Task Force (film) footage documenting the rise of naval aviation as well as Technicolor footage filmed during the war in the Pacific, including the Battle of Midway, the Japanese attack on and a kamikaze attack on USS "Franklin". Encouraged by the offer of support from the U.S. Navy, when the production received permission to proceed with a film, a decision was made to shoot the first segments in black-and-white to merge into the original footage of the , the first American aircraft carrier, and . Principal photography began in late 1948 on the escort carrier, to replicate USS "Langley", as well as Naval
Battle of the Philippine Sea late 1943, the U.S. Navy brought these improvements together in the form of the Fast Carrier Task Force, under Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher (known as Task Force 58 when part of Admiral Raymond Spruance's Fifth Fleet and Task Force 38 when part of Admiral William F. Halsey's Third Fleet). Led by this main strike force, in early 1944 the U.S. fleet continued its advance in a steady progression across the islands of the central Pacific. After achieving their goals in the Gilbert Islands campaign, the Americans began a series of softening-up missions aimed at weakening Japanese land-based airpower to limit