Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
|
Your cart is empty |
|||
Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > Naval forces & warfare
Packed with rich detail and analysis, this exciting tale of war at sea relates the dramatic and moving true story of the sinking of the British liner Laconia and its consequences for the conduct of marine warfare. Duffy discusses in rich detail the dire and dramatic true story of the sinking of the British Liner Laconia by the dreaded U-Boat 156, a vessel crowded with 1800 Italian POWs, 103 Polish soldiers, and 463 officers and crew. As Laconia went down, U-156 surfaced and sent a signal that brought two other U-boats, an Italian submarine, and three Vichy French warships to assist with rescue operations. But on the morning of September 16, a U.S. bomber flew over U-156, now packed with several hundred Laconia survivors. The crew unfurled a large Red Cross flag. Nevertheless, the submarine was attacked. The Laconia survivors were ordered over the side into lifeboats. Damaged, U-156 left the area as other U-boats commenced rescue operations. In the wake of the incident, German Admiral Karl Donitz issued the Laconia Order demanding that all attempts to rescue Allied survivors of merchant ships be ended. The order provoked an international outcry against inhumane treatment of survivors stranded at sea. In the aftermath of the war, Donitz was charged and acquitted of war crimes in connection with this order.
The Constitution was one of the US Navy's first six original frigates, ordered as a counter to the Barbary corsairs in the Mediterranean. Fast and heavily built, she was nominally rated as a 44 but mounted thirty 24-pdr and twenty-two 12-pdr cannon. Her most famous encounter, after which she became nicknamed 'Old Ironsides' due to British shot being seen bouncing off her hull, involved HMS Guerriere, which she smashed; the same treatment was meted out to HMS Java four months later. Now the oldest commissioned warship afloat in thw world, she is berthed in Boston Harbor. The 'Anatomy of the Ship' series aims to provide the finest documentation of individual ships and ship types ever published. What makes the series unique is a complete set of superbly executed line drawings, both the conventional type of plan as well as explanatory views, with fully descriptive keys. These are supported by technical details and a record of the ship's service history.
From the mid-19th century to the early Cold War, the United States has a long history with China, and that interaction has not always been positive or productive. This brief history of foreign intervention in China, viewed through the experiences of the United States Marines, examines how the occupying powers dealt with a fellow sovereign nation. In many cases this involved the partition or outright absorption of Chinese territory through naked aggression. Clark contends that, considering the past two centuries, the Chinese have good reason to distrust all foreigners, and he urges the pursuit of a badly needed rapprochement. This is, however, also the story of the evolution of the Marine Corps as a separate service. Although an occupying force, the Marines did make considerable efforts to earn the friendship of the Chinese people. Always on the brink of extinction due to budgetary cuts and the enmity of the army and navy, the Marines managed to perform an onerous and difficult duty in a foreign land. With a resurgent China constantly testing the United States, a fellow Pacific Rim nation, every policymaker should be well aware of the often difficult history that we share and the mistakes that have been made in the past.
In the context of their war experience in the First World War, the changes and developments of the Executive branch of the Royal Navy between the world wars are examined and how these made them fit for the test of the Second World War are critically assessed.
This book is an effort by two naval experts, one a retired Russian Naval officer, the other an American naval arms control analyst, to look at the future relationship of the world's two greatest navies following the end of the Cold War and the demise of the Soviet Union. For the first time in English, readers are provided with a detailed examination of the sweeping changes in the strategy, doctrine, operations and size of both the U.S. and Russian navies in the last few years. The often frightening naval confrontations of the Cold War era have declined dramatically (but not entirely). The first tentative steps are outlined. The book offers a series of specific proposals to expand the current level of cooperation between the U.S. and Russian navies and even envisions a "strategic partnership" in the long term.
In its decision of 7 December 1941 to adopt a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare--the destruction of all vessels entering a designated war zone--the United States not only dramatically reversed its previous foreign policy position of defending freedom of the seas but in doing so adopted a policy that had been one of the chief provocations for U.S. entry into World War I against Germany. Janet M. Manson contends that this decision also proved to be a watershed in U.S. foreign policy because it provided the precedent and rationale for using advanced weapons technology against noncombatants. Incorporating previously unavailable historical materials that have only recently been released through U.S. archives and compiling much information available only in archives and libraries in West Germany, this groundbreaking study provides multinational perspectives based on multiarchival research. Manson carefully considers the complex historical, political, economic, legal, and military rationale for the decision. Detailed examinations of the discourse on submarine warfare among various governmental departments and sub-departments provide not only a more accurate account of the decisionmaking process involved in these events but also reveal the crucial influence of World War I precedent on World War II practice: The U.S. relied heavily on German submarine practice in both world wars in reaching its decision to implement unrestricted submarine warfare. Manson argues that although U.S. and German systems of government and foreign policy objectives were completely different, a similar rationale prompted their adoption of unrestricted submarine warfare. Seven chapters range chronologically fromGermany's use of unrestricted submarine warfare during World War I to the American decision to adopt that policy in 1941. The final chapter identifies the implications and consequences of the decisions. This is the only scholarly work to provide detailed examinations of the decisions and the decisionmaking process from German and American perspectives. It will be standard resource for scholars and other readers investigating naval history, diplomacy, warfare, and World War II history.
A scholarly and compelling analysis of Marine Corps survival as seen through the lens of three different organizational theories, this volume is a sourcebook in management and public administration for the way of seeing view. Frank Marutollo, intimately familiar with the Marine ethic, provides a practical demonstration of how management theories can be regarded as different ways of seeing rather than predictive schemes. He applies three models--the Population Ecology Model, Resource Dependence Model, and Structural Contingency Model--to three separate case studies and evaluates their complementary nature as well as their strengths and weaknesses. This one of a kind approach to the interpretation of management theories will be of particular interest to undergraduate and graduate students of management science and public administration. As scholar and practitioner, Marutollo combines both perspectives to analyze the survival of a major organization in our culture. He selects three management theory models, develops a theoretical framework, and describes his methodology. Marutollo then sets the stage and applies each model to three case studies entitled: The Marine Corps and Military Unification, The New Navy and the Ships Guard, and Paradigms of Attack. He concludes his precise and detailed study with an overall assessment of the case study-model analysis.
In the Post-Cold War Era, the possibility of large-scale military conflict between the superpowers has been replaced by the probability of a series of minor—and perhaps not so minor—regional ones. Many, if not most of those, will take place within reach of seaborne expeditionary forces. France organized such an expedition at the close of World War II, in 1945-1946, to return to Indochina. This account of that expedition provides a good case study of what such expeditions involve and, moreover, illustrates many politico-military lessons—and warnings—for those like the U.S., who would project power from the sea east of the Suez today.
From the steam-powered models introduced in World War I to today's nuclear-powered, multiweaponed technological wonders, submarines have revolutionized warfare on the world's seas. This volume follows the extraordinary development of this key component of the world's navies. Submarines: An Illustrated History of Their Impact reveals how underwater warships evolved to become major threats to battle fleets and merchant shipping, as well as primary platforms for deterrent forces and crucial symbols of military power. In a series of chronological chapters, Submarines describes key developments in diving ability, underwater endurance, and weapons capabilities in specific periods, while highlighting strategic and operational innovations; the role of technological research; famous submarine events, battles, and commanders; and the impact of submarine services on naval society. The book also includes an illustrated reference section covering every submarine class worldwide since 1900. This coverage plus additional reference features make Submarines an essential introduction to a weapons system that has long held the public's imagination.
Fully illustrated in a striking landscape format, Ships contains 300 mercantile and military vessels arranged in chronological order, from ancient times to the present day. Every type of vessel from every part of the world is featured, from Phoenician war galleys from 1500BC, through the graceful trading clippers of the nineteenth century, to the sophisticated and heavily armed submarines of the nuclear era. In these information-packed pages you will find out about ancient galleys, Viking longships, medieval cogs, galleasses, galleons, men-of-war sailing ships, coastal gunboats, iron-clad steam boats, dreadnoughts, aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines. Many well-known ships are included, such as Nelson's flagship HMS Victory, the ill-fated passenger liner Titanic, the infamous German World War II battlecruiser Bismarck and many, many more. Each ship is illustrated with a colourful artwork, while lively text offers a concise service history of the ship and a specification box provides comprehensive technical data, including displacement, dimensions, machinery, armament, speed and complement.
When William Bradford Huie, a reporter for H. L. Mencken's American
Mercury, joined the U.S. Navy in 1943, he received a commission as
a public relations officer in the little-known Civil Engineer's
Corps Construction Battalions--the Seabees. With the publication of
Can Do the following year, Americans soon came to appreciate the
significance of the corps's work and the danger of their wartime
activities. As readable and entertaining today as it was some fifty
years ago, this account tells the story of the Seabees who landed
with the Marines at Guadalcanal and Wake Island, Sicily and
Salerno. Experienced civilian engineers, carpenters, steam-shovel
operators, plumbers, truck drivers, surveyors, and the like, they
landed with the first waves of American assault troops, bringing
heavy equipment ashore to build roads, bridges, and airfields and
repair whatever they could. Often working under enemy fire, they
incurred many casualties and won the deep respect of everyone who
came into contact with them.
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese Navy attacked the American Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawai'i. The perception remains that they succeeded in severely crippling the navy; however, nothing could be further from the truth. Thanks to meticulous research, Daughters of Infamy puts this myth rest and shows that the vast majority of warships in the harbor suffered no damage at all. Former US Navy photographer David Kilmer provides documentation on each ship that survived the Pearl Harbor massacre. He records what happened the day of the attack, then traces the ships' movements after December 7 and, in some cases, their destiny after the war. Contrary to popular belief, many met the enemy and helped to win the war in the Pacific. Undoubtedly the first work to compile factual and informative data on nearly all the ships in Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, Kilmer's in-depth record fills a scholarly void. His fascinating narrative on each ship adds another layer of expertise and provides a new perspective on a familiar event.
This book thoroughly explores and analyses naval policy during the period of austerity that followed the First World War. During this post-war period, as the Royal Navy identified Japan its likely opponent in a future naval war, the British Government was forced to "tighten its belt" and cut back on naval expenditure in the interests of "National Economy". G.H. Bennett draws connections between the early 20th century and the present day, showing how the same kind of connections exist between naval and foreign policy, the provision of ships for the Royal Navy, business and regional prosperity and employment. The Royal Navy in the Age of Austerity 1919-22 engages with a series of important historiographical debates relating to the history of the Royal Navy, the failures of British Defence policy in the inter-war period and the evolution of British foreign policy after 1919, together with more mundane debates about British economic, industrial, social and political history in the aftermath of the First World War. It will be of great interest to scholars and students of British naval history.
The hunters and the hunted on the high seas of war
An influential and controversial figure in military, political, international, and social affairs, Earl Mountbatten has been referred to as the most remarkable naval officer of the 20th century. This book provides a guide to the literature on Mountbatten. It includes: biographies, descriptions of sources and research centers, general histories, monographs, bibliographies and reference works, official histories, reports and government documents, dissertations, articles, oral histories, conference proceedings, and fiction, film, art, and poetry. Part I, the historiographical essay, provides critical analysis and evaluation of the works and integrates them into the overall literature. It covers all of the 450 titles included in Part II, which is an annotated bibliography.
The naval side of the First World War in the Adriatic provides a classic case study in narrow sea warfare. This is the story of the Austro-Hungarian KuK Navy's contribution to the Central Powers' considerable effort in the region. This finely balanced, well-handled navy successfully helped to defend Austria's Adriatic base of power--the Pola-Trieste-Fiume triangle--in the north, to protect the vital sea lane to Cattaro and the south, and to support the army from the sea--all against major odds. Its forces also contributed significantly to the U-boat war. During initial stages of the conflict, the French were the enemy at sea. Later, Italy switched allegiances, joining the Entente against her former allies. Because the KuK Kriegsmarine was no match for the Italians and the French combined, the battle fleet was thereafter kept in being at Pola, holding the Allies in check. Nonetheless, the Adriatic became an Austrian lake. Using aircraft, U-boats, torpedoes, and mines, the KuK worked toward reducing the odds against it. However, the impasse would continue until the armistice, ruling out a Mahanian showdown in the Adriatic. Koburger provides important geostrategic points of comparison and valuable lessons for other conflicts, even today.
|
You may like...
History of the Navy of the United States…
James Fenimore Cooper
Paperback
R656
Discovery Miles 6 560
|