Originally published during the early part of the twentieth century, the Cambridge Manuals of Science and Literature were designed to provide concise introductions to a broad range of topics. They were written by experts for the general reader and combined a comprehensive approach to knowledge with an emphasis on accessibility. Printed in 1913, The Modern Warship by Edward L. Attwood offers a pre-First World War account of the design and construction of British warships, from a naval architect's perspective.

In a companion volume to his Early Jet Fighters: British and American 1944-1954, Leo Marriott describes, using over 200 archive photographs, the first decade in the development of the jet bomber. This was a time of intense technical innovation which transformed the design and capabilities of the bomber and gave birth to a range of classic military aircraft in the USA, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union. The photographs take the story from the earliest jet bombers constructed in Germany towards the end of the Second World War to the successful designs both sides depended on through the first phase of the Cold War. The pace of development was rapid and remarkable, from initial prototypes built in Germany - the Arado 234 and the Junkers Ju. 287 - to the fleets of advanced jet bombers like the British Canberra and V-bombers, the American B-47 and B-52 and the Soviet Il-28 Beagle and Tu-16 Badger. The images of the prototypes give a fascinating insight into the extraordinary technical challenges and the ambition and inventiveness of the designers and manufacturers who overcame them. Leo Marriott's vivid selection of photographs and his lucid historical narrative offer the reader an overview of a dynamic stage in the evolution of the design of military aircraft.

The perfect way to study for the ASVAB whether you have two months, one month, or even one week left to prepare! The ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) consists of ten subtests, including Electronics Information, Automotive and Shop Information, Mechanical Comprehension, and Assembling Objects, that help determine what job in the U.S. military a successful enlistee is qualified for. More than one million people per year participate in the ASVAB qualifying program. Features of this plan-to-ace-the-test product include: Timed, boxed calendars for preparing to take the test--two-month study calendar, one-month study calendar, and one-week study calendar Diagnostic test that helps test-takers pinpoint strengths and weaknesses so they can focus their review on topics in which they need the most help Subject reviews that succinctly cover need-to-know topics on the test Model practice test with answers and explanations

The T-55 is one of the most iconic weapons created by the Soviets during the Cold War and also one of the most widely deployed weapons in history. Like its younger brother, the T-54, the T-55 enjoyed a long career in the Red Army and even into the early days of the reformed Russian Army. Under their control it saw very little combat use or deployments, but it was widely sold to other nations and participated in many of the wars and combat operations from the mid-1960s to the present. The T-55 has been employed in almost every conflict in the Middle East and Africa from its introduction into service. Even today the tank is still employed by both sides in the Syrian Civil War, and they are also in service with Kurdish forces in the struggle against ISIS in the northern part of Iraq. Containing more than 400 stunning contemporary and modern photographs, and written by two experts on Soviet armour, this authoritative book tells the complete story of the T-55, one of the most widely produced tanks of all time.

'...and if there had been only one survivor, there would have been no mystery in any of these cases...'Bestselling author John Harris freshly investigates seven of the most gripping and intriguing voyages of the past 150 years. Bringing his unique skills as a novelist and sailor to reassess the fragmentary evidence, he aims to finally answer these enduring and terrifying mysteries. He takes us: Aboard Erebus and Terror on Sir John Franklin's disastrous Arctic expedition, last seen parting from their escort... Aboard the Mary Celeste, crewed by a well-respected captain and an experienced crew, abandoned in the mid-Atlantic... Aboard the battleship Maine, blown sky-high in Havana harbour... Aboard the collier Cyclops, disappeared between Barbados and Virginia during the First World War... Aboard the Teignmouth Electron, winner-apparent of the round the world yacht race, sighted deserted and drifting... This is life at sea at its most epic and frightening.

In Europe, World War II was four months old by Christmas 1939. The City of Flint, an American freighter, had been instrumental in rescuing 1200 passengers from a torpedoed ocean liner, making headlines on both sides of the Atlantic. She was captured by a Nazi warship and sent towards a German port, rigged with explosives to ensure the British Navy would not capture it. Norwegian soldiers liberated the ship-by then even Hitler knew her name. Christmas 1942 saw the City of Flint in New York with other freighters loading for North Africa. Allied codes had been cracked and the convoy was expected by a group of U-Boats. Secretly carrying poison gas as part of her cargo, she was torpedoed and exploded on January 25, 1943. Eleven survivors in her fourth lifeboat fought mountainous seas, sharks and hunger. One went mad and walked overboard. The others survived 46 days before rescue. Eyewitness accounts, war diaries and archival sources bring this untold story to life.

Although bombed at Pearl Harbor, USS Tennessee was back to sea before the year was over. The crew of the resilient warship fought from Alaska's Aleutian Islands to Tokyo Bay, surviving enemy artillery, bombs, and kamikaze attacks, and even collisions with other American warships. In 1945, Tennessee took part in the famous Battle of Surigao Strait, the last battleship versus battleship combat in history. The hundreds of photographs in this volume, many previously unpublished, trace the history of this iconic warship from its launching in Brooklyn in 1919 to its scrapping in Baltimore forty years later. Part of the Legends of Warfare series.

As the Allies attempted to break out of Normandy, it quickly became apparent that there would be no easy victory over the Germans, and that every scrap of territory on the way to Berlin would have to be earned through hard fighting. This study concentrates on, the ferocious battles between the German Panzer IV and US Sherman that were at the heart of this decisive phase of World War II. The two types were among the most-produced tanks in US and German service and were old enemies, having clashed repeatedly in the Mediterranean theater. Throughout their long service careers, both had seen a succession of technical developments and modifications, as well as an evolution in their intended roles - but both remained at the forefront of the fighting on the Western Front. Written by an expert on tank warfare, this book invites the reader into the cramped confines of these armoured workhorses, employing vivid technical illustrations alongside archive and contemporary photography to depict the conditions for the crewmen within.

Regarded by many as one of the greatest tanks ever built, the German Panther is probably the finest medium tank of the Second World War. Some 7,000 were made, combining firepower, armour protection and mobility that was unmatched by any other tank of the period. On the Eastern Front it was the primary nemesis of the Russian T-34 tank in the last two years of the war. Ironically, the Panther's genesis lay in the need for the Germans to come up with a new tank design after the T-34 had rendered the Panzer III obsolete almost overnight after Operation Barbarossa in June 1941. The Panther made its combat debut in Russia at the Battle of Kursk in July 1943 and all major German tank development after this point was influenced by the design features of the T-34. Soviet tank crews were not alone in recognising the Panther as a deadly adversary. The Allied armies in Europe encountered it during the Normandy campaign in 1944 and considered the Panther to be the most formidable German armoured fighting vehicle in Europe through to 1945. Such was the effectiveness of the Panther that the French Army used it for a period after the Second World War as it rebuilt its own armoured force.

Germany built the first operational jet aircraft during World War II, the Messerschmitt Me 262. Siegfried Decher was part of the engineering team that designed the engines that powered the 262. At the end of the war, Decher was nearly stranded in the Soviet Occupation Zone, but the US military made contact and offered a way out. As the principal responsible for a control system in the Jumo engine, Decher was of value to the Allies. Plans to evacuate during Operation Paperclip fell through. After a detour in France, Decher reached American shores several years later, where he enjoyed a successful career in the civil aviation industry. This untold story of early jet development, surviving the collapse of the Reich, and starting over in America is recounted by Siegfried's son, Reiner. Reiner, an accomplished engineer in his own right, constructs the story through a combination of his own memories and original letters and documents from his family archive.

McCook Field was a small air base in Dayton, Ohio, that was active only from 1917 to 1927. McCook was exceptional because it was designated by the US Signal Corps / Army Air Corps as an aeronautical research facility. As the centre of prototype testing of new aircraft, McCook was a magnet for the leading aviators and engineers of the time. This work contains unpublished interviews with 20 of those aviation pioneers. Interviewees include WWII hero Jimmy Doolittle; test pilot Harold R. Harris (the first man to fly in a pressurized cockpit, first to bail out with a free fall parachute); WWII Tenth Air Force commander Howard Davidson; Major General Franklin O. Carroll, who oversaw the development of the first American military jet aircraft; Oakley Kelley, who made the first nonstop flight across the United States in 1923; the first SAC (Strategic Air Command) commander, George C. Kenney; Consolidated Aircraft Company founder Rueben Fleet; and Alexander Seversky, who created the Norden bombsight and founded the Republic Aviation Corporation. The majority of the interviews were conducted by the author in-person, with the remainder being drawn from audio-recorded interviews by a personal friend, General George W. Goddard.

This series of books provides details of all USN warships from 1893 to the present day. Every class and individual ship has an entry providing details of the procurement, dimensions and characteristics, and a summary of each ship's history and development. Profusely illustrated with photos. An essential manual for all US Navy enthusiasts and historians. This is volume four, part three - Destroyers (1937-1943).

Find out how a pilot was instructed in flying a Battle of Britain fighter, using the original Pilot's Notes for the Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane, as well as Air Ministry flying notes on captured Messerschmitt Bf 109s. See how each compares, view their cockpits and learn how they fly. All three aircraft handled superbly, and the Pilot's Notes help give an idea of what it was like to fl y in a real Second World War fighter aircraft. The aircraft were designed and first flew within months of each other, and all served throughout the war. More than 300 pilots on the Eastern Front shot down over 100 Soviet aircraft, each using Messerschmitt Bf 109s, while British aces in the Spitfire and Hurricane included Douglas Bader, Roland Beaumont, Neville Duke and Richard Hillary.

From the evacuation of France in 1940 to the final dash to Hamburg in 1945, the 5th Royal Tank Regiment were on the front line throughout the Second World War. Theirs was a war that saw them serve in Africa as part of the Desert Rats, before returning to Europe for the Normandy landings. Wherever they went, the notoriety of the 'Filthy Fifth' grew - they revelled in their reputation for fighting by their own rules. The Tank War explains how Britain, having lost its advantage in tank warfare by 1939, regained ground through shifts in tactics and leadership methods, as well as the daring and bravery of the crews themselves. Overturning the received wisdom of much Second World War history, Mark Urban shows how the tank regiments' advances were the equal of the feats of the German Panzer divisions. Drawing on a wealth of new material, from interviews with surviving soldiers to rarely seen archive material, this is an unflinchingly honest, unsentimental and often brutal account of the 5th RTR's wartime experiences. Capturing the characters in the crews and exploring the strategy behind their success, The Tank War is not just the story of an battle hardened unit, but something more extraordinary: the triumph of ordinary men, against long odds, in the darkest of times.

This new photo album is number 30 in the MMPBooks/Stratus "Camera On" series and is the first to cover in such photographic detail the usage of the Henschel Hs 126 aircraft. This book contains 140+ photographs mostly taken by the average German soldier and is an invaluable reference for military historians and modellers alike. A4 size, 80 pages.

A total of eleven British armoured divisions were formed during the 1939-1945 war but, as this highly informative book reveals, just eight saw action. In 1940 only 1st Armoured Division faced the overwhelming German blitzkrieg and it was in the North African desert that the armoured division concept came of age. The terrain was ideal for armoured warfare and six divisions of 8th Army fought Rommel's panzers to a standstill. Three were disbanded prior to the invasion of Sicily and Italy. D-Day saw the Guards Armoured, the Desert Rats, 11th and the unique 79th Armoured Divisions in action. Of particular interest is the influence of the men who led these formations and the way their characters contributed to the success or failure of operations. While some went on the greater heights others were dismissed either fairly or unfairly. The stakes were high. The author describes many fascinating aspects of armoured warfare, from the reluctance to replace the horse, the development of tactics or the different and improving tanks be they infantry support (I-Tank) or the faster cruiser tanks. Due to British design failure, great reliance was placed on the US Grant and Sherman with the Comet coming late and the Centurion too late. The combination of historical narrative and well researched analysis and fact make this an invaluable book for the student of WW2 and armoured warfare.

The story of how the Super Hornet and Growler came into existence is the focus of this new book. The F/A-18E/F has its roots in the late-1980s Hornet 2000 study, which itself evaluated ways to enhance the range, payload, and bring-back capability of the existing F/A-18 Hornet. Through a series of trade-offs imposed by largely limited defense funds, what emerged was a versatile, affordable strike fighter aircraft that has served the Navy well since its fleet introduction in 2002. The Growler has a similar history. Itself an offshoot of the Super Hornet program, the EA-18G brought many of the Super Hornet's attributes - speed, maneuverability, self-defense capability, and advanced systems - into the electronic attack community and is now posed to assume all such missions from the venerable EA-6B Prowler within the next few years. The book draws on interviews with many of the key players in the F/A-18E/F and EA-18G program and on many press reports of the day to tell the story of how these aircraft were designed, developed, and deployed. Moreover, the book provides insights into the problems faced by these key individuals as well as the management methods they used to produce aircraft that have consistently been delivered at or ahead of schedule, under cost, and under weight.

This book covers the complete and long overdue history of the Hunting/BAC Jet Provost and Strikemaster, which for thirty-eight years trained generations of pilots and pioneered the RAF's all-through flying training programme. Here, David Watkins has produced an extensive look at these aircraft after years of painstaking research assisted by veterans and historians. Having accessed the archives of the Warton Collection, he has amassed a range of rare photography to accompany the extraordinary history of these jets. From Jet Provost to Strikemaster is a work of narrative and technical detail which will satisfy the most avid aviation fans.

The McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier IIvertical/short takeoff and landing (VSTOL)is the US Marine Corps current frontline close-air-support aircraft. A variant of the famed British Aerospace Harrier II, the AV-8B is noted for its ability to hover in place, ideal for operating on smaller carriers and in less-than-ideal landing zones. This book provides a concise overview of VSTOL capabilities and the development of the Harrier jump jet in the UK, followed by the use of this aircraft by the US Marine Corps. USMC Harrier II units first combat missions were during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, followed by extensive deployments in eastern Europe, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

USS Intrepid, the "Fighting I," was one of America's longest-serving aircraft carriers. Launched during WWII, Intrepid and her crews weathered kamikazes, torpedoes, and typhoons throughout three years of heavy combat. Decommissioned after WWII, Intrepid was recommissioned in 1955 and designated as an attack carrier (CVA), and in 1961 as an antisubmarine warfare carrier (CVS). In the early 1960s, Intrepid served to retrieve some of the nation's first astronauts during the pioneering Mercury and Gemini spaceflights. In 1966, Intrepid made the first of three deployments to the Tonkin Gulf for combat operations with Carrier Air Wing 10 during the Vietnam War. Intrepid cruised throughout the North Atlantic and Mediterranean in the early 1970s while patrolling for Soviet submarines in antisubmarine operations during the Cold War. With her days at sea over, Intrepid first hosted the Navy exhibits during the US bicentennial celebrations in 1976, before finding a new home as the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum on the Hudson River waterfront in New York City.