1805 and England, alone and facing the armed night of Imperial France, is threatened with invasion annihilation. For it is known Napoleon will show no mercy.But William Pitt the Younger, again the King's First Minister, though already a dying man, is determined the country shall cringe no longer before the ruthless Corsican. Henceforth, he will carry the fight to the enemy by the only means possible for a maritime nation by sea.So begins the fascinating seven month campaign, ...

A fascinating and lively account of the lives of British warships named London, looking at history from the perspective of the men who were there.There is no current warship in the Royal Navy called HMS London, but vessels carrying the name have featured in some of the most controversial episodes of British naval history.For example, the wooden wall battleship HMS London of the late 18th century could be called "the ship that lost A...

The Imperial Japanese Navy of World War II surpassed the Allied and Axis fleets in innovation and technology.This illustrated guide covers the 12 Japanese battleships that saw service between 1941 and 1945, including the mighty Yamato. Each class is considered in light of its design and construction, its armament and wartime modifications. Mark Stille uses primary sources and dramatic photographs to tell the story of these mighty battleships at war, including their...

The bestselling complete history of the British Navy - our national story through a different prism.The story of our navy is nothing less than the story of Britain, our culture and our empire. Much more than a parade of admirals and their battles, this is the story of how an insignificant island nation conquered the world's oceans to become its greatest trading empire. Yet, as Ben Wilson shows, there was nothing inevitable about this rise to maritime domination, no...

For his latest book Colonel Roy Stanley presents aerial photographs of the German and Italian fleets that were selected as important six decades ago and have long lain dormant, unindexed and unexplained. Extensive use of aerial and other Intelligence imagery from long retired files would be enough to make this book a must for those intrigued by World War II intelligence and naval history. But it is the author's commentary that makes this work truly unique, thanks to his aerial photo interp...

In cold, murky water, working by touch alone, they defuse a mine powerful enough to sink a battleship: welcome to the thrilling and dangerous world of the Royal Australian Navy clearance divers.In the thick of the Vietnam War another elite unit of clearance divers went to Vung Tau retrieving weapons and bodies from crashed aircraft. There were booby traps to tame and dodgy ordnance to dispose of. Often coming under fire and in extreme danger, these Aus...

A photographic history of German submarines in the world wars, including unseen images from the personal collections of captains and crew.U-boats were the scourge of the seas for Allied shipping during both world wars, almost bringing Britain to the brink of starvation on several occasions. This book contains unseen photographs taken by German submarine crew and captains during each war.The World War One selection features a submariner's photos of U-25, an ...

On July 11, 1942, the USS North Carolina steamed into Pearl Harbor. She was a magnificent ship—the first in a new class of battleships, simultaneously monstrous and fast. She was two-and-a-half-football-fields long and so wide she could barely pass through the Panama Canal on her journey to Hawaii. At any given time, 2,339 sailors manned the ship—a total of more than 7,000 during the six years she served. As she glided into the ravaged harbor, past the wreckage of sunken American ...

Now in paperback, a history of a neglected yet vital aspect of World War I historyImages of World War I in the popular consciousness normally involve the bloody attrition of trench warfare, the miles of mud, the shattered earth, and the tangled miles of barbed wire. However there was another significant arena of war—the battle for control of the sea. In 1914 at the beginning of the war, Britain's maritime supremacy had remained unchallenged for around 100 years. Ma...

A look back at the jet fighter's thirty-five years of service with the US Navy, featuring hundreds of photos as well as stories from pilots.For thirty-five years of active naval service, the Grumman F-14 Tomcat was the foremost air superiority fighter of the Cold War, with continuing service as a fighter-bomber in the Gulf Wars. Two hundred thousand sailors, both pilots and "ground" crew, served in F-14 squadrons with the Tomcat over its decades of flight.Thi...

Praise for BROADSIDES"Pace the pitching black deck with a sleepless Admiral Nelson the night before battle bestows eternal rest and peerless immortality upon him; envision with Mahan the storm-tossed and ever-watchful ships-of-the-line that kept England secure from invasion; wonder in awe at Collingwood's dedication in working himself to death after Trafalgar elevated him to primary responsibility for England's imperial safety in the Mediterranean. All of this and more awaits the r...

The adoption of nuclear power revolutionized submarine design. Vessels can stay underwater for months, trailing the enemy or training weapons on land targets from secret positions - “always there, never seen.”Jim Christley, a former submariner, explores here the influence of Admiral Hyman Rickover in cautiously introducing these stealthy machines of war, and frankly discusses the power and perils of using nuclear reactors at sea.Using unique and detailed ar...