The first and only scholarly book in English about the French Navy during the reign of the Vichy government, "The Cyrano Fleet" is a revisionist study presenting the French version of the events of 1940 through 1942. Captain Koburger's use of French sources has allowed him to put forth evidence that contradicts and often corrects our understanding of this complex period of French maritime history. In particular, he attacks the Anglo-American conception of the Vichy navy as fascist'. His findings shed new light on the often strained relations between NATO and the French armed forces. This carefully researched book will interest students and scholars of twentieth century history, political science, foreign affairs, and military studies.

It is now half a century since the Allies--the Grand Alliance of the Second World War--managed one way or another to destroy France's Navy. This Navy had been first an important ally, then a neutral force, and finally the instrument of its own destruction. It is now about time that we re-examined the record, and finally took steps to set it straight? So writes Captain Koburger in the introduction to "The Cyrano Fleet," a book that, all these years later, sets the record straight about the Vichy French Navy.

Patrick O' Brian, C.S. Forester and Captain Marryat all based their literary heroes on Thomas Cochrane, but Cochrane's exploits were far more daring and exciting than those of his fictional counterparts. He was a man of action, whose bold and impulsive nature meant he was often his own worst enemy. Writing with gripping narrative skill and drawing on his own travels and original research, Cordingly tells the rip-roaring story of a flawed Romantic hero who helped define his age.

This narrative history of the French Navy in Indochina from 1945 to 1954 draws on recently published French language sources, as well as English sources, to create a detailed, highly readable account of the critical first ten years of the 30-year war in the maritime crossroads of Southeast Asia. Captain Charles W. Koburger, Jr. examines the specific naval organization, equipment, and skills demanded by coastal and riverine warfare, focusing on the unique French-developed naval infantry assault divisions called, in a convenient French acronym, dinassauts. The French development of such river assault groups, their successful performance, whether on coastal patrol, river patrol, or river assault--and a review of some of their tactics, techniques, and battles, compose the bulk of the book. The authoritative text is complemented by maps of the area, photographs of naval craft used in the campaigns, and tables pertaining to battles and military organization. Appendixes survey Indochinese geography and weather as well as ships and craft.

Early chapters narrate the historical situation in French Indochina in August and September 1945, emphasizing the naval picture. The heart of the book, covering the periods 1946-50, 1951, and 1952, holds the story of the dinassauts' early development and their later expanded operations as well as the naval strategies employed. The final chapters trace the last years of the French in Indochina, describing the culmination of dinassaut organization and highlighting their last operations necessitated by the communist victory in China, and made possible by U.S. aid. The French Navy in Indochina addresses historians, naval officers, diplomats, government officials, and war gamers, but informed general readers will find it an entertaining and useful read as well.

Anglo-American theoreticians have to a large extent dominated the formulation and study of modern naval strategy in Western countries. This Anglo-American dominance has resulted in a focus on how the superior power should exploit its superiority in order to realize its strategic objectives. The present study differs from other books on naval strategy by analysing a military strategy for the inferior power instead. Along with Tirpitz's "risk theory," "The Jeune Ecole" is the most significant maritime strategy dealing with the dilemmas facing the weaker navy. This French body of naval thought is distinguished from other strategies of the weak by its elaborate prescriptions for the offensive use of naval forces. This book represents an unprecedented study of "The Jeune Ecole" based on hitherto unexploited and unpublished primary sources from the "Service Historique de la Marine,"

View the Table of Contents.
Read the Prologue.

"An exceptionally well written, well documented, fast-moving account."--"Washington Times"

"This is a book written on multiple levels, and well worth reading."--"M.S. Naval Institute Proceedings"

"This book is a welcome addition to the history of naval aviation and fills a much-needed void by detailing the later years of the Vietnam naval air campaign."--"Sea Power"

"Makes for lively, vivid, and informative reading. I would include it...on my list of the top ten books on the air war in Vietnam."
--"Air Power History"

"John Sherwood has done a fine job in giving us a first-rate account of a confusing but critically important period in Naval Aviation history."--"The Hook"

"As a collection of individual studies and 'war stories, ' "Afterburner" should find an interested readership." --"Military History"

"With a 45-degree dive angle set, 450 knots of airspeed building, and my altimeter unwinding like crazy, my scan went rapidly between the bombsight and flight instruments. . . . When I looked over my shoulder at the target, I could see where the bombs had hit and exploded."

Through stories like this diary entry of a fighter pilot, John Darrell Sherwood brings forth the personal accounts of 21 naval and marine aviators in this chronicle of the second half of the Navy's air war over Vietnam.

Despite spending over 200 billion dollars and dropping almost 8 million tons of bombs on Southeast Asia, the U.S. was unable to score a definitive victory in the air war. Afterburner takes us inside the day-to-day operations of the air war, particularly during the most intense year of the campaign: 1972. During that year, North Vietnam launched the first large-scale conventional attacks on strongholds in South Vietnam. Sherwood shows how the U.S. fought back with some of the most innovative air campaigns in its history, including Nixon's Linebacker bombings and the Navy's mining operation in Haiphong Harbor. From duels with enemy MiGs to the experiences of Commander C. Ronald Polfer, who became the voice of reason among American POWs in the Hanoi Hilton's Room 5, the detailed stories in Afterburner make these historical events come to life.

Sherwood compiles and analyzes an incredible breadth of information about the details of each of the Navy's operations during the air war and then relates the key parts of the narrative through the eyes of an pilot or flight officer involved in each action. Through tales of courage and fear, triumph and horror, Sherwood reveals the lives of common aircrews who performed extraordinary service. Their experiences illustrate the personal nature of war--even from the air--and show that the air war in Vietnam may have begun as a slow burn, but by 1972, it was more intense than an F-4 afterburner.

The remarkably effective submarines (U-boats) of the German Navy devastated the Allies during the first part of World War II and very nearly brought British and American sea forces to their knees. Military historian Hoyt here describes the years when U-boat "wolf packs" under the command of Admiral Karl Doenitz terrorized the Allies, sinking a third of Britain's battleships in 1939, and how the Allies came back, developing anti-submarine weapons that sent almost three-fourths of the U-boat crews to the bottom of the ocean. The U-Boat Wars is a gripping account of the battles at sea and the men-Doenitz, Churchill, sub-hunter Captain F. J. Walker, and others-who decided the fate of the Atlantic.

This book examines the evolution, function, problems and prospects of private security companies in the maritime sector. The private security industry continues to evolve after its renaissance over the past few decades, first in Africa, and later in Iraq and Afghanistan. Despite this, little academic work has been done to date on the role of private security in the maritime environment. This lacuna has become more pronounced as the threat of piracy, terrorism, and other acts of maritime political violence have caused littoral states and commercial entities alike to consider the use of private security to mitigate risks. Maritime Private Security is an edited volume specifically dedicated to combating the absence of academic research in this area. The discussion of this multi-faceted subject is organised into four key parts: Part I: The Historical and Contemporary Market in Maritime Private Security Services Part II: The Emergence of Private Anti-Piracy Escorts in the Commercial Sector Part III: The Privatization of Coast Guard Services Part IV: Private Security Responses to Maritime Terrorism This book will be of much interest to students of naval policy and maritime security, private security companies, piracy and terrorism, international law and IR in general.

Sir Richard Grenville (1542-1591), English sea captain and explorer, became a legendary figure in the resistance to the Spanish Armada, dying as a result of wounds sustained at the helm of the galleon "Revenge" in the Battle of Flores: a fight in which he struggled against overwhelming odds.

First published in 1937, "Sir Richard Grenville of the Revenge" was A.L. Rowse's first full-length historical monograph.

'There is no doubt that Mr Rowse's book will establish itself as the standard biography of Grenville, and he deserves our unstinting thanks for the patient research that he has put into it.' J.E. Neale, "Sunday Times"

'Magnificent... I was delighted, too, by the masterful descriptions of the Elizabethan era and the brilliant figures of that age.' Lloyd George, in a letter to A.L. Rowse

On July 29, 1945, four days after delivering the atomic bomb destined for Hiroshima, the U.S.S. Indianapolis was torpedoed and sunk. of the 1,199 men on board, 883 perished. Culled from previously unavailable files, this is the chilling story of how the U. S. Navy left the crew in shark-infested waters for four days, and why only a fraction of the 800 men who safely abandoned the ship survived the ordeal. This is the true story of the massive thirty-year cover-up that followed.

"[An] excellent source of detailed information about both famous and obscure places in U.S. naval history." Reference Books Bulletin

Taken for granted as the natural order of things, peace at sea is in fact an immense and recent achievement -- but also an enormous strategic challenge if it is to be maintained in the future. In Maritime Strategy and Global Order, an international roster of top scholars offers historical perspectives and contemporary analysis to explore the role of naval power and maritime trade in creating the international system. The book begins in the early days of the industrial revolution with the foundational role of maritime strategy in building the British Empire. It continues into the era of naval disorder surrounding the two world wars, through the passing of the Pax Britannica and the rise of the Pax Americana, and then examines present-day regional security in hot spots like the South China Sea and Arctic Ocean. Additional chapters engage with important related topics such as maritime law, resource competition, warship evolution since the end of the Cold War, and naval intelligence. A first-of-its-kind collection, Maritime Strategy and Global Order offers scholars, practitioners, students, and others with an interest in maritime history and strategic issues an absorbing long view of the role of the sea in creating the world we know.

In 1958, Frank Gamboa became the first Mexican American from Owens Valley, California, to graduate from the United States Naval Academy. His memoir's focus is his professional development as a naval officer of the line from 1958 to 1988 in the U.S. Navy's surface warfare community. It highlights his duties, challenges and opportunities during more than 17 years of sea duty in destroyers, a cruiser, and six amphibious warships operating in the Navy's Second and Third Fleets; and in frequent and extended deployments in the Sixth and Seventh Fleets during the Cold War. El Capitan portrays the leadership, management, technical and seamanship skills required to succeed in shipboard billets ranging from division officer to commanding officer and squadron commander, in ranks from ensign to captain. It describes Gamboa's performance as the first Mexican-American naval surface warfare officer to command a major warship as a Commander, the first to command major warship as a Captain, and the first to command a squadron of amphibious warships as a captain. About the Author After leaving the Navy, Frank created Gamboa International Corporation, a management consulting company that he and Linda successfully operated in the private sector from 1994 to 2006. In 1989, he was elected Vice President of the Naval Academy Class of 1958 and continues to serve in that capacity. He and his wife, the former Linda Marie Lehtio, reside in Fairfax, Virginia. Their son, John Frank "Jack" Gamboa, Junior, and his daughter Emma live in Portland, Oregon. Their daughter Judith Ann Callsen and her husband Gary and her daughter Loren reside at Foxcroft School in Middleburg, Virginia.

World War II sent the youth of the world across the globe in odd alliances against each other. Never before had a conflict been fought simultaneously in so many diverse landscapes on premises that often seemed unrelated. Never before had a conflict been fought in so many different ways - from rocket attacks on London to jungle fighting in Burma to armor strikes in Libya. It was only in time that these battles coalesced into one war. In The Second World Wars, esteemed military historian Victor Davis Hanson examines how and why this happened, focusing in detail on how the war was fought in the air, at sea, and on land-and thus where, when, and why the Allies won. Throughout, Hanson also situates World War II squarely within the history of war in the West over the past 2,500 years. In profound ways, World War II was unique: the most lethal event in human history, with 50 million dead, the vast majority of them civilians. But, as Hanson demonstrates, the war's origins were not entirely novel; it was reformulations of ancient ideas of racial and cultural superiority that fueled the global bloodbath.

This is the story of that small band of women who wore U.S. Marine uniforms during the Korean War. These women are a "lost generation" of women Marines who stepped into the breach between two wars and preserved the opportunity to be a Marine for those who were as yet unborn. They were, in fact, a "thin green line"--and they stood fast, just like Marines are taught to do.

This book tells in non-technical language how the British Navy contributed to the development of naval radar in World War 2. Addressed to the general reader, it tells not only the technical story in simple terms, but also of the operational use of shipborne radar at sea - for warning, for fire control, for fighter direction, for navigation, in all theatres of war - and particularly about the people who designed and fitted the equipment, and those who used it at sea.

Previous books written about naval warfare in the Baltic from 1939 to 1945 focus only on single navies, while the role of smaller secondary players--the Finnish, Danish or Swedish navies--tends to be ignored. This book looks at the overall picture, with each player receiving his proper due. One of the narrow seas, the Baltic has a set of characteristics and operational problems different from those on any open ocean. It is these challenges that this book seeks to emphasize, challenges which the U.S. Navy will now face.

This engaging book plunges readers into the culture shock of Marine Officer Candidates School, a ten-week physical, intellectual, and emotional testing ground so grueling that every fourth candidate fails to complete.

What does it take to become a Marine Officer? This engaging book transports readers through the culture shock of Marine Officer Candidates School, a ten-week physical, intellectual, and emotional testing ground that every fourth candidate fails to complete. The Sergeant Instructors' intensity is palpable as candidates are made to strip away civilian habits and attitudes, replacing them the Marine Corps ethos in the hopes of becoming officers. Anecdotes and personal recollections of OCS by two generations of officers provide instructive, poignant, and humorous interludes for the reader.

A second focus of the book involves research into the demographics, attitudes, and opinions of two groups of officers, separated in time by 50 years. This comparison across a wide range of personal and social issues and beliefs renders some surprising results that lie in opposition to conventional wisdom. From the older generation, the reader will better understand the lifelong impact of the Marine leadership experience. From today's officers, the reader will discover the motivations of today's allegedly soft and coddled young people to follow the difficult path to a lieutenant's gold bars. This book is required reading for anyone with an interest in the Marine Corps and its culture.

The Navy of World War II, 1922-1946 comprehensively covers the vessels that defined this momentous 24-year period in U.S. naval history. Beginning with the lean, pared-down navy created by the treaty at the Washington Naval Conference, and ending with the massive, awe-inspiring fleets that led the Allies to victory in the Second World War, the fourth volume in the celebrated U.S. Navy Warship series presents a detailed guide to all the warships that exhibited the might of the U.S. Navy to the fullest. Showcasing all the ships-both the famous and the often overlooked-that propelled the U.S Navy to prominence in the first half of the twentieth century, The Navy of World War II catalogues all the warships from this era, including those that did battle in the European, Mediterranean, and Pacific Theaters from 1941-1946. From the fleet attacked at Pearl Harbor, to those that fought valiantly in the Battle of the Guadalcanal, to the official surrender of the Japanese on the deck of the USS Missouri, this latest volume is the definitive guide to the warships that defined this pivotal period in U.S. naval history. Each volume in the U.S. Navy Warship series represents the most meticulous scholarship for its particular era, providing an authoritative account of every ship in the history of the U. S. Navy from its first incarnation as the Continental Navy to its present position as one of the world's most formidable naval superpowers. Featuring convenient, easy-to-read tabular lists, every book in the series includes an abundance of illustrations, some never before published, along with figures for actions fought, damages sustained, casualties suffered, prizes taken, and ships sunk, ultimately making the series an indispensable reference tool for maritime buffs and military historians alike. A further article about Paul Silverstone and the Navy Warships series can be found at: http://www.thejc.com/home.aspx?ParentId=m11s18s180&SecId=180&AId=58892&ATypeId=1

On November 30, 1916, an apparently ordinary freighter left harbor in Kiel, Germany, and would not touch land again for another fifteen months. It was the beginning of an astounding 64,000-mile voyage that was to take the ship around the world, leaving a trail of destruction and devastation in her wake. For this was no ordinary freighter--this was the "Wolf, "a disguised German warship.
In this gripping account of an audacious and lethal World War I expedition, Richard Guilliatt and Peter Hohnen depict the "Wolf "'s assignment: to terrorize distant ports of the British Empire by laying minefields and sinking freighters, thus hastening Germany's goal of starving her enemy into submission. Yet to maintain secrecy, she could never pull into port or use her radio, and to comply with the rules of sea warfare, her captain fastidiously tried to avoid killing civilians aboard the merchant ships he attacked, taking their crews and passengers prisoner before sinking the vessels.
The "Wolf "thus became a huge floating prison, with more than 400 captives, including a number of women and children, from twenty-five different nations. Sexual affairs were kindled between the German crew and some female prisoners. A six-year-old American girl, captured while sailing across the Pacific with her parents, was adopted as a mascot by the Germans.
Forced to survive on food and fuel plundered from other ships, facing death from scurvy, and hunted by the combined navies of five Allied nations, the Germans and their prisoners came to share a common bond. The will to survive transcended enmities of race, class, and nationality.
It was to be one of the most daring clandestine naval missions of modern times. Under the command of Captain Karl Nerger, who conducted his deadly business with an admirable sense of chivalry, the "Wolf "traversed three of the world's major oceans and destroyed more than thirty Allied vessels.
We learn of the world through which the "Wolf "moved, with all its social divisions and xenophobia, its bravery and stoicism, its combination of old-world social mores and rapid technological change. The story of this epic voyage is a vivid real-life narrative and simultaneously a richly detailed picture of a world being profoundly transformed by war.

The Arsenal Ship was the most innovative naval weapons concept of the late 20th Century: a stealthy vessel armed with 500 Vertical Launch System (VLS) tubes and manned by a crew of only 25 or 30 sailors, intended to rain precision-guided missiles on enemies from a safe distance; a "force multiplier" that was seen as an integral part of the Revolution in Military Affairs. The arsenal ship fascinated military thinkers in the mid-90s, although there was spirited debate over the wisdom of putting so many eggs in one lightly defended basket. Would it have worked? Read the detailed contemporary analysis and judge for yourself. An essential reference for any library on modern navies. Contents include:

An Arsenal Ship Design. Baumann, G. et al. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey. 1996.

A Proposed Littoral Dominant Battle Group Centered Around the Arsenal Ship. Looney, John P. et al. Marine Corps Combat Development Command, Quantico, 1997.

The Arsenal Ship and the U.S. Navy: A Revolution in Military Affairs Perspective. Driesbach, Dawn H. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey. 1996.

Can the Arsenal Ship Replace the Battleship? Lance, Joseph M, III. Army Command And General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth. 1996.

The Arsenal Ship Measures up to Joint Vision 2010. Abramson, Alan J. Naval War College, Newport. 1997.

Tradeoff Analysis Model for Arsenal Ship Survivability and Sustainability: Bush, Ronald S Cimiluca, Arthur E, Jr. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey. 1996.

The Arsenal Ship Concept: Vulnerabilities to Special Operations. Dunbar, Christian A. Pietrantoni, Dino. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey. 1997.

Arsenal Ship Automation and Manning Analysis. McNerney, Thomas E, III. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey. 1997.

DARPA Arsenal Ship Lessons Learned. Hamilton, Charles S. DARPA, Washington, DC. 1997.

Yet it is Webb's distinguished second career as a lead instructor for the shadowy "sniper cell" and Course Manager of the Navy SEAL Sniper Program that trained some of America's finest and deadliest warriors - including Marcus Luttrell and Chris Kyle - that makes his story so compelling. Luttrell credits Webb's training with his own survival during the ill-fated 2005 Operation Redwing in Afghanistan. Kyle went on to become the U.S. military's top marksman, with more than 150 confirmed kills. From a candid chronicle of his student days to his hair-raising close calls with Taliban and al Qaeda forces in the northern Afghanistan wilderness to his vivid account of designing new sniper standards and training some of the most accomplished snipers of the twenty-first century, Webb provides a rare look at the making of the Special Operations warriors who are at the forefront of today's military.

Naval forces have not yet received the attention they are due for their role in Operation Desert Shield. This chronological account offers a unique, and as yet, unseen level of detail regarding the Navy's contribution throughout the operation. Relying on primary sources whenever possible, this book discusses naval decisions in terms of information available to decision-makers at the time and presents the pros and cons for alternative courses of action, as argued at the time of the original decision. It details the Navy's role in planning for successful operations, its constant vigil against surprise attack, and its daily contribution to the maritime interception effort to enforce U.N. economic sanctions against Iraq.

Naval forces upheld the sanctions at sea in such a way as to avoid disabling a civilian ship and provided the glue that helped create and maintain the multi-national coalition. The complexity of the situation required the naval forces to adapt their command and control to a highly centralized operation which placed unprecedented demands on the Navy's communications systems. This study provides an insider view of the various plans, even those that were not carried out, and valuable insights into the personalities of the leading officials. Sources include first-hand observations of the events at ComUSNavCent, where the author had access to nearly all events and decisions; hundreds of thousands of messages and other briefing materials; the post-war analysis done by the Center for Naval Analyses; and interviews with almost all of the key players.