The U.S. Navy s Patrol Torpedo (PT) Boats occupy a unique place in American popular view of World War II. From classic films (John Ford s They Were Expendable, based on Lieutenant John A. Wild Man Bulkeley s role in the evacuation from the Philippines via PT Boat of General Douglas MacArthur and his staff) to TV comedy (McHale s Navy) to the design of mosquito boat insignias for some squadrons by Walt Disney Studios, the PT boat is enshrined in public memory. Above all, the PT boat is remembered for the service of future President John F. Kennedy in the Pacific theater as commander of PT-109 (also the subject of a film). For all of these reasons, these speedy torpedo-bearing gunboats are perhaps the most renowned American naval vessels of the 20th century.In "At Close Quarters: PT Boats in the United States Navy," the U.S. Navy s 1962 official history of PT boats in World War II, author Robert J. Bulkley Jr., himself a PT boat skipper, provides the definitive account of the reality behind the romantic facade. After a brief Foreword by President Kennedy, the book opens with an account of PT boat activity in Philippine waters and Wild Man Bulkeley s evacuation of MacArthur, and a brief history of their design and construction. The author then provides a detailed account of PT boat attacks on capital ships and night raids on Japanese-held ports and shipping across the Pacific, including Guadalcanal and the Solomons, New Georgia, Bougainville, the Aleutians, and the return to the Philippines and beyond. Although usually viewed from the perspective of the war in the Pacific, At Close Quarters also provides valuable information about the lesser-known role of PT boats in the Mediterranean theater of operations, where they battled their Italian and German equivalents and pre- and post-D-Day operations against German E-boats. Profusely illustrated and carefully documented, At Close Quarters is a naval history classic that anchors the key role of the mosquito boat in the deeper reality behind its popular image.

This unique volume in the U-boat Aces series features the three German naval captains-Karl-Heinz Moehle, Reinhard Hardegen, and Horst von Schroeter-who commanded the U-123, a type IXB U-boat. In 12 patrols and 720 days at sea during its four-year WWII combat career, U-123 sank an incredible 44 Allied merchant and warships, ranking it with the third-most U-boat sinkings. Moehle, the first commander of U-123, successfully conducted three patrols in the North Atlantic and was awarded the Knight's Cross. Hardegen sank the first ship in US waters and was eventually awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross. Schroeter, appointed U-123's commander in June 1942, also received the Knight's Cross after four combat patrols. All 12 of U-123's combat patrols are discussed in detail, as well as its participation in the wartime propaganda film U-boats Westward! The featured rare photography comes from the German U-boat Archive in Cuxhaven, as well as from former crew members.

This book describes the history of a tragic event in USMC history and of how its impact led to reforms. In 1956 a Marine drill instructor led his recruit platoon on a punitive night march across Ribbon Creek, a tidal stream at the Parris Island, South Carolina, recruit depot. Six men drowned, and the resulting court-martial became a national media sensation putting the future of the corps into question. Written by a senior historian at the Marine Corps Historical Center, ""The U.S. Marine Corps in Crisis"" explores the social, political, and historical context of this tragic moment in U.S. military history as a case study in how bureaucratic institutions undertake internal reform and offering a valuable vantage point on tensions in American society during the 1950s.

Naval operations and warfare were, and remain, a key element for mapping. Maps were vital for commanders in drawing up plans of attack, and their detail and usefulness have increased over the centuries as the science of mapping has developed. This beautiful book examines stunning original maps from a series of key conflicts from the Spanish Armada, the American Wars of Independence, and the Napoleonic wars to twentieth century conflicts from the First World War to Vietnam, and explains how they were represented through mapping and how the maps produced helped naval commanders to plan their strategy.

From a broad, historical perspective, the dreadnought represents an archetype, and its history a kind of moral tale. Its awesome size, its formidable presence, and its immense power have gained it tremendous respect, loyalty, and, as Robert O'Connell shows in this myth-shattering book, unwarranted longevity as well. With provocative insight and wit he offers us an irreverent history of the modern battleship and its place in American history, from the sinking of the coal-fueled Maine in 1898 to the deployment of the cruise missile-armed Missouri in the Persian Gulf War of 1991.
The modern navies were the first of the armed services faced with fundamental and abrupt technological change. The wooden sailing ships that had fought sea battles for nearly two centuries were, in only a few years, rendered obsolete by a veritable tidal wave of innovation. With the deployment of the revolutionary HMS Dreadnought in 1903, the new technology reached its full fruition: the gigantic sleek, steel-clad, many-gunned vessel that would rule the seas (or at least the minds of Naval commanders) for years to come. O'Connell shows how other nations raced to emulate this new prototype (much in the fashion of the nuclear arms race of later decades), usually at the expense of much more effective forms of naval force. He also demonstrates compellingly the dashed expectations for the battleship occasioned by the outbreak of war in 1914. While many anticipated a massive twentieth-century Trafalgar, in actuality dreadnoughts everywhere avoided battle, and when they did fight, the results were most often inconclusive or even irrelevant. With the Battle of Jutland in 1916--the only real naval showdown of the war--the ineffectiveness of the battleship as the pre-eminent weapon of war was made abundantly clear: the German navy scored on only 120 hits out of 3,597 heavy shells fired while the British had an even more dismal showing--100 out of 4,598, or a hit ratio of 2.17%. Yet, in spite of this display of impotence, the world's great naval yards continued to turn out the huge vessels. O'Connell observes that even after the heart of the American fleet was sunk by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor, the almost superstitious faith in the battleship insured its survival. While they have never played a decisive role in the outcome of any modern war, they have continued to be resurrected and refurbished--even equipped with cruise missles--right up to the present day.
Sacred Vessels is more than the unmasking of a false idol of naval history. It is a cautionary tale about the often unacknowledged influence of human faith, culture, and tradition on the exceedingly important, costly, and suppossedly rational process of national defense. Not only is it a gripping tale well-told, it is essential reading for anyone hoping to understand the dynamics involved in the arming of nations.

This is the first study of the navy during the English Revolution. It argues that the commonwealth navy did not, as is often assumed, stand back from domestic political controversies, but was deeply influenced by the revolutionary circumstances of its origins. The new regime saw a large and politically reliable fleet as essential to its survival, and the years after 1649 witnessed a rapid build-up and a drastic remodelling of the officer corps, with political and religious radicalism becoming major criteria in the selection of officers. The book charts the navy's central role in the struggle to win foreign recognition for the new regime, and in the wars which followed: the period saw England's first major war at sea, against the Dutch. The navy's response to political change at home, and its intervention in the Restoration crisis of 1659-60 are also examined. The social history of the navy is also considered in detail. This book provides a richly detailed insight into a neglected subject, and enhances our understanding of the Cromwellian period as a whole.

This historical analysis of the problems faced by the British navy during the War of 1739-1748 also sheds light on the character, limitations, and potentialities of eighteenth-century British administration. Originally published in 1965. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Battleships conjure a golden age of naval history, when these floating powerhouses ruled the waves, carrying the military might of their respective countries around the globe. The battleship was the ultimate embodiment of naval power during the latter stages of the British Empire, with the Royal Navy the first to build the dreadnought battleship in 1906. The new design, with a uniform main battery and steam turbines making it faster and more accurate than ever before, sparked a naval race with the German navy which culminated in the Battle of Jutland in 1916, the only fleet-to-fleet naval battle during the First World War. With major losses on both sides, and several treaties during the inter-war years banning the construction of new battleships, a new generation emerged only in the Second World War, with Japan secretly creating Yamato and Musashi, two of the most powerful battleships ever built. World War Two saw the zenith of the battleship, with many pivotal battles such as the battle of Denmark Strait during which the iconic battleships HMS Hood was sunk, the second battle of Guadacanal and the battle of Leyte Gulf to name but a few. The Germans, the Japanese, the Royal Navy and the US Navy were locked in a titanic struggle across vast distances, in which battleships for a time played a decisive role, until the development of new aircraft carriers and growing use of torpedoes began to make them obsolete. Since the 1990's, no battleship has seen active service. This accessible short history gives an expert overview of the history of the battleship, looking at its origins, the role played by battleships in both World Wars, famous ships and their stories, as well as the weaponry and technology they employed.

Chosen by "WWII History" magazine as one of the Best Books of the Year.
In the dark days after Pearl Harbor, the small, illequipped arm of the Navy known as Submarine Force would stand between the shattered U.S. Pacific Fleet and the might of the Japanese Navy. Unfortunately, the spirit and courage of the Submarine Force is being forgotten as the veterans of that force pass into history.
To preserve their heroic tales of war beneath the sea, critically acclaimed author and military historian Flint Whitlock, in collaboration with decorated World War II submarine veteran Ron Smith, set out on a journey of more than two years to interview submariners and to record their accounts before the memories of their endeavors are lost forever. These are their stories.

A brutal, action-packed account of the sea battles of the Napoleonic War by the author of the bestselling Nelson's Trafalgar and co-author of the forthcoming Gibraltar: The Greatest Siege in British History (March 2018) As he did with his much lauded Nelson's Trafalgar, Roy Adkins (now writing with wife Lesley) again thrusts readers into the perils and thrills of early-nineteenth-century warfare. From its very first page, this is an adventure story--a superb account of the naval war that lasted from Napoleon's seizure of power in 1798 to the War of 1812 with the United States. Providing a ringside seat to the decisive battles, as well as detailed and vivid portraits of sailors and commanders, press-gangs, prostitutes, and spies, The War for All the Oceans is "a rollicking, patriotic account of the Napoleonic wars that will go down well with Master and Commander fans" (The Telegraph).

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

Underwater Demolition Team 13: Westpac 1969 cruise book. Many Naval commands make cruise books of their trips. Cruise books are photographic and written records of events and people on specific deployments. The 1969 UDT THIRTEEN cruise book brings together a collection of first-hand textual and photographic impressions of its WESTPAC deployment. The harmonizing of these significant experiences, each unique in attitude and point of view, best conveys the reality of the deployment, to be relived and enjoyed in all its color, drama, and poignancy in the years to come. The book contains 252 black & white photos, 4 full-page color photos, 7 hand-drawn illustrations, and 10,000 words.

Nicholas Everard is ready to run the gauntlet in his most dangerous mission yet...The menacing bulk of the German battlecruiser Goeben lurks in the Golden Horn of Constantinople. It is vital that she is destroyed, and the plan is to send an E-class submarine in through the Dardanelles to sink her unawares. But it has been two years since an Allied submarine passed through the narrow straits successfully, littered as they are with minefields, nets and depth charges dropped by the gunboats endlessly patrolling above. To send a crew in now would be a death sentence, but sparing the Goeben is unthinkable. Enter Nick Everard. An unputdownable story of the final days of WWI, perfect for fans of Douglas Reeman and Patrick O'Brian. Praise for Alexander Fullerton'The most meticulously researched war novels that I have ever read' Len Deighton

300 million cubic miles of ocean. Stealthy, and deadly, the nuclear submarines of the Royal Navy lie in wait in the depths of the world's oceans, ready to listen, intercept, and attack wherever they may be needed - from the coastline of Libya to the ice caps of the Arctic. If the UK is hit by a devastating nuclear strike, they'll be the last military force standing. 200 million pounds of hardware. Award-winning journalist Danny Danziger has been allowed unprecedented access to the elite crew of one of the UK's attack class submarines, joining them on operations and hearing their stories. Unrestricted, and uncompromising, Sub paints a vivid picture of this fascinating, little-known branch of our armed forces. One incredible hunter-killer. In an increasingly unstable world, these are the people who keep us safe. It is time for the silent service to be heard.

In May 1940, German troops advanced through Holland, Belgium and France with astonishing speed, forcing the British Expeditionary Force and the French army to retreat to the north-east coast of France. The evacuation plan - Operation Dynamo - was put into effect with the expectation that only about 45,000 men might be rescued. However, by the hasty assembly of a vast armada of disparate vessels (thought to be in the region of 900, of which about 700 were privately owned), 338,226 Allied troops were brought safely back to England. Without the contribution of those Dunkirk Little Ships, as they have come to be known, thousands of British troops would have died on the shores of France, and the ongoing fight against the Axis powers rendered all the more challenging. In this title, Philip Weir reveals the story of the Little Ships which undertook such a great mission, exploring their general role and individual histories, including their preservation and participation in return runs every five years.

Attempts to assemble the historic pattern of contributing factors which shaped the course of American naval development from 1776 to 1918. Originally published in 1966. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Considers naval leadership and management very widely, moving beyond a focus on leading admirals. Many works on naval history ascribe success to the special qualities of individual leaders, Nelson being the prime example. This book in contrast moves away from focusing on Nelson and other leading individuals to explore more fully how naval leadership worked in the context of a large, complex, globally-capable institution. It puts forward important original scholarship around four main themes: the place of the hero in naval leadership; organisational friction in matters of command; the role of management capability in the exercise of naval power; and the evolution of management and technical training in the Royal Navy. Besides providing much new, interesting material for naval and maritime historians, the book also offers important insights for management and leadership specialists more generally. HELEN DOE is a Fellow of the Centre for Maritime Historical Studies, University of Exeter and author of Enterprising Women and Shipping (Boydell, 2009). RICHARD HARDING is Professor of Organisational History at the University of Westminster and author of The Emergence of Britain's Global Naval Supremacy (Boydell, 2010), Amphibious Warfare in the Eighteenth Century (Royal Historical Society, 1991) and six other books. Contributors: GARETH COLE, MIKE FARQUHARSON-ROBERTS, MARY JONES, ROGER KNIGHT, ROGER MORRISS, ELINOR ROMANS, DAVID J. STARKEY, PETER WARD, OLIVER WALTON, BRITT ZERBE.

China's rapidly developing military capabilities have forced US policy makers to reconsider their own military infrastructure. The primary concern of this book is to examine how China's military modernisation will be factored into decisions about US Navy programs. Several elements of China's military modernisation have potential implications for future required US Navy capabilities. These include theatre-range ballistic missiles (TBMs), land-attack cruise missiles (LACMs), anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs), surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), land-based aircraft, submarines, surface combatants, amphibious ships, naval mines, nuclear weapons, and possibly high-power microwave (HPM) devices. This book will examine how these elements and others will influence the future of the United States Navy.

The year 1588 marked a turning point in our national story. Victory over the Spanish Armada transformed us into a seafaring nation and it sparked a myth that one day would become a reality - that the nation's new destiny, the source of her future wealth and power lay out on the oceans. This book tells the story of how the navy expanded from a tiny force to become the most complex industrial enterprise on earth; how the need to organise it laid the foundations of our civil service and our economy; and how it transformed our culture, our sense of national identity and our democracy.

Brian Lavery's narrative explores the navy's rise over four centuries; a key factor in propelling Britain to its status as the most powerful nation on earth, and assesses the turning point of Jutland and the First World War. He creates a compelling read that is every bit as engaging as the TV series itself.

A young sailor with the weight of the world on his shoulders, a brother in the line of fire, and the greatest naval battle of all time...Jutland, 1916: In the icy waters of the North Sea, the Royal Navy awaits the challenge of the Kaiser's High Sea Fleet. Sub-lieutenant Nick Everard could never have imagined the terror he would face as his destroyer races to launch its torpedoes into the blazing guns of a horizon obscured by dreadnoughts. But when the steering-gear on HMS Warspite jams, it is up to Nick, along with his brother, Hugh, to save thousands of lives. Dramatic, action-packed and brimming with suspense, The Blooding of the Guns launches the epic career of Nicholas Everard, and is perfect for fans of C. S. Forrester, Max Hennessy and Alan Evans. Praise for Alexander Fullerton'The most meticulously researched war novels that I have ever read' Len Deighton 'His action passages are superb and he never puts a period foot wrong' Observer 'The research is unimpeachable and the scent of battle quite overwhelming' Sunday Times

The nineteenth-century Royal Navy was transformed from a fleet of sailing wooden walls into a steam powered machine. Britain's warships were her first line of defence, and their transformation dominated political, engineering and scientific discussions. They were the products of engineering ingenuity, political controversies, naval ideologies and the fight for authority in nineteenth-century Britain. Shaping the Royal Navy provides the first cultural history of technology, authority and the Royal Navy in the years of Pax Britannica. It places the story firmly within the currents of British history to reconstruct the controversial and high-profile nature of naval architecture. The technological transformation of the Navy dominated the British government and engineering communities. This book explores its history, revealing how ship design became a modern science, the ways that actors competed for authority within the British state and why the nature of naval power changed. -- .

The Naval Academy's culture is a unique and sometimes baffling phenomenon to the outside world, but with this newly updated guide in hand relatives and friends of midshipmen will find answers to all the questions they might have about Academy life. Since it was first published in 1993, parents have relied on the almanac for insights into their sons' and daughters' experiences at Annapolis. Now the son of the original author has taken on the responsibility of bringing the popular reference up to date. An active duty naval officer, Academy graduate, and former English instructor at the Academy, the younger Mackenzie makes full use of his intimate knowledge of Annapolis to fill in the gaps. Here you'll find a guide to Internet resources along with the latest facts on car ownership, dating policies, athletic requirements, and disciplinary demands. A midshipman profile and a dictionary of "Midspeak" completes the picture in a book whose title recalls the midshipmen's own manual, Reef Points, but extends its concept for outsiders seeking practical information about the Academy, the Navy, and Annapolis. Prospective applicants, graduates, newcomers to the USNA staff, and visitors seeking a memento will also be attracted to this useful guide. Ross H. Mackenzie is a Navy helicopter pilot currently stationed in Jacksonville, Florida.

This book includes the principal ships engaged in the war at sea between 1939 and 1945. The mighty battleships and cruisers that roamed the oceans, great aircraft carriers deployed in the Mediterranean and Pacific campaigns and the hard-pressed destroyers and U boats engaged in the Battle of the Atlantic are described and illustrated. The proudest ships of the British, American, German, Italian, French and Japanese navies evoke memories of the momentous sea battles that changed the course of the war. Bismark, Scharnhorst, Hood, Ark Royal, Independence and Yamato are well-known large capital ships, but most smaller ships were better known by their class and names like Tribal, Fletcher and Buckly represent many of the more numerous work-horses of naval might.

From 1939 until 1942, Hitler's U-boats-the submarine fleet dubbed the "gray wolves"-threatened to accomplish what his air force had been unable to achieve: to starve Britain into submission. The ensuing struggle for control of the storm-tossed Atlantic trade routes became a full-scale war-within-a-war, and one which led to astounding losses: Allied powers would lose more than fifty thousand men, and fifteen million tons of shipping, over the course of the conflict.Through exclusive interviews with survivors on both sides-including those given for the first time by former U-boat crew members-historian and documentary producer Andrew Williams provides a riveting account of these crucial years of battle. Vividly recreating the claustrophobic and dangerous life on board, The Battle of the Atlantic succeeds in encompassing the whole experience of warfare as few other histories have, and forms an important contribution to our understanding of one of the greatest fights of the twentieth century.