The Second World War saw the apex of piston-engine aircraft design, and ushered the world into the jet age. Anybody who studies aviation will know the names: Spitfire, Mustang, Zero, Messerschmitt, Shturmovik. But there were many more aircraft to take to the skies before and during the war, and frequently their stories remain unknown. This book seeks to tell those stories, to bring to the fore the forgotten warbirds. From the valiant Poles fighting the might of the Luftwaffe in their obsolescent craft, to the varied and excellent craft of the French Armee De l'Air, to the graceful craft of Italy's Regia Aeronautica. With stops around the globe, this book seeks to tell the tales of the forgotten or the doomed or the never-quites. The stories of these aircraft, drawn from Allies and Axis nations alike, bring forth a fuller picture of aviation during the greatest airborne conflict in world history. Telling these stories will give readers an interesting, and informative, look into the past-with personal reflections and a call to arms for the study of history itself.

Richard Bueschel revises and updates his classic series of books on Japanese Naval and Army Air Force aircraft of World War II. The JAAF Nakajima Ki-84 HAYATE (Frank) is presented in this volume. All variations and markings are covered in this fifth book in a multi-volume series.

The Soviet T-34 medium tank needs no introduction, being the most famous tank ever built especially as has seen service across the globe throughout the twentieth century's most brutal wars. However, despite this fame, little has been written about its design changes. While most tank enthusiasts can differentiate between the 'T-34/76' and the 'T-34-85', identifying different factory production batches has proven more elusive. Until now. With nearly six hundred photographs, mostly taken by soldiers who both operated and fought against the T-34, this book seeks to catalogue and contextualise even the subtlest details to create a true 'T-34 continuum'. The book begins with the antecedents of the T-34, the ill-fated BT 'fast tank' series and the influence of the traumatic Spanish Civil War before moving to an in-depth look at the T-34's prototypes. After this, every factory production change is catalogued and contextualised, with never-before-seen photographs and stunning technical drawings. Furthermore, four battle stories are also integrated to explain the changing battle context when major production changes take place. The production story is completed with sections on the T-34's post-war production (and modification) by Czechoslovakia, Poland, and the People's Republic of China, as well as T-34 variants.

The M60 was a second-generation American main battle tank, the last in the line of Patton tanks that had first been developed at the end of World War. It entered operational service with the US Army in 1960 and some 15,000 M60s were manufactured by Chrysler at the Detroit Tank Arsenal Plant between then and when production ceased in 1983. It served with both the US Army and the US Marine Corps and was the principal tank deployed in Europe in the sixties, seventies and early eighties, providing NATO's main armoured force at the height of the Cold War. It became one of the most widely used armoured fighting vehicles of the twentieth century, serving in the armies of over 25 countries. It continued to serve alongside the M1 Abrams into the 1990s before this venerable Cold War warrior was finally retired from active service with the US military in 1997. This volume charts the development of the M60 from its origins in World War II to the Cold War. It focuses on its service with the US military and other NATO armies, examining its combat service in the First Gulf War and also with other armies in the Middle East. The book gives a full account of the wide range of kits and accessories available in all the popular scales and a modelling gallery features builds covering a range of M60s in service with various armed forces. Detailed colour profiles provide both reference and inspiration for modellers and military enthusiasts alike.

Suzutsuki (Japanese large World War II destroyer) Akizuki type, in service from 1943 to the end of the war. "Suzutsuki" was the third ship in a series of large Akizuki-type destroyers specifically designed as anti-aircraft defense ships, whose main armament consisted of 8 universal guns of 100 mm caliber, with excellent ballistic characteristics.

This book describes the development of the legendary F4U Corsair, and follows it into battle from Guadalcanal to the Indian Ocean, Central Pacific Ocean, Korea, Africa, and Central America, and throughout its lengthy military career into Korea. Also included are chapters on the most decorated Corsair pilots, surviving examples of various models, as well as detailed appendices, and the author's own detailed line schemes and maps. A total of 2,814 F4U-1, F4U-1A, and F4U-2 Corsairs were constructed and delivered. Musciano's book describes how this naval fighter was transformed to perform a myriad of functions for which it was never intended.

Though they were never the most glamorous of warships, found US Navy frigates were frequently found on the frontlines of the Cold War at sea. These warships were the descendants of World War II's destroyer escorts, designed primarily to escort convoys. They specialized in anti-submarine warfare, but were intended to be numerous, tough, versatile, and well-armed enough to show US naval power around the world, performing roles that varied from intercepting drug-smugglers to defending aircraft carriers. When the Cold War turned hot, frigates were often there. It was a US Navy frigate, Harold E. Holt, that conducted the US Navy's first hostile boarding action since 1826 during the SS Mayaguez incident. Frigates were at the forefront of operations in the Persian Gulf during the Tanker War, with the frigate USS Stark suffering a notorious Exocet attack by Iraqi warplanes, and proving the Oliver Hazard Perry-class's legendary toughness. This book explains how the technology and design of frigates changed during the Cold War, how the classes were modified to keep up to date, and explores the many varied missions they performed during the Cold War and since.

Still the largest U.S. military aircraft more than three decades after its first flight, the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy remains an integral part of Air Mobility Command into the 21st century. Lockheed C-5 Galaxy chronicles the development and service career of this behemoth of the airways, starting with the early 1960s requirement for a larger airlifter to supplement the C-141A, through Galaxy's troubled early history to the type's service during the Nickel Grass, Desert Shield, and other airlift operations. Several Galaxy counterparts, such as the Antonov An-124, are also depicted. Over 140 photographs, nearly all in color and many never before published, show the C-5 and other airlifters in a variety of paint schemes, while detail shots will be of use to the scale modeler.

The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars encompassed a period when rival European fleets vied for naval supremacy, and naval tactics were evolving. The British Royal Navy emerged triumphant as the leading world sea power, and the epitome of Britannic naval strength was the Ship of the Line. These "wooden walls" were more than merely floating gun batteries: they contained a crew of up to 800 men, and often had to remain at sea for extended periods. This text offers detailed coverage of the complex vessels that were the largest man-made structures produced in the pre-Industrial era. It includes discussion of some of the most famous individuals and ships of the day, such as Nelson, Cochrane, HMS Victory and HMS Indefatigable. There is also a catalogue of all British Ships-of-the-Line from 1792 to 1815, as well as Orders of Battle for Trafalgar, Copenhagen and the Nile.

The famed World War II vehicle - the German equivalent of the American "Jeep" - is presented here in a superb collection of vintage photographs, and detailed text included testing, production, guidebooks, and technical manuals. Included are the many variants that saw use on a variety of war fronts throughout the Second World War with special coverage of its extensive use in North Africa.

In the aftermath of World War II, the Continental Air Command was redesignated as the Strategic Air Command (SAC) as part of a plan to organize the Army Air Forces around three new organizations based on strategic, tactical and air defense missions.

Nearly everything about the SAC was secretive--its capabilities, strengths, order of battle and unit identities. Its aircraft were rarely photographed and those images that were captured revealed little information.

This book comprehensively documents SAC tactical aircraft markings from the organization's inception in 1946 to the end of the tail-marking era in April 1953, a period when the marking schemes included large tail markings, vivid squadron identification markings and attractive, colorful unit insignia. The SAC's history is described along with the evolution of its aircraft markings policy and basic definitions of markings terminology. There are individual unit sections on SAC's bombardment, strategic reconnaissance and fighter groups and wings. The text is heavily illustrated and features many never before seen photographs of SAC aircraft in full war paint.

The Republic Aviation Corporation F-84 series, the Thunderjet, Thunderstreak, and Thunderflash was the United States Air Forces first Post World War II jet fighter. As a somewhat sad result of this, it has been ignored by most aviation historians and aficionados. It was not the Air Forces first operational jet fighter, as that honor went to the Lockheed F-80 which was created during World War II. And it did not receive the glory of the North American Aviation F-86, which followed it in sequence and was more photogenic, faster, and more involved in the glory of aerial combat. Nevertheless, the F-84 performed its unheralded role in a true yeoman fashion. It, and its pilots and groundcrews, fought the air-to-mud role as a fighter bomber in Korea. It served as an interceptor, and in photo reconnaissance. It was the first jet fighter to be operationally capable of air refueling, and it was the first to be able to deliver a nuclear weapon. 4300 of the straight-wing F-84s were built, along with 2713 of the swept-wing F-84Fs, and 715 of the reconnaissance RF-84Fs. Almost 8000 unrecognized fighters, of which half of those produced served as a deterrent to enemy forces during the Cold War while being flown by friendly foreign countries.

The P1101 was Messerschmitts second jet aircraft after the Me 262. Designed as a fighter, the test version of this type was to serve as an experimental aircraft to test the swept wing concept. After World War II, the P1101 was brought to the U.S.A. and served there, among other things, as a testbed for the similar developments. Photos and data of this astonishing, yet understandably unknown aircraft with its futuristic technology are rare. This new book is a comprehensive documention. where not only the development history with all the important data concerning the P1101 is gathered, but also photos, detailed facts and figures about this aircraft. Of particular note are the numerous tabular comparisons with similar German and foreign aircraft from the war and post-war era. While there are innumerable German technical publications about well-known, mass-produced Messerschmitt aircraft, the authors have been successful with this book in supplementing these works with the portrayal of the last almost completed Messerschmitt aircraft. Willy Radinger and Walter Schick are also the authors of Messerschmitt Me 262: Development/Testing/Production (available from Schiffer Publishing Ltd.).

Israel acquired sixty-one Dassault Mystere IVA combat aircraft from France that were delivered to the Israeli Air Force from April to September 1956 and were issued to two units: Squadron 101 at Hatzor, in the south, and Squadron 109 at Ramat David, in the north. From 1956 until 1959, and to a lesser extent from 1959 until 1962, the Mystere was the ILAF's cutting-edge interceptor. From 1959, the Mystere's main mission shifted from air-to-air to air-to-ground, as more modern interceptors-Super Mystere from 1959 and Mirage from 1962-entered Israeli Air Force service. At the same time, the Israeli Air Force initiated an effort to introduce an attack aircraft to succeed the Mystere. The Squadron 109 Mystere era therefore covered mostly air-to-air from 1956 until 1962 and mostly air-to-ground from 1962 until 1968.

The fifty-ton British Centurion tank, developed during the darkest days of the Second World War, was designed to out-gun and out-perform the latest German tanks, such as the formidable Panzer V Panther. It was one of the most successful tanks ever produced, and this volume in the TankCraft series by Robert Jackson is the ideal introduction to it. The Centurion came into service too late to test its ability in action with German armour, but in the post-war world it earned a fearsome reputation in action during the many conflicts of the Cold War era, from the Middle East to Vietnam. Nearly 4,500 were built, serving with the armies of some twenty nations. The Centurion's chassis was also adapted to fulfil a variety of tasks, including armoured recovery, bridge-laying and guided weapons carrier. As well as tracing the history of the Centurion, Robert Jackson's book is an excellent source of reference for the modeller, providing details of available kits and photographs of award-winning models, together with artworks showing the colour schemes applied to these tanks. Each section of the book is supported by a wealth of archive photographs.

Flight Lieutenant David Moore Crook DFC's original _Spitfire Pilot_ ranks among the finest first-hand accounts published during the Second World War, particularly for a Battle of Britain airman. It rightly remains a sought-after classic. A Spitfire pilot during the epic aerial battles of the summer of 1940, 'DMC' became a decorated ace. However, he did not survive the war: his Spitfire inexplicably crashed into the sea off the Scottish coast on 18 December 1944\. A married man and father, he remains missing. First published under wartime conditions in 1942, _Spitfire Pilot_ was not heavily censored - unlike Squadron Leader Brian Lane DFC's similar first-hand account _Spitfire! The Experiences of a Fighter Pilot_, published the same year. DMC's book was based on his entries in two Stationary Office lined notebooks, hastily scribbled between sorties, and using his pilot's flying log book for reference. In 1990, the renowned Battle of Britain historian Dilip Sarkar traced DMC's widow, Dorothy, who enthusiastically supported the idea of re-publishing _Spitfire Pilot_. She duly uncovered bound copies of DMC's original manuscript, which she passed to Dilip. _The Real Spitfire Pilot_ is, therefore, DMC's original, completely uncensored and unedited words, shared here for the first time. It provides a totally authentic window on the past, providing a unique glimpse at the lives - and deaths - of real Spitfire pilots in our Finest Hour. With an introduction and conclusion by Dilip Sarkar, and illustrated with previously unseen photographs, this is destined to become another classic.

The Kriegsmarine's Scharnhorst was a German capital ship, described either as a battleship or battlecruiser, and the lead ship of her class, which included one other ship, Gneisenau. She was launched on 3 October 1936 and completed in January 1939, armed with nine 28cm C/34 guns in three triple turrets. She operated with Gneisenau for much of the early portion of World War II, including sorties into the Atlantic to raid British merchant shipping. They took part in Operation Weserubung (April-June 1940), the German invasion of Norway, during which they sank the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious and her escort destroyers Acasta and Ardent. Scharnhorst also sank HMS Rawalpindi in November 1939. In early 1943, Scharnhorst joined the Tirpitz in Norway to intercept Allied convoys to the Soviet Union. On a sortie from Norway to attack a convoy, the German force was intercepted by British ships and during the Battle of the North Cape (26 December 1943), HMS Duke of York and her escorts sank Scharnhorst. Most of her crew was lost. This is the most comprehensive examination of Scharnhorst ever published, drawing on new research and technology to tell the full story of the ship. It includes a complete set of detailed line drawings with fully descriptive keys and full-colour 3D artwork, supported by technical details, photographs, and text on the building of the ship, as well as a record of her service history.

On 20 April 1941, a group of distinguished Americans headed by the US Ambassador to the United Kingdom, John Winant, and which included Major General Henry 'Hap' Arnold, Chief of the US Army Air Corps, visited the de Havilland Aircraft Company's airfield at Hatfield, England. In this highly illustrated work, the author explores the full story of why the Americans wanted Mosquitoes, how they went about obtaining them, and their noted success and popularity with USAAF units.On 20 April 1941, a group of distinguished Americans headed by the US Ambassador to the United Kingdom, John Winant, and which included Major General Henry 'Hap' Arnold, Chief of the US Army Air Corps, visited the de Havilland Aircraft Company's airfield at Hatfield, England. AUTHOR: The son of an RAF pilot, Tony Fairbairn's childhood was spent on a variety of airfields around the world, which fired an early enthusiasm for aviation journalism and photography. While still at school in Singapore in the early 1960s he wrote his first article, for Air Pictorial, and then joined the RAF for a 30-year career. An active member of the RAF Historical Society, the American Aviation Historical Society and Air-Britain, he has authored two books, Action Stations Overseas and RAF Gibraltar, and over the years contributed to most of the national aviation magazines. His RAF duties included tours in Cyprus, Gibraltar and as an instructor at the RAF College, but it was a 1970s posting to East Anglia, an area resonant with disused American wartime airfields alongside current active ones, that sparked an interest in US aviation in general and the Second World War Eighth Air Force in particular. 150 b/w illustrations

This book captures the story of "Witchcraft," a B-24 Liberator, based in Rackheath, England, toward the end of World War II, that had a unique record in the 8th Army Air Force of flying 130 credited missions without aborting.This is a sequel to author Perry Watts' 2006 book (also published by Schiffer) on the 467th Heavy Bombardment Group, which sets this Liberator in context. In this book, Watts starts with Witchcraft's creation in the then-largest factory in the world in Michigan, then chronicles its transit like many Liberators to the UK via Brazil and Africa. The narrative provides detailed stories of Witchcraft's often hazardous missions with its Group over occupied Europe and during the battle for Germany 1944-5. This is a special testimony to why and how the B-24 played a key role in the World War II liberation of occupied Europe.

Number 7 in the Luftwaffe Profile Series describes the design and use of the Heinkel He 60.

The Lavochkin fighters remain little known in the West, although with the Yakovlev fighter series they were the backbone of the Red Air Force fighter force during the Second World War. The author rectifies that with this comprehensive history of these fighters. With this book he describes in great detail the three main variants of the Lavochkin fighter series during the Second World War: the only partially successful LaGG-3 inline-engined fighter, the successful radial-engined La-5 fighter, and the superb radial engined La-7 fighter, one of the best piston-engined fighter aircraft of the entire Second World War. Both the design and history of these fighters are featured, including how the mediocre inline engined LaGG-3 was turned into a top notch fighter by the replacement of the Klimov inline engine by the Shvetsov M-82 radial engine. Besides describing the wartime designs he includes a section on the postwar successors to the Second World War fighters, the completely new all metal La-9 and La-11, which saw extensive postwar service. Accurate color profiles illustrate all variants.

A highly illustrated history of the US Navy's nuclear submarine program, from the postwar years to the 2020 Columbia-class SSBNs. James C. Goodall covers the origins, design and development of the US Navy’s fleet of nuclear-powered submarines. This program was developed under the command of Hiram G. Rickover, the “Father of the Nuclear Navy” who oversaw the commissioning of the very first nuclear-powered attack submarine, the USS Nautilus (SSN 571) in 1952. This was a truly revolutionary design. Until the advent of nuclear power, the world’s submarine fleets traveled on the surface at night to charge their batteries, and only dove below the surface when enemy ships or planes were spotted. With the development of the USS Nautilus, the US Navy now had the ability to stay submerged for not just hours or days, but to hide out of harm’s way for weeks or months at a time This highly illustrated book covers all of the 220+ submarine hulls built and delivered to the US Navy from the USS Nautilus through to the Navy’s newest class of submarine, the Columbia class SSBNs. The story of the Nuclear Navy from its origins up to the present day is told through more than 1,300 images from official and archive sources, as well as the author’s own personal collection, some of which have never been published before.

In World War Two, allied armies were issued with identification guides to the enemy armour they might encounter on the battlefield. These black & white printed books were a vital aide for soldiers dealing with the confusion of fighting and the difficulty of identification at distance or in all weathers. The German tanks were often lethal to become entangled with and known to be formidable pieces of military engineering. The German army deployed a wide variety of tanks in many different variants and forms of camouflage. The likes of the Tiger have become famous and continue to be fascinating examples of World War Two firepower. This book features a unique collection of colour illustrations, showing in detail the vehicles' development and differences in design. The artwork is accompanied by descriptions and technical information about each tank, written by respected expect Craig Moore, making this an essential handbook for anyone interested in the German armed forces and World War Two armour.

How to fly the legendary fighter plane in combat using the manuals and instructions supplied by the RAF during the Second World War. An amazing array of leaflets, books and manuals were issued by the War Office during the Second World War to aid pilots in flying the Supermarine Spitfire, here for the first time they are collated into a single book. An introduction is supplied by expert aviation historian Dilip Sarkar. Other sections include aircraft recognition, how to act as an RAF officer, bailing out etc.returncharacterreturncharacter returncharacterreturncharacter REVIEWS returncharacterreturncharacter "The year this book is published, 2010, is the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain...recaps key aspects of it and the planning and execution of the air war in general as they relate to the Spitfire..."Speedreaders, 10/21/2010