" Smedley Butler's life and career epitomize the contradictory nature of American military policy through the first part of this century. Butler won renown as a Marine battlefield hero, campaigning in most of America's foreign military expeditions from 1898 to the late 1920s. He became the leading national advocate for paramilitary police reform. Upon his retirement, however, he renounced war and imperialism and devoted his energy and prestige to various dissident and leftist political causes.

History of the United States Naval Operations in World War II.

Martin Bowman's considerable experience as a military historian has spanned over forty years, during which time he has spent hundreds of hours interviewing and corresponding with numerous men and women and their relatives, in Britain, America and beyond, resulting in a wealth of material on the war at sea from World War One to the Falklands and the wars on terror. All these narratives have been woven into a highly readable and emotional outpouring of life and death in action in all his titles, as here, in World War Two, where the men of the Fleet Air Arm and the US Navy fighter (operating bomber and torpedo carrying aircraft) describe the compelling, gripping and thought-provoking narrative of the air war in the freezing Atlantic wastes to the waters of the mighty Pacific.

This book is a volume in the Penn Press Anniversary Collection. To mark its 125th anniversary in 2015, the University of Pennsylvania Press rereleased more than 1,100 titles from Penn Press's distinguished backlist from 1899-1999 that had fallen out of print. Spanning an entire century, the Anniversary Collection offers peer-reviewed scholarship in a wide range of subject areas.

This authoritative register brings together a wealth of detailed historical and technical information about all the major combat ships in the U. S. Navy--from the sail frigates of the Revolution to today's nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines, from the ships of George Washington to the fleet that fought Operation Desert Storm. Conceived and developed by K. Jack Bauer before his death, and extended and brought up-to-date by Stephen S. Roberts, this reference guide is designed for the general student of American naval history, for military historians, for navy/ship buffs, and indeed for all who thirst for interesting information about American ships over the last 300 years. The volume contains tables, notes, sixty-eight photographs, a list of ship and engine builders, and indexes to the hull numbers and names of all ships included in the volume.

The register provides a brief introduction and then covers the Sail Navy (1775-1853), the Old Steam Navy (1814-1876), and the New Navy (1883 to present). Ships are arranged by type and then chronologically by date of authorization. The entry for each class begins with a listing of the key technical specifications, including important changes in armament. Next comes a table listing all the ships in the class with their builders and construction dates, and final disposition. The entry concludes with notes containing other essential information, including reconstructions, renamings, and reclassifications. In many cases these notes also indicate why the ships were built and point to the significance of their designs. Merchant ships acquired for service as major combatants are also described in an abbreviated format.

During the late stages in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, U.S. Navy Captain George Dyer was wounded in action, but vowed to return. In 1944 he accepted an assignment on the heavy cruiser the USS Astoria. This was a "vengeance ship" whose mission was to avenge a sunken warship lost during the worst sea defeat in American naval history. Just getting into action would prove to be a battle. Dyer's crew was comprised of late-war draftees, disciplinary castoffs, and broken veterans of previous traumatic combat. The new ship herself proved a further liability--the product of a failing shipyard torn by labor strife, shoddy craftsmanship, and materiel shortages. From a typhoon where the ocean was enemy to daring rescue missions in the Philippines to a gallant turn at Iwo Jima to the ultimate crucible against the Kamikaze, the men of Astoria endured the worst of the final year of the war at sea. The reluctant "vengeance ship" was called to respond in a manner that could never have been anticipated. Throughout, the men slept at their stations, fought crippling fatigue, and tested the limits of human endurance. Days of Steel Rain brings to life more than a decade of research and firsthand interviews, depicting with unprecedented insight a group of American men fighting at sea. Throughout, author Brent Jones fills the narrative with secret diaries, memoirs, letters, interpersonal conflicts, and the innermost thoughts of the Astoria men. Blended with official records, Days of Steel Rain weaves an intimate, unforgettable portrait of heroism, endurance, and redemption.

The Sword of Albion concludes the most comprehensive and intimate life of Nelson ever written, one that teems with a glittering array of sailors and civilians, heroes and villains, husbands, wives and lovers. Here are Nelson's famous victories at the battles of the Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar as well as his lesser-known yet equally gripping campaigns. But behind the military prowess is a man riven with paradoxes and schisms: the fighting admiral and the glory-hunter, the national hero and the indigent commoner, the family man and the adulterer. This is an epic, triumphant and tragic life, and a masterpiece of the biographer's art.

"I am just one of many who experienced life on a submarine during World War II. Silent Running is a story sincerely told—free of any revisionism or cynicism—and I commend Vice Admiral Calvert for sharing this dramatic personal account of that difficult and exciting time." —President George Bush

"Hardened old sub vet that I am, I still felt the need for two weeks R&R after reliving Jim's only too realistic war patrolling adventures." —C. W. Nimitz, Jr., Rear Admiral, USN (Ret.)

"I believe it is the best personal account yet written on U.S. submarine operations in the Second World War. [Calvert] writes with lucidity and a rare candor. We get an extraordinary sense of what it was like, feeling the tensions and emotions, sharing the successes and disappointments, ... This is a true story with teal people, always gripping and sometimes tender. It is exciting to read and hard to put down. —J. L. Holloway, Admiral, USN (Ret.) President, Naval Historical Society, Chief of Naval Operations, 1974-1978.

"I knew Jim Calvert Throughout the war, and in this book he has told the submarine story in a way that catches the flavor and tang of the real thing. This is the way it really was." —Frederick B. Warder, Rear Admiral, USN (Ret.) Legendary W.W. II skipper of the Seawolf.

41 Squadron RAF is one of the oldest RAF Squadrons in existence, having celebrated its 95th Anniversary in 2011. The unit has seen service from the First World War through policing duties in the Middle East in the 1930s, throughout the Second World War, and more recently in the First Gulf War. Sadly, however, its history has never been written. Blood, Sweat and Valour is the first comprehensive study of this gallant squadron, concentrating on its Second World War activity between August 1942 and May 1945 with a specific emphasis on the men who earned the enviable reputation the squadron still enjoys today. Blood, Sweat and Valour recounts the unit's role within battles, operations, offensives and larger strategies, and details experiences made by the pilots and ground crew participating in them. The squadron's actions are often revealed for the first time, through records that have hitherto never been available. Sources include over 350 documents from 41 Squadron's archives, and thousands of pages of data from over 250 National Archives files and hundreds of references from the London Gazette, major periodicals, books and websites from across the globe in both English and German. Personal sources also include 35 pilots' logbooks, 40 personal accounts and interviews.

The defeat that Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock suffered at Coronel in 1914 at the hands of Maximilian Graf von Spee, one of Germany's most brilliant naval commanders, was the most humiliating blow to British naval prestige since the eighteenth century and a defeat that had to be avenged immediately. On 8 December 1914, the German squadron steamed towards Port Stanley, unaware that in the harbour lay two great British battle-cruisers, the 'Invincible' and 'Inflexible'. Realizing this, Spee had no option but to turn and flee. Hour by hour during that long day, the British ships closed in until, eventually, Spee was forced to confront the enemy. With extraordinary courage, and against hopeless odds, the German cruisers fought to the bitter end. At five-thirty that afternoon, the last ship slowly turned and rolled to the bottom. Cradock and Britain had been avenged.

USS Kidd (DD-661) is the only Fletcher-class destroyer preserved in WWII configuration. With 175 total ships launched, the Fletchers were the most numerous and most impactful class of destroyers in the US Navy during the Second World War. DD-661 was named for RAdm. Isaac C. Kidd, who was killed onboard the Battleship Arizona at Pearl Harbor. USS Kidd saw action in both the Atlantic and in the Pacific. In April 1945, the ship was seriously damaged by a Kamikaze strike. Kidd was recommissioned during the Korean War, and finally decommissioned for the final time in 1964. The interior and exterior of the ship have been painstakingly restored and preserved in Baton Rouge by the Louisiana Naval War Memorial Commission. This work uses color photography to provide readers an illustrated tour of the ship, above and below deck.

From one of the most admired admirals of his generation-and the only admiral to serve as Supreme Allied Commander at NATO-comes a remarkable voyage through all of the world's most important bodies of water, providing the story of naval power as a driver of human history and a crucial element in our current geopolitical path. From the time of the Greeks and the Persians clashing in the Mediterranean, sea power has determined world power. To an extent that is often underappreciated, it still does. No one understands this better than Admiral Jim Stavridis. In Sea Power, Admiral Stavridis takes us with him on a tour of the world's oceans from the admiral's chair, showing us how the geography of the oceans has shaped the destiny of nations, and how naval power has in a real sense made the world we live in today, and will shape the world we live in tomorrow. Not least, Sea Power is marvelous naval history, giving us fresh insight into great naval engagements from the battles of Salamis and Lepanto through to Trafalgar, the Battle of the Atlantic, and submarine conflicts of the Cold War. It is also a keen-eyed reckoning with the likely sites of our next major naval conflicts, particularly the Arctic Ocean, Eastern Mediterranean, and the South China Sea. Finally, Sea Power steps back to take a holistic view of the plagues to our oceans that are best seen that way, from piracy to pollution. When most of us look at a globe, we focus on the shape of the of the seven continents. Admiral Stavridis sees the shapes of the seven seas. After reading Sea Power, you will too. Not since Alfred Thayer Mahan's legendary The Influence of Sea Power upon History have we had such a powerful reckoning with this vital subject.

In early 1942, the Japanese Army and Navy were advancing on all fronts, humiliating their US, British and Dutch foes throughout the Asia Pacific. In a matter of just months, the soldiers and sailors of the Rising Sun conquered an area even bigger than Hitler's empire at its largest extent. They seemed invincible. Hawaiians and Australians were fearing a future under Hirohito. For half of mankind, fate was hanging in the balance. Fast forward to the end of 1943, and the tables had been turned entirely. A reinvigorated American-led military machine had kicked into gear, and the Japanese were fighting a defensive battle along a frontline that crossed thousands of miles of land and ocean. Japan Runs Wild, 1942-1943 by acclaimed author Peter Harmsen details the astonishing transformation that took place in that period, setting the Allies on a path to final victory against Japan. This second installment in the trilogy, War in the Far East, picks up the story where first volume Storm Clouds over the Pacific, 1931-1941 left off. The trilogy will give a comprehensive view of World War II in the Asia Pacific, with due emphasis on the central Japanese-American struggle, but also examining the role of the other nations engulfed in the vast showdown: British, Australians, Soviets, Filipinos, Indians and Koreans. Above all, the central importance of China is highlighted in a way that no previous general history of the war against Japan has achieved.

The inspiration behind the HBO series THE PACIFIC This was a brutish, primitive hatred, as characteristic of the horror of war in the Pacific as the palm trees and the islands... Landing on the beach at Peleliu in 1944 as a twenty-year-old new recruit to the US Marines, Eugene Sledge can only try desperately to survive. At Peleliu and Okinawa - two of the fiercest and filthiest Pacific battles of WWII - he witnesses the dehumanising brutality displayed by both sides and the animal hatred that each soldier has for his enemy. During temporary lapses in the fighting, conditions on the islands mean that the Marines often can't wash, stay dry, dig latrines, or even find time to eat. Suffering from constant fear, fatigue, and filth, the struggle of simply living in a combat zone is utterly debilitating. Yet despite horrendous conditions Sledge finds time to keep notes that he would later turn into a book. Described as one of the finest memoirs to emerge from any war, With the Old Breed tells with compassion and honesty of the cruelty, bravery and deaths of the men he fought alongside, and of his own journey from patriotic innocence to battle-scarred veteran. 'Eugene Sledge became more than a legend with his memoir, With The Old Breed. He became a chronicler, a historian, a storyteller who turns the extremes of the war in the Pacific - the terror, the camaraderie, the banal and the extraordinary - into terms we mortals can grasp' Tom Hanks

Applying strategic theory to outer space and drawing out the implications for international relations Offers a definitive and original vision of space warfare that theorises often-overlooked aspects of contemporary space activities based in the discipline of Strategic Studies. This original research draws out the implications of spacepower for wider debate in grand strategy and IR. Applies the theory in a topical and contentious area within contemporary grand strategy - anti-access and area-denial warfare in the Taiwan Strait between China and America. Key principles are summarised in seven propositions to make the key take-aways of theory applicable and memorable for researchers and practitioners. This book presents a theory of spacepower and considers the implications of space technology on strategy and international relations. The spectre of space warfare stalks the major powers as outer space increasingly defines geopolitical and military competition. As satellites have become essential for modern warfare, strategists are asking whether the next major war will begin or be decided in outer space. Only strategic theory can explore the decisiveness and effects of war in space upon `grand strategy' and international relations. The author applies the wisdom of military strategy to outer space, and presents a compelling new vision of Earth orbit as a coastline, rather than an open ocean or an extension of airspace as many have assumed. Rooted in the classical military works of Clausewitz, Mahan, and Castex to name a few, this book presents comprehensive principles for strategic thought about space that explain the pervasive and inescapable influence of spacepower on strategy and the changing military balance of the 21st century.

Following the disastrous Java Sea campaign, the Allies went on the offensive in the Pacific in a desperate attempt to halt the Japanese forces that were rampaging across the region. With the conquest of Australia a very real possibility, the stakes were high. Their target: the Japanese-held Soloman Islands, in particular the southern island of Guadalcanal.

Hamstrung by arcane pre-war thinking and a bureaucratic mind-set, the US Navy had to adapt on the fly in order to compete with the mighty Imperial Japanese Navy, whose ingenuity and creativity thus far had fostered the creation of its Pacific empire. Starting with the amphibious assault on Savo Island, the campaign turned into an attritional struggle where the evenly matched foes sought to grind out a victory.

Following on from his hugely successful book Rising Sun, Falling Skies, Jeffrey R. Cox tells the gripping story of the first Allied offensive of the Pacific War, as they sought to prevent Japan from cutting off Australia and regaining dominance in the Pacific.

As the U.S. Navy enters the twenty-first century, many of the ships, aircraft, weapons, and tactics it employed so successfully during the Cold War will no longer be cost-effective or even effective. Future battlefields will shift the locus of naval action from the high seas into littoral waters, demanding sustained operations in relatively narrow, shallow waters. Naval forces in the twenty-first century must not only meet the traditional requirements of command of the sea--ships, planes, troops, and bases--carrying out forward presence, crisis response, strategic deterrence, and sealift. They must now put these together to obtain the four key operational capabilities of littoral warfare: command, control, intelligence and surveillance, and communication; battlespace dominance; power projection; and force sustainment. The core of the new U.S. strategic concept is power projection, and it envisions naval forces directly leading Army and Air Force elements to influence events ashore, most probably in the Third World. And this navy must be cost effective.

Since its publication in 1911, Sir Julian's Corbett's Some Principles of Maritime Strategy has remained a key document within naval strategic thinking. Yet despite his undoubted influence, Corbett's theories have not been subjected to scientific review and systematic comparison with other naval thinkers. In this assessment, Dr Widen has provided a fresh interpretation of Corbett's legacy and his continued relevance as a classic theorist of naval war. Divided into three parts, the book begins with a brief biographical overview of Corbett's life, highlighting in particular his bibliographic history and the influences on his thinking. The latter two sections then describe and assess Corbett's views on military and naval theory, respectively. Together these two parts represent his overall theory of maritime strategy, including his conception of limited war, his intellectual debt to Clausewitz, command of the sea, his critic of decisive battle, as well as the different methods of naval operations. By means of a thorough assessment of Corbett's theory of maritime strategy, Dr Widen highlights the continued relevance of his theories. Both the strengths and shortcomings of Corbett's thinking are discussed and reflections offered on their intellectual, practical and doctrinal value. In so doing, Dr Widen has written a book that deserves to be read by anyone with an interest in the past, present or future of maritime strategy.

A gripping account of the epic hunt for Hitler's most terrifying battleship - the legendary Tirpitz - and the brave men who risked their lives to attack and destroy this most potent symbol of the Nazi's fearsome war machine. Tirpitz was the pride of Hitler's navy. To Churchill, she was 'the Beast', a menace to Britain's supply lines and a threat to the convoys sustaining Stalin's armies. Tirpitz was said to be unsinkable, impregnable -no other target attracted so much attention. In total 36 major Allied operations were launched against her, including desperately risky missions by human torpedoes and midget submarines and near-suicidal bombing raids. Yet Tirpitz stayed afloat. It was not until November 1944 that she was finally destroyed by RAF Lancaster Bombers flown by 617 Squadron - the Dambusters - in a gruelling mission that tested the very limits of human endurance. The man who led the raid - Willie Tait - was one of the most remarkable figures of the war, flying missions almost continuously right from the start. Until now his deeds have been virtually unknown. With exclusive co-operation from Tait's family, Patrick Bishop reveals the extraordinary achievement of a man who shunned the spotlight but whose name will be renowned for generations to come. The book is a magnificent, accessibly written wartime adventure, perfect for fans of Ben Macintyre's 'Agent Zigzag' or 'Operation Mincemeat'.

It was a miracle three years in the making, a testimony to American fortitude and ingenuity-and perhaps the key to why the United States won a war that after Pearl Harbor seemed hopeless. Impeccably researched deep in the archives at Pearl Harbor and Washington DC, Revenge of the Dreadnoughts is colorfully written, personal, chilling, visceral, Historian Keith Warren Lloyd brings his gift for injecting life and personalities and heretofore untold stories of the men and women involved--members of what became known as The Greatest Generation-whose heroism and sacrifice brought about the miraculous new life of a sleeping military force that was reeling and on its knees. It is a story has never before been old in such detail and with such vibrancy. On the night of 24 October 1944, a force of two battleships, one heavy cruiser and four destroyers from the Imperial Japanese Navy steamed into Surigao Strait in the Philippines. Their objective: to attack the invasion fleet of General Douglas MacArthur's army in Leyte Gulf. Alerted by scouting PT boats, the U.S. 7th Fleet under the command of Rear Admiral Jesse Oldendorf prepared a deadly trap. Waiting for the enemy force were five American battleships and supporting cruisers and destroyers. Oldendorf performed the classic naval maneuver of "crossing the T" which allowed the American ships to fire broadsides at the oncoming Japanese vessels, while the enemy could only fire with their forward turrets. When the smoke cleared, the Japanese fleet had been all but annihilated. Only one destroyer escaped. The victorious American battleships were the Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, California, and Tennessee, five of the eight dreadnoughts that had been sunk at Pearl Harbor. The five ships had been raised, repaired, modified and re-manned. After three long years, they finally had their revenge. Revenge of the Dreadnoughts takes readers from the attack on Pearl Harbor, telling the story of the severe damage dealt to each ship and the incredible acts of courage performed by the sailors of each crew that morning. It continues with how each ship was raised and repaired-Herculean in scope-- and the mustering of new commanders, officers and crewmen. The final drama unfolds as of each ship returns triumphantly to the battle fleet, and the ultimate triumph at the battle of Surigao Strait.

This historical biography of John Monroe "Hawk" Smith, Navy fighter pilot, is a gripping account of valor, sacrifice, and adventure during one of the most tumultuous periods in carrier aviation. It was no surprise when Hawk, having completed a stunning tour as commanding officer of TOPGUN, received orders to a frontline F-14 Tomcat squadron-VF-213, the "Black Lions." Hawk joined the Black Lions prior to their March 1979 deployment. Several critical factors portended to a most arduous workup period and deployment-there were issues lurking. But Hawk was a man who did not shy away from a challenge. Soon, the Lions would have opportunities to show their colors. These included the first-ever Fighter Derby at NAS Miramar, California-the "World Cup" for naval fighter squadrons, and Constant Peg, a highly classified "Black Program" that exposed aircrews to the capabilities of Soviet fighters. Aviation enthusiasts and historians will be captivated by the historical fidelity and descriptive air combat engagements, amused by the perpetual mirth of TACAIR aviators, and inspired by lessons of leadership that apply to all walks of life.

In this work, two senior naval historians analyze the discussions held in leading Soviet political, military, and naval circles concerning naval strategy and the decisions taken for warship-building programmes. They describe the reconstitution of the fleet under difficult conditions from the end of the Civil War up to the mid-1920s, leading to a change from classical naval strategy to a Jeune ecole model in the first two Five-Year Plans, including efforts to obtain foreign assistance in the design of warships and submarines. Their aim is to explain the reasons for the sudden change in 1935 to begin building a big ocean-going fleet. After a period of co-operation with Germany from 1939-41, the plans came to a halt when Hitler attacked the Soviet Union in 1941. Finally, this work covers the reopening of the naval planning processes in 1944 and 1945 and the discussions of the naval leadership with Stalin, the party and government officials about the direction of the new building programmes as the Cold War began.

Nelson explores the professional, personal, intellectual and practical origins of the man's genius, to understand how the greatest warrior that Britain has ever produced transformed the art of conflict, and enabled his country to survive the challenge of total war and international isolation. The most authoritative biography of Nelson from Britain's foremost naval warfare historian Very well received in hardback A blockbuster paperback edition to reach all fans of historical adventure and military history 2005 is the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar

Author of Lincoln and His Admirals (winner of the Lincoln Prize), The Battle of Midway (Best Book of the Year, Military History Quarterly), and Operation Neptune, (winner of the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature), Craig L. Symonds has established himself as one of the finest naval historians at work today. World War II at Sea represents his crowning achievement: a complete narrative of the naval war and all of its belligerents, on all of the world's oceans and seas, between 1939 and 1945. Opening with the 1930 London Conference, Symonds shows how any limitations on naval warfare would become irrelevant before the decade was up, as Europe erupted into conflict once more and its navies were brought to bear against each other. World War II at Sea offers a global perspective, focusing on the major engagements and personalities and revealing both their scale and their interconnection: the U-boat attack on Scapa Flow and the Battle of the Atlantic; the "miracle" evacuation from Dunkirk and the pitched battles for control of Norway fjords; Mussolini's Regia Marina-at the start of the war the fourth-largest navy in the world-and the dominance of the Kidoe Butai and Japanese naval power in the Pacific; Pearl Harbor then Midway; the struggles of the Russian Navy and the scuttling of the French Fleet in Toulon in 1942; the landings in North Africa and then Normandy. Here as well are the notable naval leaders-FDR and Churchill, both self-proclaimed "Navy men," Karl Doenitz, Francois Darlan, Ernest King, Isoroku Yamamoto, Erich Raeder, Inigo Campioni, Louis Mountbatten, William Halsey, as well as the hundreds of thousands of seamen and officers of all nationalities whose live were imperiled and lost during the greatest naval conflicts in history, from small-scale assaults and amphibious operations to the largest armadas ever assembled. Many have argued that World War II was dominated by naval operations; few have shown and how and why this was the case. Symonds combines precision with story-telling verve, expertly illuminating not only the mechanics of large-scale warfare on (and below) the sea but offering wisdom into the nature of the war itself.