The author of Big Gun Battles "shows how the US Navy was slowly but surely drawn into WW2 in the Atlantic theatre of operations . . . well researched" (Warships Magazine).Although the defeat of Japan was the US Navy's greatest contribution to the Second World War, it also played a significant role in the battle against Hitler. Even before Germany declared war in 1941, US naval vessels were actively engaged in Atlantic convoy battles, and suffered their firs...

This compelling book explores the first four months of fighting in the Pacific between the United States and its Allies against Japan, focusing mainly on the aircraft carrier action of the respective navies in the Pacific Theater.In the chaotic months after Pearl Harbor, the Pacific War was anything but certain. The U.S. Navy, reeling from sudden loss, scrambled to slow Japanese momentum, while the Imperial Japanese Navy pressed outward, convinced that seizing Sout...

A study of the historic World War II naval battle, the first involving aircraft carriers and first in which neither warship was in sight of the other.By the beginning of May 1942, five months after the Pearl Harbor attack, the US Navy was ready to challenge the Japanese moves in the South Pacific. When the Japanese sent troops to New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, the Americans sent the carriers Lexington and Yorktown to counter the move, setting ...

This naval history of WWII explores the advancing technology and tactics of battleships through a fascinating survey of ship-to-ship duels.While many naval battles of the Second World War were decided by the torpedo or the aerial bomb, there was a surprising number of traditional ship-to-ship engagements involving the big guns of battleships and cruisers. Big Gun Battles recounts some of the most significant and technically fascinating of these gunfire due...

A World War II naval history of the Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz carrier battles that tested U.S. momentum after Midway.While the resounding American victory at Midway in June 1942 blunted Japanese momentum to a great extent, it left the opposing forces precariously balanced, particularly in the South Pacific. In Knife‘s Edge Robert C. Stern provides an account of the Battles of the Eastern Solomons and the Santa Cruz Islands, the two pivotal carrier ai...

"An entertaining and informative review of the evolution of one of the most important classes of warship, from the technology of WWII into the missile age." —FiretrenchCruisers probably vary more in their characteristics than any other warship type and have certainly been subject to the most convoluted development. There was always a basic tension between quantity and quality, between numbers and unit size, but at a more detailed level every one of the naval powers ...

In the chaotic months after Pearl Harbor, the Pacific War was anything but certain. The US Navy, reeling from sudden loss, scrambled to slow Japanese momentum, while the Imperial Japanese Navy pressed outward, convinced that seizing Southeast Asia's resources was essential to survival. This book captures that dangerous, uncertain moment—from December 1941 through April 1942—when the outcome of the Pacific War remained very much in doubt.Moving across a vast maritime battlefield,

From the acclaimed author of A Bridge Too Far comes the unparalleled, classic work of history that vividly recreates the battle that changed World War II—the Allied invasion of Normandy.The Longest Day is Cornelius Ryan’s unsurpassed account of D-Day, a book that endures as a masterpiece of military history. In this compelling tale of courage and heroism, glory and tragedy, Ryan painstakingly recreates the fateful hours that preceded and followed ...

Discover how history's only five-star admirals triumphed in World War II and made the United States the world's dominant sea power.Only four men in American history have been promoted to the five-star rank of Admiral of the Fleet: William Leahy, Ernest King, Chester Nimitz, and William Halsey. These four men were the best and the brightest the navy produced, and together they led the U.S. navy to victory in World War II, establishing the United States as the world'...

Full-length accounts of three decisive WWII events—Pearl Harbor, Midway, and the evacuation of Dunkirk—from a #1 New York Times –bestselling author.In May 1940, the remnants of the French and British armies, broken by Hitler's blitzkrieg, retreated to the beach at Dunkirk. Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered an evacuation on May 26, expecting to save no more than a handful of his men. But Britain would not let its so...

World War II was only a few hours old when the Battle of the Atlantic, the longest campaign of the Second World War and the most complex submarine war in history, began with the sinking of the unarmed passenger liner Athenia by the German submarine U30. Based on the mastery of the latest research and written from a mid-Atlantic – rather than the traditional Anglo-centric – perspective, Marc Milner focuses on the confrontation between opposing forces and the attack...

On 7 December 1941, the Japanese navy attacked Pearl Harbour. Simultaneously, they launched all-out assaults on Malaya, Hong Kong and the Philippines. Japan's sphere of influence spread at a phenomenal rates and it seemed the their dream of empire was about to be realized.Featuring remarkable photographs and useful maps*, Victory in the Pacific* examines how the tide of Japanese victory was turned. Following pivotal battles such as the Battle of Guadalcanal, the Battle of Leyte Gul...