Summary of David K. Brown's Atlantic Escorts

Summary of David K. Brown's Atlantic Escorts PDF Author: Everest Media,
Publisher: Everest Media LLC
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 43

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Book Description
Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The first lesson was that the UK was very close to defeat in 1917, and remained vulnerable to submarine attack. The German U-boat force had three main objectives: to weaken the Grand Fleet by attrition, so that the High Seas Fleet could fight on level terms; to defeat the UK by starvation; and to prevent the US Army from reaching France. #2 After the war, there was a sense that submarines had been defeated without the use of asdic, and whispers of the new sensor suggested that submarines had lost their cloak of invisibility. There were attempts to agree an international ban on submarines, but they were never likely to succeed. #3 In the 1920s, there was little or no submarine threat to British merchant shipping. The USA had been ruled out as a potential enemy in the early years of the century, and though the Entente Cordiale still held, Germany was forbidden to build or own submarines. #4 During the 1920s and 30s, the Navy was extremely underfunded. Battleship-building was forbidden under the Washington Treaty, extended by the London Treaty to 1937, but available building funds went mainly on cruisers and destroyers.

Summary of David K. Brown's Atlantic Escorts

Summary of David K. Brown's Atlantic Escorts PDF Author: Everest Media,
Publisher: Everest Media LLC
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 43

Get Book Here

Book Description
Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The first lesson was that the UK was very close to defeat in 1917, and remained vulnerable to submarine attack. The German U-boat force had three main objectives: to weaken the Grand Fleet by attrition, so that the High Seas Fleet could fight on level terms; to defeat the UK by starvation; and to prevent the US Army from reaching France. #2 After the war, there was a sense that submarines had been defeated without the use of asdic, and whispers of the new sensor suggested that submarines had lost their cloak of invisibility. There were attempts to agree an international ban on submarines, but they were never likely to succeed. #3 In the 1920s, there was little or no submarine threat to British merchant shipping. The USA had been ruled out as a potential enemy in the early years of the century, and though the Entente Cordiale still held, Germany was forbidden to build or own submarines. #4 During the 1920s and 30s, the Navy was extremely underfunded. Battleship-building was forbidden under the Washington Treaty, extended by the London Treaty to 1937, but available building funds went mainly on cruisers and destroyers.

Atlantic Escorts

Atlantic Escorts PDF Author: David K. Brown
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1783469013
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description
“Altogether, a very detailed year-by-year account of escort development for anti-submarine work from the period between the wars to post World War II.” —The Nautical Magazine Winston Churchill famously claimed that the submarine war in the Atlantic was the only campaign of the Second World War that really frightened him. If the lifeline to North America had been cut, Britain would never have survived; there could have been no build-up of US and Commonwealth forces, no D-Day landings, and no victory in western Europe. Furthermore, the battle raged from the first day of the war until the final German surrender, making it the longest and arguably hardest-fought campaign of the whole war. The ships, technology and tactics employed by the Allies form the subject of this book. Beginning with the lessons apparently learned from the First World War, the author outlines inter-war developments in technology and training, and describes the later preparations for the second global conflict. When the war came the balance of advantage was to see-saw between U-boats and escorts, with new weapons and sensors introduced at a rapid rate. For the defending navies, the prime requirement was numbers, and the most pressing problem was to improve capability without sacrificing simplicity and speed of construction. The author analyses the resulting designs of sloops, frigates, corvettes and destroyer escorts and attempts to determine their relative effectiveness. “Atlantic Escorts has flowed from the pen of a master who has written so many fine books about the history of ship construction. It is a small masterpiece.” —Warship International Fleet Review

Warship Builders

Warship Builders PDF Author: Thomas Heinrich
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
ISBN: 1682475530
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
Warship Builders is the first scholarly study of the U.S. naval shipbuilding industry from the early 1920s to the end of World War II, when American shipyards produced the world's largest fleet that helped defeat the Axis powers in all corners of the globe. A colossal endeavor that absorbed billions and employed virtual armies of skilled workers, naval construction mobilized the nation's leading industrial enterprises in the shipbuilding, engineering, and steel industries to deliver warships whose technical complexity dwarfed that of any other weapons platform. Based on systematic comparisons with British, Japanese, and German naval construction, Thomas Heinrich pinpoints the distinct features of American shipbuilding methods, technology development, and management practices that enabled U.S. yards to vastly outproduce their foreign counterparts. Throughout the book, comparative analyses reveal differences and similarities in American, British, Japanese, and German naval construction. Heinrich shows that U.S. and German shipyards introduced electric arc welding and prefabrication methods to a far greater extent than their British and Japanese counterparts between the wars, laying the groundwork for their impressive production records in World War II. While the American and Japanese navies relied heavily on government-owned navy yards, the British and German navies had most of their combatants built in corporately-owned yards, contradicting the widespread notion that only U.S. industrial mobilization depended on private enterprise. Lastly, the U.S. government's investments into shipbuilding facilities in both private and government-owned shipyards dwarfed the sums British, Japanese, and German counterparts expended. This enabled American builders to deliver a vast fleet that played a pivotal role in global naval combat.

Naval Eyewitnesses

Naval Eyewitnesses PDF Author: James Goulty
Publisher: Pen and Sword Maritime
ISBN: 1399000748
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
"Goulty tells the story from the perspective of the ordinary sailor or officer who was there."—The Northern Mariner Although many books have been written about naval actions during the Second World War – histories and memoirs in particular – few books have attempted to encompass the extraordinary variety of the experience of the war at sea. That is why James Goulty’s vivid survey is of such value. Sailors in the Royal Navy and the Merchant Navy experienced a war fought on a massive scale, on every ocean of the world, in a diverse range of vessels, from battleships, aircraft carriers and submarines to merchant ships and fishing boats. Their recollections are as varied as the ships they served in, and they take the reader through the entire maritime war, as it was perceived at the time by those who had direct, personal knowledge of it. Throughout the book the emphasis is on the experience of individuals – their recruitment and training, their expectations and the reality they encountered on active service in many different offensive and defensive roles including convoy duty and coastal de-fence, amphibious operations, hunting U-boats and surface raiders, mine sweeping and manning landing and rescue craft. A particularly graphic section describes, in the words of the sailors themselves, what action against the enemy felt like and the impact of casualties – seamen who were wounded or killed on board or were lost when their ships sank. A fascinating inside view of the maritime warfare emerges which may be less heroic than the image created by some post-war accounts, but it gives readers today a much more realistic impression of the whole gamut of wartime life at sea.

Britain, Germany and the Battle of the Atlantic

Britain, Germany and the Battle of the Atlantic PDF Author: Dennis Haslop
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1472511123
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 335

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Book Description
The length, scale and intensity of the Battle of the Atlantic led the British and German navies to make substantial changes to their organisation, strategy and tactics. In this book, Dennis Haslop examines the pivotal lessons learned, and how these helped to determine the outcome of the Battle of the Atlantic Convoy War. He questions how well adapted the two organisations were to learn from the conflict, and how effective they were in identifying problems and producing remedies. Based on the in-depth analysis of British and German primary sources, this study provides an innovative basis against which to assess the German and British approach to changing warfare and provides important new insights into aspects of convoy warfare, in particular the virtually unknown subject of German 'Operational Research'.

A Hard Fought Ship

A Hard Fought Ship PDF Author: John A Rodgaard
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 1036112373
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 466

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Book Description
Here is the exhaustive and exhilarating story of HMS Venomous, one of sixty-seven V&W destroyers built at the end of the Great War that were to play a key role in the struggle to keep the sea lanes open in the Atlantic, Home Waters and the Mediterranean during the following war. Her story was perhaps the most memorable of all her class. When war broke out she was to find herself in the front line as the German blitzkrieg swept across Europe in 1940 and the V&Ws made high speed dashes across the Channel to bring troops and civilians back from Calais, Boulogne and Dunkirk, and prepared for the expected invasion. Later that year she and her sister-ships escorted the Atlantic convoys which supplied our Russian allies with the weapons to halt the German advance. She returned to the Mediterranean and took part in Operation Pedestal to save Malta, and as the allies prepared for the landings in North Africa she was ordered to escort the destroyer depot ship, HMS Hecla to the invasion beaches. When Hecla was torpedoed off the coast off Morocco Venomous fought the attacking U-boat and rescued 500 survivors. She escorted convoys along the coast of North Africa including the first-through convoy from Gibraltar to Alexandria. and she joined the invasion force to Sicily during Operation Husky. In October 1943 she returned to Britain for a major refit at Falmouth when she was converted to an air target ship for training Barracuda torpedo bombers based at Douglas, Isle of Man, and then, after being transferred to the east coast, she was nearly lost in a hurricane before being sent to Kristiansand to accept the surrender of German naval forces. Venomous and her sister-ships were all scrapped after the War, but her extraordinary career, during which she fought without cessation, is brought to life in this rousing and beautifully told ship biography, a fitting memorial to the V&Ws and the men who served in them. ‘I would rate this as being in the same class as The Cruel Sea for a picture of small ship life in World War Two.’ The Naval Review ‘A portrayal of life on a wartime destroyer with a depth and insight that is possible unequalled by any previously published work.’ Warship Annual This book is outstanding for its detailed insight into the life on not just a single destroyer but, by extension, life at sea aboard and Royal Navy destroyer.’ The Northern Mariner ‘A Hard Fought Ship is a vivid portrait of a fighting vessel and the men who operated her.’ Warships International Fleet Review ‘Highly recommended to both naval historians and the general public.’ Mariner’s Mirror ‘It is an exemplary ship biography where a detailed narrative of the destroyer’s exploits are brought to life by a wealth of first-hand accounts.’ Navy News ‘This book is a detailed and thrilling account of the life of a typical V&W class destroyer.’ Sea Breezes

HMS Cavalier Destroyer 1944

HMS Cavalier Destroyer 1944 PDF Author: Richard Johnstone-Bryden
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 1848322267
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 130

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Book Description
HMS Cavalier is a 'C'-Class destroyer, one of 96 War Emergency Programme destroyers that were ordered between 1940 and 1942. She saw action on convoy duty off Russia, and later, in 1945, was sent to the Far East where she provided naval gunfire support during the battle of Surabaya. She continued with the British Pacific Fleet until May 1946. Now designated as a war memorial to the 142 RN destroyers and 11,000 men lost during WWII, she is on display at Chatham Historic Dockyard. As is the case for many museum ships there is a surprising shortage of informative and well illustrated guides, for reference during a visit or for research by enthusiasts - ship modellers, naval buffs, historians or students. This book, in the Seaforth Historic Ship series, redresses the gap. Containing more than 200 specially commissioned photographs, the book takes the reader on a superbly illustrated tour of the ship, from bow to stern and deck by deck. Significant parts of the vessel Ð for example, the gun turrets and engine rooms Ð are given detailed coverage both in words and pictures, so that the reader has at hand the most complete visual record and explanation of the ship that exists. In addition, the importance of the ship, both in her own time and now as a museum vessel, is explained. No other book offers such superb visual impact nor brings the ship so vividly to life.

Arms for Russia & The Naval War in the Arctic, 1941–1945

Arms for Russia & The Naval War in the Arctic, 1941–1945 PDF Author: Andrew Boyd
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 1399038877
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 821

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Book Description
This major new work fundamentally reassesses the operations by the Western allies to deliver war supplies to Russia via the Arctic sea route between 1941 and 1945. It explores the motives underpinning Western aid, its real impact on the Soviet war effort, and its influence on wider Allied and German strategy as the war developed. It brings to life key participants, political and military, describes the interaction of intelligence with high policy and tactics, and brings a fresh perspective to key events, including the notorious convoy PQ 17. The book disputes the long-standing view that aid to Russia was essentially discretionary, lacking military rationale and undertaken primarily to meet political objectives, with only a minor impact on Soviet war potential. It shows that aid was always grounded in strategic necessity, with the Arctic supply route a constant preoccupation of British and American leaders, absorbing perhaps twenty per cent of Royal Navy resources after 1941 and a significant share of Allied merchant shipping badly needed in other theaters. The Soviet claim, determinedly promoted through the Cold War, that aid was marginal, still influences attitudes in Vladimir Putin’s Russia and contemporary Western opinion. It even resonates through the present war in Ukraine. Andrew Boyd demonstrates that in reality, Western aid through the Arctic was a critical multiplier of Soviet military power throughout the war and perhaps even enabled Russia’s very survival in 1942; and he makes plain that the British contribution to the aid effort was greater than generally acknowledged. The book also emphasises that the Arctic conflict was not framed solely by the supply convoys, important though they were. British, German and Russian operations in a theater – defined by Adolph Hitler in early 1942 as the ‘zone of destiny’ – were shaped by other perceived opportunities and threats. For instance, Germany concentrated its fleet in Norway to forestall a potential British attack while attempting land offensives to cut Russia’s links with its northern ports. It also had vital raw materials to protect. Britain explored potential operations with Russia to dislodge Germany from the Arctic coast and sever her access to important resources. Elegantly written written and incorporating many new perspectives on the Arctic theater, this new work should find a place on the shelves of every historian, scholar and enthusiast whose interests extend to the Russian dimension of the Second World War.

V & W Destroyers

V & W Destroyers PDF Author: John Henshaw
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 1526774852
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
The revolutionary battleship Dreadnought of 1906 brought together in one package the new technology of oil fired boilers and steam turbines, and all-big-gun armament; in doing so she rendered all other capital ships then afloat completely obsolete. Ten years later the V & W Class did to destroyers what the dreadnoughts had done to battleships; they set a completely new and higher standard of technology and were a cut above anything that had come before. They were, however, less revolutionary than evolutionary and in this new book John Henshaw takes the reader through all the developmental stages with a detailed history of the step-by-step lessons that were learnt, not all of which were fortuitous. In one package the Royal Navy finally acquired a hull that possessed not just good sea-keeping capability but one that was able to carry heavier armament without any adverse effects. Range and speed were commensurate with their size while the super-firing guns, fore and aft, could be deployed in all weathers for a four-gun broadside. The V & W design set the trend for all destroyer design for the next two decades and, indeed, the basic layout of destroyers stayed the same long beyond that. The formula of a raised foredeck and superfiring guns fore and aft continued in the Royal Navy until the Battle Class of 1944 and in the United States Navy until the Fletcher Class of 1943. That the V & Ws served on through World War II in various forms is a testament to the soundness of the basic concept, their adaptability and strength. The V stood for Venerable, because they certainly proved that, and W for Watershed, because they were truly a turning point in destroyer design. The narrative is superbly illustrated with forty-five detailed profile and deck plans, for which the author is so well known, of the principal early British destroyer types and illustrates all the V&Ws through to the end of World War II, including some conversions that were considered but never completed. The book also looks at the influence of the basic design on the destroyers of other navies. This new book, which will appeal both to naval historians and modelmakers, brings together under one cover a narrative that is comprehensive in its scope, well researched and elegantly supported with detailed line drawings and selected photographs for the period 1890–1945.

Hitler's War Beneath the Waves

Hitler's War Beneath the Waves PDF Author: Michael FitzGerald
Publisher: Arcturus Publishing
ISBN: 183940387X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
At the beginning of World War II, the devastating impact of German submarines on both the Royal Navy and merchant shipping saw Britain on the brink of starvation and defeat. The enemy was formidable. U-boat crews saw themselves as an elite and they preferred to scuttle their vessels at the end of the war rather than surrender. They suffered the heaviest losses of any branch of the German services: out of 40,900 men, 28,000 were killed and 5,000 taken prisoner; by 1945, the average age was 19 and the survival rate was only three missions. This is the story of how the Allies redressed the balance of power, focusing in particular on the role of the wolfpacks of U-boats in the Atlantic, whose stealthy presence beneath the waves ensured that British ships diced with death every time they put to sea.