This revisionist book compares and contrasts US and British naval practice and war planning in the Far East during the pre-war period. Drawing on new archival evidence, the author reveals information about the state of war planning in both navies, which radically challenges the conclusions of Marder, Roskill and others.The terms 'Singapore Strategy' and 'Main Fleet to Singapore' have carried with them implications that British Far-Eastern strategy was devoted exclusively to the relief of Singapore, and that the Admiralty was unconcerned about the area north of the Malay Barrier. This book suggests otherwise. The author argues that Admiralty planning had returned to a pre-war framework that called for the rescue and relief of Singapore and Hong Kong together; the Admiralty was not only concerned with the defence of the Malay Barrier but also had a strong interest in the area to its immediate north, and had already agreed to operate the fleet on arrival from Manila.

Halsey's Typhoon is the story of World War II's most unexpected disaster at sea. In the final days of 1944, Admiral William "Bull" Halsey is the Pacific theater's most popular and colorful naval hero. After a string of victories, the "Fighting Admiral" and his thirty-thousand-man Third Fleet are charged with protecting General MacArthur's flank during the invasion of the Philippine island of Mindoro. But in the midst of the landings, Halsey attempts a complicated refueling maneuver and unwittingly drives his 170 ships into the teeth of a massive typhoon. Halsey's men find themselves battling 90-foot waves and 150 mph winds--amid the chaos, three ships are sunk and nearly nine hundred sailors and officers are swept into the Philippine Sea. For three days, small bands of survivors battle dehydration, exhaustion, sharks, and the elements awaiting rescue at the hands of the courageous lieutenant commander Henry Lee Plage, who, defying orders, sails his tiny destroyer escort, the USS Tabberer, back into the storm to rescue drifting sailors. Halsey's Typhoon is a gripping true tale of courage and survival against impossible odds--and one of the finest untold World War II sagas of our time.

In modern naval warfare, offensive and defensive mine operations and the ships that perform them often take a back seat to the more glamorous carrier strike groups, strategic deterrence patrols and anti-submarine operations. Despite their relatively small size and numbers, minecraft have enormous strategic and tactical value. With more than 200 photos, this book details the histories and specifications of more than 2,200 vessels that have served as minelayers and minesweepers, from World War I to today. Rare examples include the U.S. Navy’s only purpose-built mine-laying submarines, and the remarkable 36-foot “mini minesweeper.”

By the author of Grounded: The Case for Abolishing the United States Air Force. From the moment when the launching of HMS Dreadnought made every capital ship in the world obsolete overnight, we have been fascinated with these powerful surface combatants. Here Robert M. Farley looks at the history and folklore that makes these ships enduring symbols of national power - and sometimes national futility. From Arizona to Yamato, here are more than sixty lavishly illustrated accounts of battleships from the most well-known to the most unusual, including at least one ship from every nation that ever owned a modern battleship. Separate essays and sidebars look at events and lore that greatly affected battleships.

It is a century since Mahan and his disciples taught the world that a battlefleet was indispensable to a great power. Great and not so great powers still keep powerful navies today, but we have no generally-accepted principles to explain why. In this book historians and naval officers from Britain, the United States and other countries study the use of naval power over a century, and ask what it is for, and what it can do. It will be essential reading for modern historians, policy-makers and strategists.

A roadmap for US military innovation based on the Navy’s history of success through civilian-military collaborations The US military must continually adapt to evolving technologies, shifting adversaries, and a changing social environment for its personnel. In American Defense Reform, Dave Oliver and Anand Toprani use US naval history as a guide for leading successful change in the Pentagon. American Defense Reform provides a historical analysis of the Navy during four key periods of disruptive transformation: the 1940s Revolt of the Admirals, the McNamara Revolution in systems analysis, the fallout from the Vietnam War, and the end of the Cold War. The authors draw insights from historical documents, previously unpublished interviews from four-star admirals, and Oliver’s own experiences as a senior naval officer and defense industry executive. They show that Congress alone cannot effectively create change and reveal barriers to applying the experience of the private sector to the public sector Ultimately, Oliver and Toprani show that change can only come from a collaborative effort between civilians, the military, and industry, each making vital contributions. American Defense Reform provides insights and practical recommendations essential to reforming national defense to meet future demands.

Previous studies of the American Navy's role in World War I have emphasized the combat and logistical tasks such as anti-submarine warfare, convoy protection, and the transportation of military supplies and troops to Europe. While these activities were of crucial importance in winning the war, the effort that involved the largest number of men was training. The Navy increased in size from about 59,000 men in late 1916 to nearly 530,000 by the end of the war in November 1918. In a brief 19 months, the Navy trained over 400,000 men. This story covers the three main divisions of enlisted training: the training stations, the reserve training camps, and the advanced or specialty schools, as well as an account of the building of the bases and changes in the curriculum.

Besch goes to great lengths to convey a sense of what life was like in the camps, stations, ships, and bases. In addition to all the major training locations, topics include: fleet, submarine, officer, and aviation training. Colleges and universities also played an important role in naval training. Sources for the study include archives from around the country, while stories drawn from diaries, letters, and oral histories add a personal element to the account.

This book explores the value of Corbett's seminal work Some Principles of Maritime Strategy over time in a changing context and with evolving technology. It has been over a century since Sir Julian Corbett published Some Principles of Maritime Strategy (1911), yet it is still regarded as a foundational text on maritime strategy. But the character of sea power is constantly evolving, so the continued relevance of this work must be regularly examined. Too often the debate is polarised between a focus on either Corbett's historical relevance to the early 20th-century Royal Navy or his relevance to strategy today. There is little attempt to bridge the gap and analyse Some Principles over time, changing circumstances, or differing national situations. This book bridges that gap, offering a practitioner's viewpoint to put the work to a practical test across the past century of conflict, and the evolution of thought and technology. It explores Corbett's original intent, his core ideas, the errors or omissions in his analysis and method, and where his ideas have been (or still can be) extrapolated, and aims to determine the extent to which Some Principles continues to merit its status as an enduring classic of strategy. The book concludes that despite never being originally intended as a general text, Some Principles nevertheless holds up surprisingly well in terms of both universal application and enduring relevance over time and changed circumstances. This book will be of much interest to students of maritime strategy, naval history, and International Relations, as well as naval practitioners.

" Constructed in 1923, the American submarine S39 was practically an antique when the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor. With defective torpedoes, a semi-trained crew, and a primitive ventilation system (hence the nickname), she nevertheless sank two enemy vessels and eluded pursuit to fight again in the Solomons. This is the little-known story of how an unprepared navy fought with what it had until the tide could be turned. Bobette Gugliotta was one of the S-39 wives. With the technical assistance of her husband, Guy, an officer who served on three of the S-class boats during the war, she presents an accurate and absorbing account of submarine operations and warfare. No less valuable is her candid and sympathetic portrayal of the men and women whose lives were caught up in the voyage of the S-39.

For the majority of the post-Cold War era, Russian maritime power has hardly featured in the Euro-Atlantic community’s thinking. But in the mid-2010s, the idea that the Russian navy poses a threat to NATO began to gain ground. It took very real form in February 2022, when Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine. This book presents the first sustained examination of Russian maritime power in the period since the Cold War. It brings together leading specialists from public policy and academia to reflect on historical and contemporary aspects of Russia's naval strategy and capacities. At a time of mounting tensions, which some observers have named the ‘Fourth Battle of the Atlantic’, the book offers an informed and nuanced discussion, taking into account the view from Moscow and how this differs from western perspectives. It sketches a trajectory of Russia’s power at sea and reflects on current capabilities and problems, as well as Moscow’s strategic planning for the future. -- .

This book, first published in 1986, argues that there is a special category of medium powers in the world - such as Britain, France, India, Brazil, Japan, China and others - which have sufficient military power to do something to protect their interests but which are not a match for the superpowers. It surveys the whole range of naval warfare - equipment, operations, organisation and deployment - and discusses how each item should be tailored by the recognition of the position of the medium power. It considers alliances, a key element for medium powers, and explores how these should be handled and what use they may be expected to fulfil. The book argues that the concept of medium power, here developed thoroughly for the first time, will be extremely useful to many countries in defining their strategic role in a purposeful way.

As the shallowest of the Great Lakes, Lake Erie is prone to sudden, steep waves and dense fogs. These deadly conditions were hazardous to steamers that crossed on busy nineteenth-century trade routes and ships that battled on its surface in the War of 1812. It was the poor visibility of a summer haze that claimed the steamer "Atlantic" and approximately two hundred of its immigrant passengers in 1852. The 1916 Black Friday Storm destroyed four ships, including the "unsinkable" whaleback "James B Colgate," during the twenty-hour tantrum. Tragedies continued well into the twentieth century with the loss of fishing tugs like the "Aletha B," "Richard R" and "Stanley Clipper." A veritable graveyard, Lake Erie's Quadrangle might be responsible for more shipwrecks per square mile than any other region in the world. Author David Frew dives deep to discover the mysteries of some of Lake Erie's most notorious wrecks.

This edited volume focuses on the South Atlantic regional and national issues with maritime implications: naval policy, security, transnational organized crime, and Europe's legacy and current influence. The work analyzes the positions in favor and against NATO's extended role in the South Atlantic, the historical and current issues related to the Falklands War, the African national deficits, and initiatives to attend the regional maritime problems. Including contributions from Angolan, Brazilian, Senegalese, and US collaborators, the volume offers eclectic conceptual frameworks, rich historical backgrounds, updated data, original analysis models, and policy recommendations.

The story of the USS Missouri, one of America's most famous warships of the twentieth century, and the world's last battleship, is told from her inception in 1940, through WWII kamikaze attacks, to her being the location of the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay, on September 2, 1945. Missouri's post-WWII activities are covered, from her transporting of the Truman family from South America, to her unfortunate grounding in the Chesapeake Bay, on to her return to combat, not only off Korea in 1950, but also the Persian Gulf in 1990-91. The story of this historic ship is presented through carefully researched photos, many of which have never before been published, and are reproduced in remarkable clarity. The story culminates in Missouri's current status as a museum in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Large, clear photos, coupled with descriptive and informative captions, puts the reader on the deck of this legendary American warship. Part of the Legends of Warfare series.

Royal Air Force Coastal Command was the organisation charged with keeping the sea lanes clear around the coasts of Britain for the best part of half a century, from immediately after the First World War until the 1960s. In the decades after the Second World War, John Campbell served as a Coastal Command navigator and crew captain on Shackleton aircraft in the Maritime Patrol role. Having studied in great detail the history and development of Coastal Command, he has researched and written this thorough account of its activities throughout its years of operation.

During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, the technology employed by the British navy changed not just the material resources of the British navy but the culture and performance of the royal dockyards. This book examines the role of the Inspector General of Naval Works, an Admiralty office occupied by Samuel Bentham between 1796 and 1807, which initiated a range of changes in dockyard technology by the construction of experimental vessels, the introduction of non-recoil armament, the reconstruction of Portsmouth yard, and the introduction of steam-powered engines to pump water, drive mass-production machinery and reprocess copper sheathing. While primarily about the technology, this book also examines the complementary changes in the industrial culture of the dockyards. For it was that change in culture which permitted the dockyards at the end of the Wars to maintain a fleet of unprecedented size and engage in warfare both with the United States of America and with Napoleonic Europe.

In recent times, international society has countered a myriad of 'outlaw' threats at sea, including piracy, terrorism, the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and the threat posed by 'rogue states'. Whilst the US has promoted 'coalitions of the willing' and sought to transform international maritime law in response to these 'outlaws', Japanese governments have developed an innovative maritime security strategy centering on the Japan Coast Guard (JCG). Concerned by Japan's international image as a former imperialist power, Tokyo has relied upon the identity of the JCG as a law enforcement and rescue organization to garner support for its maritime security strategy. Japan's non-military efforts have developed the capacities of states and built institutions in the Southeast Asian region and beyond. The JCG's response to maritime 'outlaws' belies characterizations of Japan as a passive state that does not contribute to international order.

The USS Enterprise (CVN-65) was the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Her story spans 51 years (1961-2012) of active service from the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis to the first global cruise by nuclear-powered ships to the first strikes during the Vietnam War, battles against the Iranians and Iraqis in the 1980s and 1990s, a pivotal role during 9/11 and the Global War on Terrorism, and hunting pirates off the Horn of Africa. More than just an operational history of Enterprise, this book recounts the experiences of the men and women who served on board--the pilots who flew from the flight deck, the men who fought to save the ship during a fire in 1969, the sailors who brought retribution against Al-Qaeda terrorists--with detailed descriptions of sorties through flak-filled skies and harrowing escapes from capture behind enemy lines.

As a U.S. Navy officer, Jack Whitehouse served aboard a World War II-era destroyer at the peak of the Vietnam War, ran special operations on a patrol boat out of Guantanamo Bay during the Cuban Missile Crisis and deployed with the Royal Norwegian Navy to counter Soviet threats north of the Arctic Circle. His detailed memoir recounts American efforts to win the Cold War from the perspective of a young lieutenant on the front lines 1964-1975 and the personal struggles and perseverance of sailors fighting an existential enemy at sea.

Few subjects in naval history have elicited as much romance and disdain as the battlecruiser. And few subjects have gone so grossly misunderstood.

Fundamental errors regarding the battlecruiser's origins and the technology of the times continue to distort hindsight, obscuring the historical context of these powerful, majestic ships. Thunder in Its Courses clears away the misconceptions, with essays establishing the basic facts of the capital-ship cruiser as well as thorny issues regarding individual designs.

Richard Worth writes for the Warship and Warship International journals. His book titles include In the Shadow of the Battleship, Raising the Red Banner (with Vladimir Yakubov), On Seas Contested (edited with Vincent P. O'Hara and W. David Dickson), and Fleets of World War II.

What happens when a career Marine officer stops believing in the doctrine of the Corps and the official pretexts for war? In 2006, Winston Tierney deployed to Iraq's Anbar Province with the Fourth Reconnaissance Battalion, excited and proud to serve his country in the fight against international terrorism. After several trips to Iraq over the next nine years he returned depleted by hatred, mendacity, alcohol abuse and PTSD, he felt he had "seen behind the curtain"-and didn't like what he saw. This hard-hitting memoir depicts the brutal realities of the conflict in Iraq at street level, while giving a clear-eyed treatise on the immorality of war and the catastrophe of America's failures in the Middle East.

A reappraisal of the late Victorian Navy, the so-called `Dark Ages', showing how the period was crucial to the emergence of new technology defined by steel and electricity. In purely naval terms, the period from 1889 to 1906 is often referred to (and indeed passed over) as the `pre-Dreadnought era', merely a prelude to the lead-up to the First World War, and thus of relatively little importance; it has therefore received little consideration from historians, a gap which this book remedies by reviewing the late Victorian Navy from a radically new perspective. It starts with the Great Near East crisis of 1878 and shows how itsaftermath in the Carnarvon Commission and its evidence produced a profound shift in strategic thinking, culminating in the Naval Defence Act of 1889; this evidence, from the ship owners, provides the definitive explanation of whythe Victorian Navy gave up on convoy as the primary means of trade protection in wartime, a fundamental question at the time. The book also overturns many assumptions about the era, especially the perception that the navy was weak, and clearly shows that the 1870s and early 1880s brought in crucial technological developments that made the Dreadnought possible.

This book explains both the strategic and the operational aspects of exercising control of the sea. The struggle for sea control consists of three mutually related and overlapping phases: obtaining, maintaining and exercising sea control. It is in the phase of exercising sea control when one's strategic or operational success is exploited; otherwise, the fruits of victories achieved would be wasted. This work describes the strategy of a stronger side in wartime after a desired degree of control has been obtained, which is followed by a discussion on the objectives and main methods used in exercising sea control. The remaining chapters explain and analyze in some detail each of the main methods of exercising sea control: defence and protection of one's own and destruction/neutralization of the enemy's military-economic potential at sea, capturing the enemy's operationally important positions ashore, destroying/weakening the enemy's military-economic potential ashore and supporting one's ground forces in their offensive and defensive operations on the coast. This book will be of much interest to students of strategic studies, sea power and naval history.

The end of the Cold War has affected debates about maritime strategy, doctrine, operations and technology. What has emerged is an intellectual reconsideration of the theory and practice of maritime power. This volume focuses on the implications for western navies of shifts in strategic thinking, maritime doctrine, technology and naval roles.