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In his second volume on the Tudor Navy, naval expert Angus Konstam covers the extraordinary transformation of the Tudor fleet during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. This period witnessed the birth of a whole new breed of warships designed to dominate the seas and expand the corners of the Empire. Detailing warfare during the age of Sea Dogs, such as Sir Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh, and the landmark event of the Spanish Armada, he explains the technological innovations that allowed this small but efficient navy to defeat the larger Spanish fleet.

Packed with new research,...

With the outbreak of World War II, Britain's Royal Navy was at the forefront of her defence with her fleet of battleships as her main striking force. However, ten battleships of this fleet were already over 20 years old, venerable veterans of the first world conflict. As such, in the 1930s two new classes were commissioned - modern battleships which were designed to replace the ageing battle fleet although only one would see active service. Together with the older battleships, which were increasingly modified in the decade preceding the war and during the conflict itself, these vessels...

In mid-September 1943, as the opening move of the Allied campaign to liberate the mainland of Italy, an Anglo-American invasion force landed on the beaches of the Gulf of Salerno, only a few dozen miles to the south of Naples. Italy had just surrendered, and the soldiers in the landing craft prayed that the invasion would be unopposed. It was not to be. The Germans had seized control of the Italian-built beach defences, and were ready and waiting. What followed was one of the bloodiest battles of the whole Mediterranean campaign - a ten day contest where victory hung in the balance....

In 1585, war between Spain and Elizabethan England was all but inevitable. Consequently, Queen Elizabeth's spymaster proposed a pre-emptive strike designed to paralyse Spain's economy by striking at the Spanish Main - the heart of her overseas empire. The Elizabethan "Sea Dog" Sir Francis Drake was selected to lead this all-important raid.

During the summer of 1585 an expedition was gathered in Plymouth - an impressive force of 21 ships and 1,800 soldiers and sailors. When word reached Plymouth that the Queen was having second thoughts and might call off the raid, Drake hurriedly...

Days before the outbreak of World War II, a handful of German commerce raiders put out to sea to prey on Allied merchantmen. Among them was the Panzerschiffe ("armored ship") Graf Spee, a formidable warship that boasted the firepower of a battleship, but had the size, speed, and range of a cruiser. When World War II commenced, the Graf Spee, under the command of Captain Langsdorff, began a hunting spree across the South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean that eventually took her to the River Plate in search of her next victim--an Allied convoy. Instead, she found three...