Introduction

Battle 360°, also written as Battle 360, is an American documentary television series that originally aired from 29 February to 02 May 2008 on History.

Patton 360°, a spin-off series of Battle 360°, premiered on 10 April 2009 on the same channel.

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Outline

This series chronicle’s the illustrious battle history of the USS Enterprise which played a critical role in World War Two and for a time was the only carrier defending the Pacific Theatre from domination by Japan.

Veterans

Each episode of Battle 360 makes extensive use of veteran interviews from the sailors, pilots and Marines of USS Enterprise (CV-6).

Many of these veterans’ accounts appear as ongoing storylines throughout the series and the veterans themselves become regular characters.

Among the veterans interviewed for the programme are:

• Pilots:
  • Captain Donald “Flash” Gordon.
  • Stanley “Swede” Vejtasa.
  • Captain Norman “Dusty” Kleiss.
  • Rear Admiral James D. Ramage.
  • Bruce McGraw.
• Among the ship’s surviving crew interviewed for the series are:
  • Yeoman Willard Norberg.
  • Roy E. Blood (1918-2015).
  • Jack Glass.
  • Arnold Olson.
  • James Barnhill.
• Members of the ship’s Marine Detachment are also interviewed including:
  • Louis Michot.
  • Jack Maroney.
  • Frank Graves.
  • Richard Harte.
  • Walter Keil.
  • George E. Lanvermeier, Sr.

In addition to the Enterprise veterans, there are a number of veteran contributors from other vessels that fought with Enterprise, including sailors from USS Hornet (CV-8), USS Northampton (CA-26), USS North Carolina (BB-55), and USS Smith (DD-378).

Battle 360° Series

• Episode 01: Call to Duty.
• Episode 02: Vengeance at Midway.
• Episode 03: Jaws of the Enemy.
• Episode 04: Bloody Santa Cruz.
• Episode 05: Enterprise versus Japan.
• Episode 06: The Grey Ghost.
• Episode 07: Hammer of Hell.
• Episode 08: D-Day in the Pacific.
• Episode 09: Battle of Leyte Gulf.
• Episode 10: The Empire’s Last Stand.

Trivia

• Battle 360° makes extensive use of computer animation to depict the story of Enterprise.
  • The animation is combined with documentary footage, interviews of Enterprise crew members and military historians, and voice-over narration.
• On 29 February 2008, the first episode of Battle 360° had 1.8 million viewers.
  • This was the second best viewer total for a History channel series premiere, behind Ice Road Truckers.
• The series original run was broadcast with limited commercial interruptions because of its sponsorship by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, whose founder, Jack Taylor, served on Enterprise as a fighter pilot during World War II.

Production & Filming Details

• Narrator(s): Wally Kurth.
• Director(s): Tony Long.
• Producer(s): Louis C. Tarantino, Douglas J. Cohen, Tim Evans, Ryan Hurst, Brian Thompson, and Samuel K. Dolan.
• Writer(s): Tony Long and Samuel K. Dolan.
• Music: Eric Amdahl.
• Cinematography: Tom Collins, Jason Newfield, and Chris Raymond.
• Editor(s): Kyle Yaskin and Gina Vecchione.
• Production: Flight 33 Productions.
• Distributor(s): History Channel.
• Release Date: 29 February 2008 to 02 May 2008.
• Running Time: 54 minutes (per episode, without adverts).
• Rating: Unknown.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.

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