This title tells the dramatic story of how the Royal Navy transformed ordinary citizens into first-rate and fearless sailors and navy personnel during World War II. It covers how they were recruited and trained, and how they endured life at sea in hostile waters, protecting convoys in the Atlantic, hunting submarines in the Mediterranean, and standing up to relentless air attacks in the Pacific. Told from the perspective of vivid first-hand accounts of life onboard, it reveals what it was like to be a sailor navigating, patrolling, and fighting in the largest theater of the war- the vast...
This title tells the dramatic story of how the Royal Navy transformed ordinary citizens into first-rate and fearless sailors and navy personnel during...
The Royal Navy entered World War II with a large but eclectic fleet of destroyers. Some of these were veterans of World War I, fit only for escort duties. Most, though, had been built during the interwar period and were regarded as both reliable and versatile. Yet danger lurked across the seas as new destroyers being built in Germany, Italy, and Japan were larger and better armored.
So, until the new, larger Tribal-class destroyers could enter service, these vessels would have to hold the line. Used mainly to hunt submarines, protect convoys from aerial attack, and take out other...
The Royal Navy entered World War II with a large but eclectic fleet of destroyers. Some of these were veterans of World War I, fit only for escort ...
Ships have been part of military campaigns since the Ancient world, and this expertly illustrated and detailed Spotter's Guide offers a look at the 40 most iconic and recognizable ships throughout history. From the Viking longship through to the powerful modern aircraft carriers, and from the ironclads of the American Civil War to the awesome fighting ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Each ship is beautifully illustrated and is accompanied by a brief history. A perfect gift, this book is a must-have for any naval enthusiast and historian.
Ships have been part of military campaigns since the Ancient world, and this expertly illustrated and detailed Spotter's Guide offers a look at the 40...
This engaging study pits the the Byzantine dromon against the Arabic shalandi in the prolonged struggle for mastery in the Mediterranean in the four centuries after 630 AD.
For four hundred years the Byzantine Empire's naval forces vied with the warships of the Islamic world for mastery of the Mediterranean. At the heart of this confrontation were the fighting vessels of the two powers, the Byzantine dromon and the Arabic shalandi, both oared warships. In those four centuries of warfare between two major maritime powers, both the Byzantines and the Arabs left us records of their...
This engaging study pits the the Byzantine dromon against the Arabic shalandi in the prolonged struggle for mastery in the Mediterranean in the fou...
From the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, from the Balkans to Mesopotamia, gunboats played an influential part in the story of World War I. This detailed technical guide to the gunboats of all the major navies of the war means that, for the first time, the story can be told.
Naval action in World War I conjures up images of enormous dreadnoughts slugging it out in vast oceans. Yet the truth is that more sailors were killed serving on gunboats and monitors operating far from the naval epicentre of the war than were ever killed at Jutland. Gunboat engagements during this war were...
From the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, from the Balkans to Mesopotamia, gunboats played an influential part in the story of World War I. This det...
In the early 20th century Britain's largest colonies established their own small naval presence, and their ships fought alongside the Royal Navy during World War I. These fleets were expanded slightly during the inter-war years, and in 1939 the Royal Australian Navy, the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal New Zealand Navy willingly joined the fight on behalf of the British Commonwealth. For the most part these small navies consisted of a few cruisers and destroyers, designed to protect territorial waters and to protect local sea lanes. However, these warships and their crews soon found...
In the early 20th century Britain's largest colonies established their own small naval presence, and their ships fought alongside the Royal Navy durin...
Even with Germany in the ascendency at the beginning of World War II, Scapa Flow was supposed to be the safe home base of the British Navy. Nothing and nobody could penetrate the defences of this bastion, which was built up to formidable levels in World War I and symbolized the faith placed by the British in the invulnerability of their navy. So how, in the dead of night on October 13, was Gunther Prien's U-47 able to slip through the line of protective warships undetected to sink the mighty "Royal Oak"? This book provides the answer with an account of one of the most daring naval raids of...
Even with Germany in the ascendency at the beginning of World War II, Scapa Flow was supposed to be the safe home base of the British Navy. Nothing an...
The Royal Navy's stunning attack on Taranto in 1940 heralded a new age of warfare. It was the decisive moment in a struggle for dominance of the Mediterranean that had gone on for months, as the British and Italian navies both looked to secure maritime supply routes for their colonies. With the enormous demands of a global war beginning to tell, the British capital ships were simply too thinly spread for a large fleet action against Taranto, where the bulk of the Italian fleet lay menacingly. How was the Royal Navy to eliminate the threat of the Regia Marina?
This is the story of one...
The Royal Navy's stunning attack on Taranto in 1940 heralded a new age of warfare. It was the decisive moment in a struggle for dominance of the Me...
For the best part of three centuries the "corsairs," or pirates, from the "Barbary" coasts of North Africa dominated the western and central Mediterranean, making forays far into the Atlantic and preying on the shipping and coastal settlements across Christian Europe, ranging from Greece to West Africa to the British Isles. In the absence of organized European navies, they seldom faced serious opposition, and the scope of their raiding was remarkable.
As well as piracy and slave-raiding, they fought as privateers, sharing their spoils with the rulers of the port cities that...
For the best part of three centuries the "corsairs," or pirates, from the "Barbary" coasts of North Africa dominated the western and central Medite...
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...
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 ...
