Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945 (The Pacific War Trilogy Book 3)

by Ian W. Toll

The morning was clear and beautiful, with scattered high clouds and a thin layer of broken cumulus at 1,500 feet. From 8,000 feet above the earth, the searchers could see nearly a hundred miles in every direction. Below them unfolded a majestic tropical panorama, a repeating pattern of azure shallows, white sandy cays, and mountainous jungle-clad islands. Broad white beaches merged into lush coconut palm groves, lighter greens darkened to deeper greens inland, and steep slopes rose to brown peaks six or seven thousand feet high, or to black volcanic cones with gaping, smoking calderas. The sea was lighter here and darker there, varying by depth, bottom, and angle of light, with lighter cerulean bands running parallel to the beaches, the shallows strewn with coral reefs that went on for miles, and the sea darkening as it deepened in the straits between the islands, its surface glistening in the morning sun. The carrier airmen had no problems matching the landmarks and channels to the charts they carried in their cockpits. Having flown so many missions over the Philippines during the past six weeks, they knew the region well—and they knew precisely where to look for Japanese warships in the relatively few navigable passages through the intricate archipelago.