The result was a normal historical work, not a prescribed official history. Limitations of the History of U.S. Naval Operations are mostly due to its shortened period of publication. Some material, especially related to codebreaking, was still classified, and later in-depth research into particular occurrences in the war did clarify points that had been passed over rather lightly. Some rewriting was incorporated in the later printings of this series. This History of U.S. Naval Operations also intentionally avoided a certain amount of analysis, for instance deferring to other works for the causes of the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor. The intended audience for the work, to quote from the preface, was "the general reader rather than the professional sailor."
MISSING: #2. Operations in North African Waters: October 1942 – June 1943
#4. Coral Sea, Midway, and Submarine Actions: May 1942 – August 1942
#8. New Guinea and the Marianas: March 1944 – August 1944

I discovered this set in my high school library, began reading and finished the whole set. If you have any interest in naval history at all, this is a must read. I really should go back and reread the whole set again. ( )

Started while working in my university(ND)) library and continued as the later volumes and supplements were published. Dated but very readable. Later books with access to more in depth research correct many of the errors, some quite serious, but this was the definitive history of Naval Operations for the 20th century. Read in conjunction with U.S. Destroyer and Submarine Operations in WW2, these volumes initiated 50+ years of interest in this period of naval history ( )