Shot by Navy combat cameramen and edited under the direction of photographer Edward Steichen, this 1944 film follows an aircraft carrier through the Pacific war, keeping her real name hidden and calling her only "the Fighting Lady." Narrator Lt. Robert Taylor USNR walks through the daily rhythm of life aboard: pilots briefed in the ready room, deck crews arming and launching planes, mess halls, sick bay, chaplain's services, and the long stretches of waiting between combat. Color combat footage, rare for the period, captures dogfights over Truk and Rabaul, kamikaze runs, and the chaos of a flight deck under attack, including planes crashing on landing and fires being fought in real time. The film does not shy from losses, showing empty bunks and the toll each mission takes on the crew. Made with full Navy cooperation as a record and morale piece, it won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and remains one of the clearest firsthand looks at carrier warfare as it actually happened, not as it was staged for cameras.