Only the author of The Hunt for Red October could capture the reality of life aboard a nuclear submarine. Only a writer of Clancy’s magnitude could obtain security clearance for information, diagrams, and photographs never before available to the public. Now, every civilian can enter this top secret world and experience the drama and excitement of this stunning technological achievement…the weapons, the procedures, the people themselves…the startling facts behind the fiction that made Tom Clancy a #1 bestseller.

Submarine includes:

No body of water was more vital to the Confederacy's efforts in the Civil War than the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Though the Confederate Congress declared the Mississippi free and open to all states north and south, the Union launched plans for an effective blockade of the 1700 miles of Southern coastline, coupled with a strong naval and army thrust down the Mississippi Valley from Cairo, Illinois, to the Gulf of Mexico. To defend the river and to prevent Union forces from advancing, the South would require a strong naval force. There was only one problem with the strategy: The Confederacy had no navy. On February 25, 1861, Confederate president Jefferson Davis nominated Stephen R. Mallory to be secretary of the newly formed Confederate States Navy. Mallory faced significant obstacles-no shipyards, few skilled craftsmen and machinists, and a lack of production facilities to process raw materials. Mallory was able to overcome the many shortcomings to build a formidable navy, but the efforts in the Mississippi theatre were hamstrung by a disjointed command structure and inter-service bickering. Despite these problems, the Confederate Navy contested the Union forces at every turn. The history of Confederate naval forces on the western waters is a story of desperation, intrigue, ineptitude, and humiliating defeats, interspersed with moments of courage, innovation, resourcefulness, and a few hard-earned victories.

Between the last battle fought entirely under oars in 1571 and the first fought entirely under steam in 1866, naval warfare in the Middle Seas and adjacent Atlantic waters was dominated by the sailing warship. This exploration of that distinct period in military history begins with an overview of the galley warfare that dominated the Mediterranean for millennia and a discussion of the technological developments, including the sail and the cannon, which led to the galley's demise. Subsequent chapters discuss the role of sailing ships in every major conflict on the Mediterranean from the Eighty Years War to the late 19th century Austro-Prussian-Italian War. In addition to the major battles, the book also highlights smaller encounters between single ships or light squadrons, important conflicts often overlooked in naval histories.

The Battle of Tsushima was the most decisive naval engagement in the century that elapsed since the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Although these two battles are often compared, the Battle of Tsushima, in which the Japanese Imperial Navy defeated the Russian Imperial Navy, was also unprecedented in many ways. It marks the first naval victory of an Asian power over a major European power; the most devastating defeat suffered by the Imperial Russian Navy in its entire history; and the only truly decisive engagement between two battleship fleets in modern times. In addition, the Battle of Tsushima was also the most decisive naval engagement of the Russo-Japanese War and one that exerted a major impact on the course of that war. Its impact was so dramatic, in fact, that the two belligerents concluded a peace agreement within three months of the battle's conclusion. At the same time, and because it involved two of the world's largest fleets, the influence this battle exerted was both far reaching and long standing. In subsequent years, the symbolic victory of an "Eastern" power over Tsarist Russia using modern technology was feared and celebrated in both the Western and the Colonial worlds. Similarly, and in both Japan and Russia, the Battle of Tsushima had a prolonged impact on their respective navies as well as on their geopolitical ambitions in Asia and beyond. By relying on a diverse array of primary sources, this book examines the battle in depth and is the first to offer a penetrating analysis of its global impact as well as the way its memory has evolved in both Japan and Russia.

David Balme will be forever known as the 20-year-old hero who, on 9 May 1941, boarded a German U-boat in mid-Atlantic, and captured one of the greatest secrets of the Second World War. This capture - or 'pinch' as it was known within secret, inner circles - changed the course of the Battle of the Atlantic and shortened the war itself. Balme was part of a team comprising officers and men of the Third Escort Group ably led by Commander Joe Baker Cresswell, also commander of HMS Bulldog, who shared the danger with other unsung heroes such as Lieutenant Commander George Dodds. Balme was tasked with taking the Bulldog's whaler and a small party to board the U-boat U-110 which had been disabled. However he was alone when initially boarding, entering and searching the U-boat. This put him in a vulnerable position while descending into the vessel - he risked being shot by any German submariner that may have remained or blown-up by a booby-trap device. Furthermore he could have drowned when Bulldog disappeared into the mists of the Atlantic to hunt another U-boat, as U-110 could have plummeted into the depths at any time.However, where others tried and failed or tragically lost their lives, Balme and his boarding party succeeded magnificently in capturing an entire Enigma machine, the essential rotors and months' worth of associated cipher material. This was an absolute gift to the code breakers at Bletchley Park who were able to read all the secret German naval signal traffic for some months and it enabled them to read virtually the whole of the traffic for the rest of the war and with little delay. The capture was kept so secret that few even on the British side knew about it - not even the Americans were told what had been achieved after they entered the war. Balme returned from the war and never spoke about the secret capture which he believed would be hidden forever. The story of the capture and ransack of U-110 is told for the first time in the words and letters of David Balme, his captain Joe Baker Cresswell, George Dodds and others who took part in the most important submarine capture of the whole war.Besides the capture of U-110, Balme enjoyed an astonishing variety of wartime experience including the Spanish Civil War, the Palestine Patrol, the sinking of HMS Courageous, the Battle of Convoy KJF3, the fight with the heavy cruiser Hipper, the Battle of Cape Spartivento, the Battle of Convoy OB318, being sunk during Operation Harpoon, the air war in the Western Desert, the high level diplomacy of Prime Minister Winston Churchill and pioneering work as a Fighter Direction Officer in the war against Japan.

From "New York Times" bestselling author James Brady-the story of Marine legend John Basilone, one of three main characters in HBO's "The Pacific"

Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone was a Marine legend who received the Medal of Honor for holding off 3,000 Japanese on Guadalcanal and the Navy Cross posthumously for his bravery on Iwo Jima. This is the story of how a young man from Raritan, New Jersey, became one of America's biggest World War II heroes.Profiles one of three main characters in HBO's "The Pacific," the successful sequel to the popular mini-series "Band of Brothers"""A carefully reported, briskly written book . . . that could go a long way toward correcting . . . historical oversight."" -"The Los Angeles Times"Sorts through the differing accounts of Basilone's life and exploits, including what he did on Iwo Jima and how he diedThe final book by James Brady, the Korean War veteran and well-known columnist and author of books that include Why Marines Fight and an autobiography, The Coldest War, a Pulitzer Prize finalist

An incredible story masterfully told, "Hero of the Pacific" will appeal to anyone with an interest in World War II and military history as well as fans of HBO's "The Pacific."

Through dramatic incidents tells for the first time the full story of the development of Cold War naval intelligence from the end of WWII to the breakup the Soviet Union in 1991, from both sides, East and West. Unlike other accounts, which focus on submarine confrontations and accidents, the authors cover all types of naval intelligence, human collection (racing with the Soviets to capture Nazi subs, successful and losing spies and defectors), signal intelligence (surface, air, satellite and navy commando teams in balaclavas launched by speed boats from subs), acoustic (passive underwater arrays and tapping phone lines), and the aerial and space reconnaissance. The authors give details of operations in all these areas, some of which were witnessed first hand.

""A new light is shed on the spy ships incidents of the 1960s and on submarine intrusions in Swedish waters. Excerpts of the Soviet Navy instructions on UFOs and accounts of Soviet naval encounters with unexplained objects are also published for the first time outside of Russia; and much more.""

The first official history of the legendary aircraft carrier that fought in World War II and Vietnam and continues to serve as a major air and space museum in New York City
The USS "Intrepid" is a warship unlike any other. Since her launching in 1943, the 27,000-ton, "Essex"-class aircraft carrier has sailed into harm's way around the globe. During World War II, she fought her way across the Pacific--Kwajalein, Truk, Peleliu, Formosa, the Philippines, Okinawa--surviving kamikaze and torpedo attacks and covering herself with glory. The famous ship endured to become a Cold War attack carrier, recovery ship for America's first astronauts, and a three-tour combatant in Vietnam.
In a riveting narrative based on archival research and interviews with surviving crewmen, authors Bill White and Robert Gandt take us inside the war in the Pacific. We join "Intrepid"'s airmen at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, in October 1944, as they gaze in awe at the apparitions beneath them: five Japanese battleships, including the dreadnoughts "Yamato" and "Musashi," plus a fleet of heavily armored cruisers and destroyers. The sky fills with multihued bursts of anti-aircraft fire. The flak, a Helldiver pilot would write in his action report, "was so thick you could get out and walk on it." Half a dozen "Intrepid" aircraft are blown from the sky, but they sink the "Musashi. "A few months later, off Okinawa, they" "again meet her sister ship, the mighty "Yamato." In a two-hour tableau of hellfire and towering explosions, "Intrepid"'s warplanes help send the super-battleship and 3,000 Japanese crewmen to the bottom of the sea.
We're next to nineteen-year-old Alonzo Swann in Gun Tub 10 aboard "Intrepid" as he peers over the breech of a 20-mm anti-aircraft gun. He's heard of kamikazes, but until today he's never seen one. Swann and his fellow gunners are among the few African Americans assigned to combat duty in the U.S. Navy of 1944. Blazing away at the diving Japanese Zero, Swann realizes with a dreadful certainty where it will strike: directly into Gun Tub 10.
The authors follow "Intrepid"'s" "journey to Vietnam. "MiG-21 high!" crackles the voice of Lt. Tony Nargi in his F-8 Crusader. It is 1968, and "Intrepid" is again at war. Launching from Yankee Station in the Tonkin Gulf, Nargi and his wingman have intercepted a flight of Russian-built supersonic fighters. Minutes later, after a swirling dogfight over North Vietnam, Nargi--and "Intrepid"--have added another downed enemy airplane to their credit.
"Intrepid: The Epic Story of America's Most Legendary Warship "brings a renowned ship to life in a stirring tribute complete with the personal recollections of those who served aboard her, dramatic photographs, time lines, maps, and vivid descriptions of "Intrepid"'s deadly conflicts. More than a numbers-and-dates narrative, "Intrepid" is the story of people--those who sailed in her, fought to keep her alive, perished in her defense--and powerfully captures the human element in this saga of American heroism.

In the late 1890s the Russian Empire sought to strengthen its presence in the Far East, China and Korea. Faced with a growing threat posed by the Imperial Japanese Navy, the Russians saw an urgent build-up of their naval forces in the region as an utmost priority. On February 20, 1898 Emperor Nicholas II approved a supplementary shipbuilding program "for the Far East", which would see the construction of six 5,000 - 6,000 ton cruisers, in addition to ships already being built under the 1895 program. The task to formulate technical requirement for the new vessels was delegated to the Maritime Technical Committee (Russian: MTK).

During America's epic naval confrontation against Imperial Japan, Francis Gelzheiser and Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 16A, sojourned from New Orleans to Panama then north to Seattle and then Attu Island in the Aleutians. After their return voyage the tiny vessels journeyed to New Guinea and then faced the Japanese Kamikaze force during the battle for the Philippine Island of Mindoro. The battle for Alaska and the campaigns for New Guinea and the Philippines are examined and then the role played by PT Boat Squadron 16 in these actions is explored. The epic battle for Manila and the horror that the author's father encountered when he journeyed into the city is described. Finally, the author attempts to understand how his father was impacted by his experiences in WWII. Like many warriors, Francis Gelzheiser hid his war from everyone, and it was not until late in life that he shared his experiences and attempted to come to terms with killing and the horrors he had witnessed. The history, construction, armament and tactics used by PT boats, and the development of the Japanese Kamikaze force and the role it played in the War are explored. The author also examines the American production juggernaut and why, despite America's overwhelming production advantage, the Japanese believed that if their people possessed the proper will, they could still win the War.

This is the first book to attempt a comprehensive analysis of the state of Spain's naval forces in the years following the defeat of the Great Armada in 1588 and during the seventeenth century. This was a period in which all of Europe's maritime powers were attaching increasing importance to naval warfare in their bid to topple Spain and to seize the rich pickings of her vast empire. The book's findings throw new light on the conservation of Spain's timber resources, naval funding, and the recruitment and status of the Spanish seaman, in a study of the political, social, economic and technological conditions that influenced the character and performance of the Spanish navy.

What was a merchant seaman's life like in the past, what experiences would he have had, what were the ships like that he sailed in, and what risks did he run? Was he shipwrecked, rewarded for bravery, or punished? And how can you find out about an ancestor who was a member of the long British maritime tradition? Simon Wills's concise and informative historical guide takes the reader and researcher through the fascinating story of Britain's merchant service, and he shows you how to trace individual men and women and gain an insight into their lives. In a series of short, information-packed chapters he explains the expansion of Britain's global maritime trade and the fleets of merchant ships that sustained it in peace and war. He describes the lives, duties and tribulations of the generations of crews who sailed in these ships, whether as ordinary seamen or as officers, stewards, engineers and a myriad of other roles. And he identifies the websites you can explore, the archives, records and books you can read, and the places you can visit in order to gain an understanding of what your seagoing ancestor did and the world he knew. Simon Wills's practical handbook will be essential reading and reference for anyone who is keen to discover for themselves the secrets of our maritime past and of the crewmembers and ships that were part of it.

This book discusses the role of the U.S. Navy within the country's national security structure during the first decade of the Cold War from the perspective of the service's senior uniformed officer, the Chief of Naval Operations, and his staff. It examines a variety of important issues of the period, including the Army-Navy fight over unification that led to the creation of the National Security Act of 1947, the early postwar fighting in China between the Nationalists and the Communists, the formation of NATO, the outbreak of the Korean War, the decision of the Eisenhower Administration not to intervene in the Viet Minh troops' siege of the French garrison at Dien Bien Phu, and the initiation of the Eisenhower "New Look" defense policy. The author relies upon information obtained from a wide range of primary sources and personal interviews with important, senior Navy and Army officers. The result is a book that provides the reader with a new way of looking at these pivotal events.

This book provides summaries and analyses of more than 250 novels and nearly 30 films and examines the extent to which they accurately reflect the history, mores and manners of the period--and the extent to which they reveal the ideas and attitudes of their authors and of the periods in which they were written. Particular emphasis is placed on the nature and importance of the war at sea for the British and on the role of famous naval officers such as Nelson, Pellew, Duncan, Smith and Cochrane in the defeat of Napoleon.

"In 1963 ]] there was no way I could have known, sitting in a classroom on that beautiful campus in Ohio, that by raising my hand I would be going to war in Vietnam and that I would see things, hear things and do things that most people cannot imagine."--James Joyce.

The author entered the United States Army through ROTC, and trained to fly helicopters in combat over Vietnam. He flew both Huey "Slicks" and Huey "Gunships": the former on defense flying troops into battle, and the latter in taking the battle to the enemy. Here he relives his experiences flying and fighting, with special attention given to pilots' day-to-day lives.

This entry refers to the LARGE PRINT edition. For the standard edition please see ISBN 978-0-7864-1557-1.

Highly illustrated with colour images and specially commissioned maps throughout, this is a unique exploration of the pirate world.

Often romanticised in print and on the silver screen, real-life pirates were a brutal menace that plagued the high seas. In this book, Angus Konstam separates myth from reality, tracing the history of piracy through the centuries, from the pirates who plagued the Ancient Egyptians to the Viking raids and on to the era of privateers. He discusses the so-called 'Golden Age of Piracy' and colourful characters such as Blackbeard and Captain Kidd, before examining the West's initial encounters with Eastern pirates off the Chinese coast and the phenomenon of the modern pirate..

The men of the U.S. Navy's brown-water force played a vital but often overlooked role in the Vietnam War. Known for their black berets and limitless courage, they maneuvered their aging, makeshift craft along shallow coastal waters and twisting inland waterways to search out the enemy. In this moving tribute to their contributions and sacrifices, Tom Cutler records their dramatic story as only a participant could. His own Vietnam experience enables him to add a striking human dimension to the account. The terror of firefights along the jungle-lined rivers, the rigors of camp life, and the sudden perils of guerrilla warfare are conveyed with authenticity. At the same time, the author's training as a historian allows him to objectively describe the scope of the navy's operations and evaluate their effectiveness.
Winner of the Navy League's Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Literary Achievement in 1988 when the book was first published, Cutler is credited with having written the definitive history of the brown-water sailors, an effort that has helped readers better understand the nature of U.S. involvement in the war.

Although historians of the French Revolution have paid it little attention, the French navy provides a striking illustration of the impact of the new ideology of Popular Sovereignty. This book examines the navy's involvement in political conflict from 1789 to 1794 and charts the evolution of a struggle between opposing definitions of authority in France. The fleet depended on the support of executive power. In 1789 royal government collapsed in the face of defiance from the National Assembly, but Popular Sovereignty was not confined to the legislature. The struggle between competing claims to represent the National Will lay behind the fleet's surrender at Toulon in 1793 and the mutiny at Quiberon Bay. Sent to Brest to save the Republic's navy, Jeanbon Saint-Andre sought to restrict Popular Sovereignty in the context of the Terror. Thus this 1995 study presents a revisionist interpretation of the nature of revolutionary politics.

The battle of Lepanto has long been considered one of the decisive naval battles of history. Yet, the savage fighting on Sunday, 7 October 1571 left the strategic map unchanged and the defeated Ottoman Turks were able to replace their losses and launch a new fleet the following year. Nic Fields re-examines the battle and concludes that, while it merely confirmed a strategic reality that had already emerged during the 16th century (i.e. that naval supremacy lay with the Sublime Porte in the eastern Mediterranean, and with Habsburg Spain and its Catholic allies in the western Mediterranean), it's vital importance was psychological. It sank the perception of Ottoman dominance and the inevitability of Islam's westward encroachment beyond the Balkans. With over 200 ships per side, it was the largest naval battle in sixteen centuries and the last major fight between fleets composed entirely of the muscle-driven galley. These slender ships were the direct descendants of the Classical trireme but carried cannon and marines bearing firearms, although massed archery and cold steel still played a major r le on the fateful day. Nic Fields gives an excellent account of this fascinating and spectacular battle.

*Shortlisted for the 2019 Mountbatten Award* "We went up on deck and were looking around when the awful crash came. The ship listed so much that we all scrambled down the deck and for a moment everything was in confusion. When I came to myself again I glanced around but could find no trace of Mr Prichard. He seemed to have disappeared." - Grace French The sinking of the Lusitania is an event that has been predominantly discussed from a political or maritime perspective. For the first time, The Lusitania Sinking tells the story in the emotive framework of a family looking for information on their son's death. On 1 May 1915, the 29-year-old student Preston Prichard embarked as a Second Class passenger on the Lusitania, bound from New York for Liverpool. By 2pm on the afternoon of 7 May, the liner was approaching the coast of Ireland when she was sighted by the German submarine U-20\. A single torpedo caused a massive explosion in the Lusitania's hold, and the ship began sank rapidly. Within 20 minutes she disappeared and 1,198 men, women and children, including Preston, died. Uncertain of Preston's fate, his family leaped into action. His brother Mostyn, who lived in Ramsgate, travelled to Queenstown to search morgues but could find nothing. Preston's mother wrote hundreds of letters to survivors to find out more about what might have happened in his last moments. The Lusitania Sinking compiles the responses received. Perhaps sensing his fate, Prichard had put his papers in order before embarking and told a fellow student where to find his will if anything happened to him. During the voyage, he was often seen in the company of Grace French, quoted above. Alice Middleton, who had a crush on him but was too shy to speak to him throughout the entire voyage, remembered that he helped her in reaching the upper decks during the last moments of the sinking: "[The Lusitania] exploded and down came her funnels, so over I jumped. I had a terrible time in the water, 41/2 hours bashing about among the wreckage and dead bodies... It was 10.30 before they landed me at the hospital in an unconscious condition. In fact, they piled me with a boat full of dead and it was only when they were carrying the dead bodies to the Mortuary that they discovered there was still life in me."

For most of the twentieth century Britain possessed both the worlds largest merchant fleet and its most extensive overseas territories. It is not surprising, therefore, that the Royal Navy always showed a particular interest in the cruiser a multi-purpose warship needed in large numbers to defend trade routes and police the empire. Above all other types, the cruisers competing demands of quality and quantity placed a heavy burden on designers, and for most of the inter-war years Britain sought to square this circle through international treaties restricting both size and numbers. In the process she virtually invented the heavy cruiser and inspired the large 6in-armed cruiser, neither of which, ironically, served her best interests. For the first time this book seeks to comprehend the full policy background, from which a different and entirely original picture emerges of British cruiser development. After the war the cruisers role was reconsidered and the final chapters of the book cover modernisations, the plans for missile-armed ships and the convoluted process that turned the through-deck cruiser into the Invincible class light carriers. With detailed appendices of ship data, and illustrated in depth with photos and A D Bakers specially commissioned plans, British Cruisers truly matches the lofty standards set by Friedmans previous books on British destroyers. **'This is a sumptuous volume, providing a most authoritative and comprehensive review of British cruisers in the twentieth century. The book is beautifully laid out to Seaforth's traditional high standard.'** _Scuttlebutt_

When Barbary pirates captured an obscure Yankee sailing brig off the coast of North Africa in 1812, enslaving eleven American sailors, President James Madison sent the largest American naval force ever gathered to that time, led by the heroic Commodore Stephen Decatur, to end Barbary terror once and for all. Drawing upon numerous ship logs, journals, love letters, and government documents, Frederick C. Leiner paints a vivid picture of the world of naval officers and diplomats in the early nineteenth century, as he recreates a remarkable and little known episode from the early American republic. Leiner first describes Madison's initial efforts at diplomacy, sending Mordecai Noah to negotiate. But when the ruler refused to ransom the Americans-"not for two millions of dollars"-Madison declared war and sent a fleet to North Africa. Decatur's squadron dealt quick blows to the Barbary navy, dramatically fighting and capturing two ships. Decatur then sailed to Algiers. He refused to go ashore to negotiate-indeed, he refused to negotiate on any essential point. The ruler of Algiers signed the treaty-in Decatur's words, "dictated at the mouths of our cannon"-in twenty-four hours. The United States would never pay tribute to the Barbary world again, and the captive Americans were set free. Here then is a real-life naval adventure that will thrill fans of Patrick O'Brian, a story of Islamic terrorism, white slavery, poison gas, diplomatic intrigue, and battles with pirates on the high seas.