationwide. How did a novice unit with a comparatively short time in theater accomplish such a feat?
By: Mike Fink