Shows how the political turmoil of the Spanish American Wars of Independence allowed an upsurge in prize-taking activity by navies, privateers and pirates. Private maritime predation was integral to the Spanish American Wars of Independence. When colonists rebelled against Spanish rule in 1810 they deployed privateers - los corsarios insurgentes - to prosecute their revolutionary struggle at sea. Spain responded by commissioning privateers of its own, while the disintegration of Spanish authority in the New World created conditions in which unauthorised prize-taking - piracy - also flourished. This upsurge in privateering and piracy has been neglected by historians yet it posed a significant threat to British interests. As numerous vessels were captured and plundered, the British government - endeavouring to remain neutral in the Spanish American conflict - faced a dilemma. An insufficient response might hinder Britain's commercial expansion but an overly aggressive approach risked plunging the nation into another war. Privateering, Piracy and British Policy in Spanish America assesses the varied and flexible ways the British government responded to prize-taking activity in order to safeguard and enhance its wider commercial and political objectives. This analysis marks a significant and original contribution to the study of privateering and piracy, and informs key debates about the development of international law and the character of British imperialism in the nineteenth century. Matthew McCarthy is Research Officer at the Maritime Historical Studies Centre, University of Hull. He was awarded his PhD by the University of Hull in 2011 and won the British Commission for Maritime History/Boydell & Brewer prize for best doctoral thesis in maritime history.

For more than 400 years, the big-gun warship stood as the supreme naval war machine. It was not only a major instrument of warfare, but a visible emblem of a nation's power, wealth and pride. Battleships features 52 of the greatest warships to have sailed in the last 500 years. Beginning with English king Henry VIII's flagship, Henry Grace a Dieu, the book covers all the main periods of battleship development, including the great sail ships, such as Sovereign of the Seas, Santissima Trinidad and Victory. The advent of steam-driven warships provides the core of the book, beginning with the introduction of Gloire in 1859, and continuing through all the major pre-Dreadnoughts, such as Inflexible, Maine and Tsessarevitch. There is detailed coverage of the great battleships of the two world wars, including Derfflinger, Yamato and Iowa, while the book closes with the last new battleship to be commissioned, Vanguard, in 1946. Each entry includes a brief description of the battleship's development and history, a colour profile artwork, key features and specifications. Packed with more than 200 artworks and photographs, Battleships is a colourful guide for the military historian and naval warfare enthusiast.

Includes FULL COLOR maps and illustrations. Presents a significant look at the cold weather and mountain training facility of the U.S. Marine Corps in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California.

Man lives on land, but the seas of the world are crucial to his lot. Focusing on navies as instruments of power and analysing what they indicate about the nature of state systems and cultures all over the world, Black provides an overview of the most significant debates within the field. Organised into key historical periods and accessibly framed, this wide-ranging account emphasises the links between past and present throughout the history of naval power.

On April 28th, 1789, a handful of men led by Fletcher Christian mutinied aboard the HMS Bounty, setting her captain, William Bligh, and 18 other men adrift, then vanishing into the Pacific Ocean. This is the story of the mutiny that became a landmark case in naval history.

On a quiet Sunday morning in 1941, a ship designed to keep the peace was suddenly attacked. This book tells the remarkable story of a battleship, its brave crew, and how their lives were intertwined.

Jeff Phister and his coauthors have written the comprehensive history of the USS "Oklahoma" from its christening in 1914 to its final loss in 1947. Phister tells how the "Oklahoma" served in World War I, participated in the Great Cruise of 1925, and evacuated refugees from Spain in 1936. But the most memorable event of the ship's history occurred on December 7, 1941.

Phister weaves the personal narratives of surviving crewmen with the necessary technical information to recreate the attack and demonstrate the full scope of its devastation. Captured Japanese photographs and dozens of historic U.S. Navy photographs deepen our understanding of this monumental event.

Raised after the attack, the "Oklahoma" sank again while being towed stateside and now rests on the ocean floor, 540 miles northeast of Oahu. "Battleship" Oklahoma" BB-37" tells the complete story of a proud ship and her fall through the eyes of those who survived her loss.

The single best work of reportage about the battlecruiser, ever, by a war correspondent who was with Beatty's Battlecruiser Squadron at Jutland. Filson Young: the Bob Woodward of battlecruisers.An excerpt: Here, then, was the ideal type for which Lord Fisher in our conversations had so often sighed; and I was secretly disappointed when, on my mentioning Fisher's name, Beatty merely smiled. And I was still more crestfallen when, a few days later, I spoke of Beatty enthusiastically to Lord Fisher, he gave me a blank, sour look and said: "Really? Never met him."I did not know the Navy as well in those days as I know it now, or I would have been less surprised than I was that the obviously ablest men in control of naval affairs were far from seeing eye to eye with one another, and even (what was more remarkable) neglected to make any real study of one another's aims and potentialities. Naval thought, where it existed, was divided into camps, each one regarding victory over the others as essential to victory over the Germans. Thus Lord Charles Beresford, whose best work in his retirement was his untiring public advocacy of naval efficiency, gave one in private a most alarming impression that the Navy was already practically in German control; and one of his mildest views of Lord Fisher was that he was a madman who, on the eve of war, had deliberately scrapped the majority of our cruisers. Winston Churchill was at one time probably one of the men most disliked by the Navy at large; but when one tried to discuss his administration seriously, one was told stories of his bad manners: as, for example, of his going on board a ship, entering the wardroom, ringing the bell and sending for the Commander - a solecism the gravity of which one must have lived in a wardroom to appreciate. And yet, one felt, it was not quite an argument against his efficiency as an administrator. But all the naval officer saw was a man to whose power our sacred naval traditions were committed, and who apparently knew or cared so little for the smallest of them that the greatest might well be in peril at his hands. The anti-Churchill camp was a very strong one. He, on the other hand, seemed to regard Lord Fisher as a dangerous genius to be caught, chained, tamed, and made careful use of; Lord Fisher regarded him (I am speaking of the two years before the war) as a politician to be fought or flattered, made or destroyed, according to his degree of adaptability to the great purpose.

For most of the Cold War naval arms control was the forgotten dimension of arms control. Beginning in the late 1980s, however, it has become increasingly prominent in the East-West dialogue. But it is usually studied from the perspective of Soviet-American relations. This book examines the subject from a European perspective. What role might naval arms control play in the European context? What impact might naval arms control have on the interests and perceptions of European states? What opportunities for and obstacles to naval arms control exist in Europe? The authors address these questions, describing the naval interests and attitudes towards naval arms control of European coastal states, as well as the Soviet Union and the United States, in the Norwegian, Baltic, and Mediterranean seas.

DEFENDER DOLPHINS: The Story of Project Short Time is the first eyewitness account of a unique and daring SECRET project during the Vietnam War involving the first-ever military use of dolphins. Meet Garth, John, Slan, Tinker and Toad, Project Short Time's highly trained defender dolphins who protected a key ammunition pier in Vietnam - and laid a foundation for modern-day partnerships with dolphins, many of them their descendants. Learn how the author - the Navy's First Marine Mammal Officer - as well as all the scientists, engineers, military leaders, and trainers built the Navy's SECRET Marine Mammal Program literally from scratch, added to scientific knowledge, and successfully saved lives and high value resources during the Vietnam War. Included inside are Never-before-seen historic photographs. A timeline of events, a map, and a glossary. Behind-the-scenes human-interest stories. Profiles of key personnel. A look at the defender dolphins and other key marine mammals. A where-are-they-now summary. A refutation of common misconceptions and distortions about military dolphins. "Detailed and fascinating account of a clandestine effort undertaken decades ago during the Vietnam war..." --- U.S. Marine Lt. Col. (ret.) James Zumwalt, son of Admiral Elmo R. (Bud) Zumwalt Jr., the Chief of Naval Operations who ordered the deployment of Project Short Time. "Of great interest to readers..." --- Ricou Browning, author/creator the popular 1960s movie and television franchise Flipper "Hal Goforth's remarkable story details for the first time the partnership forged between man and dolphins..." - Terrie M. Williams., PhD, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz No one is in a better position to tell the dramatic story of the world's first military dolphins than CAPT (Ret) Harold W. Goforth, Jr., the U.S. Navy's first Marine Mammal Officer. For two years he lived and breathed dolphin training, deploying with the revolutionary Dolphin Swimmer Defense System to Vietnam until his tour ended in 1971. A marine scientist and professor of marine sciences and exercise physiology, Goforth spent 10 years researching DEFENDER DOLPHINS: The Story of Project Short Time. He and his wife, Sharon, divide their time between San Diego and South Florida.

This reference text explains what modern piracy is, where and why it happens, and what measures are being taken to combat it. While piracy today typically occurs in specific areas-such as Somalia and Southeast Asia-a single pirate attack can involve and affect many different countries. For example, a supertanker traveling in the South China Sea might be owned by a Saudi Arabian oil company, built in South Korea, registered in Liberia, captained by an Italian, and crewed by Filipinos. And, as reports of attacks on commercial vessels and cruise liners become more common, the topic of modern piracy receives ever-increasing international scrutiny. This chapter-based reference handbook examines modern piracy from the mid-1970s to today. The subject is addressed from a global perspective, covering both the causes and consequences of present-day piracy and evaluating its impact on a number of related issues, including international law, commercial shipping, and terrorism. Documents important resolutions and laws from the United Nations and European Union as well as U.S. policy statements regarding piracy Features charts and tables that provide at-a-glance statistical information on pirate attacks, as well as data on factors that contribute to piracy A resources chapter provides an annotated print and electronic bibliography organized by subject (e.g., international law, Somalia and the Horn of Africa, and the Mersk Alabama incident) Presents a glossary of short definitions of unfamiliar terms

There are two competitive views of Passchendaele and its commander, Sir Douglas Haig. One school contends that the battle was a very costly failure and that Sir Douglas Haig, the architect of the battle, was a blundering murderer. A second school of thought argues that Passchendaele was in many ways a success and that Haig learned much during the campaign and went on to put his learning to good use during the victorious offensive of 1918. This study removes some of the blame for the failure from Haig by examining the involvement of the Royal Navy in the planning and prosecution of the campaign. Documentary evidence demonstrates that the actions of the Admiralty were decisive in attracting the attention of the army to Flanders and in gaining approval for the battle itself. The Admiralty had a hitherto unknown effect on the prosecution of the battle. The fact that the British fought the battle for the wrong reasons and that the army on the coast waited while soldiers at Passchendaele died raises Passchendaele to an even higher plane of tragedy.

Covering more than two centuries of naval history, this chronology highlights the individuals and events that shaped one of the world's greatest fighting forces—the United States Navy. The United States Navy: A Chronology, 1775 to the Present showcases the dramatic role of the nation's warships throughout America's long history and documents the Navy's vital contributions to establishing the United States as a superpower. Beginning with the American Revolutionary War, this comprehensive work details major and minor events in the history of the U.S. Navy through Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. The topics included in this book describe not only battles at sea, but also important political and administrative changes, as well as notable events in the careers of admirals and other naval leaders. Significant battles in all major wars are covered, along with actions in smaller conflicts. This chronology also includes the founding of noted schools of instruction; the introduction of new classes of warships and aircraft; and significant naval texts, such as Alfred Thayer Mahan's seminal The Influence of Naval Power upon History.

Chronicles one of the greatest sea tragedies of our time.

Illusrated with full color maps and photographs. U.S. Marines in the Global War on Terrorism series. Covers the combat service support operations during Operation Iraqi Freedom between November 2002 and October 2003. Tells a story of reorganization, preparation, and execution by the 1st and 2d Force Service Support Groups.

With a heritage dating back to the mid-seventeenth century, the Royal Marines have accrued a rich history of rituals, artefacts and material culture that is consciously deployed in order to define and shape the institution both historically and going forward into an uncertain future. Drawing upon this heritage, Mark Burchell offers a unique method of understanding how the Royal Marines draw upon this material culture in order to help transform ordinary labour power to political agency comprising acts of controlled and sustained violence. He demonstrates how a barrage of objects and items - including uniforms, weapons, landscapes, architecture, personal kit, drills, rituals, and iconography - are deployed in order successfully to integrate the recruits into the Royal Marines' culture. It is argued that this material culture is a vital tool with which to imprint the military's own image on new recruits as they embark on a process of de-individualisation. Having been granted unprecedented access to the Commando Training Centre at Lympstone as an anthropologist, Burchell observed an intake of recruits throughout their demanding and exhausting year-long training programme. The resulting book presents to the academic community for the first time, a theorised in-depth account of a relatively unexplored social community and how its material culture creates and reifies new military identities. This path-breaking interdisciplinary analysis provides fresh understanding of the multiple processes of military enculturation through a meticulous revision of the relationships that exist between disciplinary and punishment practices; violence and masculinity; narratives and personhood; and will explore how these issues are understood by recruits through their practical application of body to physical labour, and by the cues of their surrounding material culture.

During WWII the mission of the Navy was, first and foremost, 'holding the line' against the German surface fleet, preventing it from disrupting the vital transatlantic sea-lanes or escorting an invasion force to Britain. The importance of holding the line cannot be over-emphasised but it is often overlooked as there was no decisive battle on the seas surrounding Britain in WWII. This work is a strategic and operational history of the Home Fleet. It examines the role of the home fleet in allied strategy and how well the home fleet carried out the missions assigned to it within the framework of that strategy.

This volume is the first recent work to examine the major naval combatants of World War II. Sadkovich has brought together essays by eight contributors, each an expert in his field, to reevaluate the roles and performances of the particular navies and the specific geopolitical circumstances under which they operated. Also included is an introduction that both outlines the pre-War conditions that shaped the navies and draws comparisons between the eight combatants. Reevaluating Major Naval Combatants of World War II is a superb collection of provoactive essays on eight navies. Carl Boyd, Old Dominion University This study of World War II naval combatants, a collection of eight separate essays, developed out of the editor's recognition that no recent work has attempted to evaluate the performance of the war's major naval participants. Sadkovich commissioned an essay on each of the eight major navies involved in the war, allowing each essay's author to assess the role and performance of a particular navy according to the tasks and compositions of that combatant. Although each essay mirrors the peculiarities of the navy under discussion, the common elements allow comparisons and conclusions to be drawn. The volume is devoted to the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union. Each essay has been written by an expert in the particular field. In addition, the editor has provided an introduction that describes the changing state of navies worldwide prior to the war and draws comparisons between the navies discussed in each essay. A selected bibliography has also been included. The book will be a noteworthy addition to both university and public libraries, and an essential source for researchers and scholars of naval history.

The Confederacy's only national naval academy was anchored in Virginia's James River aboard the CSS Patrick Henry. While their Union counterparts at the U.S. Naval Academy studied at a safe distance from the war, the midshipmen of the Confederate States Naval Academy were sent on active duty to defend the South's waterways. Using original Confederate documents and many previously unpublished letters and diaries, James Lee Conrad has compiled a fresh and scholarly study of a neglected subject.

This short history is the first broad and selective survey of the phenomenon known as "jointness"--the co-operative operations of land and naval forces until the twentieth-century and of land, sea, and air forces since World War I. Touching on operational, doctrinal, and political dimensions, the survey ranges from the ancient Mediterranean to recent times while focusing on European and American experiences from the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries, including Desert Storm. Illustrative cases and reference materials are attuned to the interests of scholars, defense analysts, and students of military affairs. Jointness, subject of major concern to military historians, policymakers, politicians, and military professionals has in the past been covered within certain periods on a case by case or topical basis. This history begins instead with a broad survey from ancient to modern times and then focuses more closley on joint operations since World War I with wide-ranging examples to illustrate trends and patterns of Jointness. The survey closes with a discussion of the central problem of friction and other paradoxes connected with joint military operations. A selected bibliography provides an array of sources both for general readers and military professionals. Maps and appendices further enrich this important history.

Sir Charles Cotton served in the Royal Navy from 1772 to 1812. Unfortunately timing precluded his presence at Trafalgar, but he participated in other pivotal battles, including The Saintes and "The Glorious First of June." His career culminated with command of a squadron based off Lisbon, Portugal, followed by commands of the prestigious Mediterranean and Channel Fleets. Each of these commands notably influenced the Peninsular War. This study helps to answer one of the most frequently asked questions about this era: How did British naval power contribute to the defeat of Napoleon? Krajeski expands current thinking about the Royal Navy's leadership and accomplishments during this period. Cotton belongs to the most storied generation of naval commanders in British history. They first served during the American Revolution, participating in numerous combined operations and naval engagements along the North American coast, in the Caribbean, and elsewhere. The experience that they gained between 1775 and 1783 figured prominently upon the resumption of war against France in 1793. As a captain in the Channel Fleet, Cotton fought at the Battle of "The Glorious First of June" in 1794 and actively blockaded the French Atlantic ports; as an admiral between 1797 and 1806, he focused primarily on the blockade of Brest. In 1808 he achieved a modest measure of contemporary fame as commander of a squadron that supported Sir Arthur Wellesley's campaign in Portugal. Cotton subsequently influenced the Peninsular War as commander of the Mediterranean and Channel Fleet. He died while in command of the Channel Fleet.