Battle 360°
Encyclopedia
Battle 360°, also written as Battle 360, was an American documentary
television series that originally aired from February 29 to May 2, 2008 on History. The program focused on the World War II
-era aircraft carrier
. The show was produced by Flight 33 Productions
.
Battle 360° made extensive use of computer animation
to depict the story of the Enterprise. The animation was combined with documentary footage, interviews of Enterprise crew members and military historians, and voice-over narration.
The series was written by Tony Long and Samuel K. Dolan, and produced by Brian Thompson, Samuel K. Dolan and Tim Evans. It is narrated by Wally Kurth. Military historians providing commentary included Alan Pietruszewski, Gunnery Sergeant William Bodette, Martin K. A. Morgan, Jonathan Parshall, and producer and story editor Samuel K. Dolan. The 3D graphics are by Crazybridge Studios, with additional graphics by Radical 3D; the visual effects supervisor is Steffen Schlachtenhaufen. The executive producers were Louis C. Tarantino and Douglas J. Cohen, and the associate producer was Ryan Hurst.
On February 29, 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 the Enterprise as a pilot during World War II.
Patton 360°
, a spin-off series of Battle 360°, premiered on April 10, 2009 on the same channel.
, and Bruce McGraw. Among the ship's surviving crew interviewed for the series was Yeoman Willard Norberg, Roy E. Blood, Jack Glass, Arnold Olson and James Barnhill. Members of the ship's Marine Detachment were also interviewed including Louis Michot, Jack Maroney, Frank Graves, Richard Harte, Walter Keil and George Lanvermeyer.
In addition to the Enterprise veterans, there were a number of veteran contributors from other vessels that fought with the Enterprise, including sailors from USS Hornet (CV-8)
, USS Northampton (CA-26)
, USS North Carolina (BB-55)
, and USS Smith (DD-378)
.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
television series that originally aired from February 29 to May 2, 2008 on History. The program focused on the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
-era aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
. The show was produced by Flight 33 Productions
Flight 33 Productions
Flight 33 Productions is a documentary production company that was started in 2006 and has produced numerous programs for History channel. The company's credits include the Emmy Award winning documentary A Distant Shore: African Americans of D-Day, the Emmy Nominated special Life After People, and...
.
Battle 360° made extensive use of computer animation
Computer animation
Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images....
to depict the story of the Enterprise. The animation was combined with documentary footage, interviews of Enterprise crew members and military historians, and voice-over narration.
The series was written by Tony Long and Samuel K. Dolan, and produced by Brian Thompson, Samuel K. Dolan and Tim Evans. It is narrated by Wally Kurth. Military historians providing commentary included Alan Pietruszewski, Gunnery Sergeant William Bodette, Martin K. A. Morgan, Jonathan Parshall, and producer and story editor Samuel K. Dolan. The 3D graphics are by Crazybridge Studios, with additional graphics by Radical 3D; the visual effects supervisor is Steffen Schlachtenhaufen. The executive producers were Louis C. Tarantino and Douglas J. Cohen, and the associate producer was Ryan Hurst.
On February 29, 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
Ice Road Truckers
Ice Road Truckers is a documentary-style reality television series that premiered on History on June 17, 2007.-History:In 2000, History aired a 46-minute episode titled "Ice Road Truckers" as part of the Suicide Missions series...
.
The series original run was broadcast with limited commercial interruptions because of its sponsorship by Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Enterprise Holdings, Inc. is a privately held company formed in 2009 to operate rental car subsidiaries: Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental, Alamo Rent A Car, WeCar and its commercial fleet management, used car sales, and commercial truck rental operations.Enterprise Holdings was formed as...
, whose founder, Jack Taylor
Jack C. Taylor
Jack Crawford Taylor is an American businessman and the founder of the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company. With an estimated net worth of around $7.4 billion, he is ranked by Forbes as the 18th-richest American and the 40th-richest person in the world.Taylor enrolled in the Olin Business School at...
, served on the Enterprise as a pilot during World War II.
Patton 360°
Patton 360°
Patton 360° was a weekly television series that originally ran from April 10 to June 26, 2009, on the History channel. It was produced by Flight 33 Productions in Los Angeles , and featured a mixture of CGI, archival footage, recreations, and interviews with World War II veterans and historians....
, a spin-off series of Battle 360°, premiered on April 10, 2009 on the same channel.
Veterans
Each episode of Battle 360 made extensive use of veteran interviews from the sailors, pilots and Marines of USS Enterprise (CV-6). Many of these veterans' accounts appeared as ongoing storylines throughout the series and the veterans themselves became regular characters. Among the veterans interviewed for the program were pilots Captain Donald "Flash" Gordon, Stanley "Swede" Vejtasa, Rear Admiral James D. RamageJames D. Ramage
James D. "Jig Dog" Ramage is a significant figure in the history U.S. naval aviation. He was a combat leader in World War II and was a major factor in putting nuclear-capable aircraft aboard aircraft carriers. Before retirement he attained the rank of rear admiral.-Biography:Ramage grew up near...
, and Bruce McGraw. Among the ship's surviving crew interviewed for the series was Yeoman Willard Norberg, Roy E. Blood, Jack Glass, Arnold Olson and James Barnhill. Members of the ship's Marine Detachment were also interviewed including Louis Michot, Jack Maroney, Frank Graves, Richard Harte, Walter Keil and George Lanvermeyer.
In addition to the Enterprise veterans, there were a number of veteran contributors from other vessels that fought with the Enterprise, including sailors from USS Hornet (CV-8)
USS Hornet (CV-8)
USS Hornet CV-8, the seventh ship to carry the name Hornet, was a of the United States Navy. During World War II in the Pacific Theater, she launched the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo and participated in the Battle of Midway and the Buin-Faisi-Tonolai Raid...
, USS Northampton (CA-26)
USS Northampton (CA-26)
USS Northampton was a heavy cruiser in service with the United States Navy. She was the lead ship of her class and commissioned in 1930...
, USS North Carolina (BB-55)
USS North Carolina (BB-55)
USS North Carolina was the lead ship of her class of battleship and the fourth in the United States Navy to be named in honor of this U.S. state. She was the first new-construction U.S. battleship to enter service during World War II, participating in every major naval offensive in the Pacific...
, and USS Smith (DD-378)
USS Smith (DD-378)
The second USS Smith was a Mahan-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for Lieutenant Joseph B. Smith, USN...
.
Episodes
The series consists of 10 episodes.| Episode # | Episode Title | Original U.S. Airdate |
|---|---|---|