''Battle 360°'', also written as ''Battle 360'', is an American documentary

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

that originally aired from February 29 to May 2, 2008 on

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

. The program focuses on the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

-era

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

. The show was produced by

Flight 33 Productions Flight 33 Productions is an American documentary production company founded in 2006 that specializes in programs about history and science. It produces programs for The History Channel, The Discovery Channel, The National Geographic Channel, 3ne ...

. ''Battle 360°'' makes extensive use of

computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images ( moving images), while computer animation re ...

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. 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, First 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. At the time, that was the second highest 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 Enterprise Rent-A-Car is an American car rental agency headquartered in Clayton, Missouri, in Greater St. Louis. Enterprise is the flagship brand of Enterprise Holdings, which also owns other agencies including Alamo Rent a Car and National ...

, whose founder, Jack Taylor, served on ''Enterprise'' as a fighter pilot during World War II. '' Patton 360°'', a

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gov ...

series of ''Battle 360°'', premiered on April 10, 2009 on the same channel.

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 program are pilots Captain Donald "Flash" Gordon, Stanley "Swede" Vejtasa, Captain Norman "Dusty" Kleiss, Rear Admiral

James D. Ramage James D. "Jig Dog" Ramage (19 July 1916 – 21 July 2012) was a Naval Aviator in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Cold War, and was a driving force in putting nuclear-capable attack aircraft aboard aircraft carriers. Before ...

, and Bruce McGraw. Among the ship's surviving crew interviewed for the series are

Yeoman Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in mid-14th-century England. The 14th century also witn ...

Willard Norberg, Roy E. Blood (1918–2015), Jack Glass, Arnold Olson and James Barnhill. Members of the ship's Marine Detachment are also interviewed including Louis Michot, Jack Maroney, Frank Graves, Richard Harte, Walter Keil and 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 , , , and .

Episodes

The series consists of ten episodes.

Broadcast airings

Repeats of the series are currently airing on the digital broadcast network

Quest A quest is a journey toward a specific mission or a goal. The word serves as a plot device in mythology and fiction: a difficult journey towards a goal, often symbolic or allegorical. Tales of quests figure prominently in the folklore of e ...

. The show has also been rereleased on the Official YouTube Channel.

References

External links

''Battle 360°'' official website

Flight 33 Productions
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Battle 360 2000s American documentary television series 2008 American television series debuts 2008 American television series endings Documentary television series about aviation Documentary television series about World War II History (American TV channel) original programming