The Frogmen of World War II

The Frogmen of World War II PDF Author: Chet Cunningham
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416595805
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 386

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Book Description
The exciting story of the Navy's Underwater Demolition Team—also known as the Frogmen of WWII—who were the precursors to today's Navy SEALs, in their own words. As countless battlefronts in the Pacific, African, and European theaters called for direct amphibious assaults against islands and beachheads, a small corps of exceptionally skilled fighting men was formed—the U.S. Navy underwater warriors. Beginning in 1943, these men undertook never-before-attempted missions ranging from eye-to-eye recon of enemy-held positions to staging the demolition of shoreline obstacles and clearing the way for landing craft. Here, in their own words, are the true stories of these aquatic commandos, whose daring exploits and bravery would pave the way for thousands of American fighting men around the globe—and whose revolutionary training and fighting methods would evolve into the modern special forces known as the Navy SEALs.

The Frogmen of World War II

The Frogmen of World War II PDF Author: Chet Cunningham
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416595805
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 386

Get Book Here

Book Description
The exciting story of the Navy's Underwater Demolition Team—also known as the Frogmen of WWII—who were the precursors to today's Navy SEALs, in their own words. As countless battlefronts in the Pacific, African, and European theaters called for direct amphibious assaults against islands and beachheads, a small corps of exceptionally skilled fighting men was formed—the U.S. Navy underwater warriors. Beginning in 1943, these men undertook never-before-attempted missions ranging from eye-to-eye recon of enemy-held positions to staging the demolition of shoreline obstacles and clearing the way for landing craft. Here, in their own words, are the true stories of these aquatic commandos, whose daring exploits and bravery would pave the way for thousands of American fighting men around the globe—and whose revolutionary training and fighting methods would evolve into the modern special forces known as the Navy SEALs.

SEALs, UDT, Frogmen

SEALs, UDT, Frogmen PDF Author: Darryl Young
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
Sixty-one true stories from men who have served in the U.S. Navy's toughest combat and reconnaissance units.

By Water Beneath the Walls

By Water Beneath the Walls PDF Author: Benjamin H. Milligan
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0553392212
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 641

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Book Description
A gripping history chronicling the fits and starts of American special operations and the ultimate rise of the Navy SEALs from unarmed frogmen to elite, go-anywhere commandos—as told by one of their own. “Deeply researched, well organized, and incredibly engaging . . . This is our legacy with all the warts, the challenges, and the heroics in one concise volume.”—Admiral William H. McRaven, #1 New York Times bestselling author and former commander, United States Special Operations Command How did the US Navy—the branch of the US military tasked with patrolling the oceans—ever manage to produce a unit of raiders trained to operate on land? And how, against all odds, did that unit become one of the world’s most elite commando forces, routinely striking thousands of miles from the water on the battlefields of Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, even Central Africa? Behind the SEALs’ improbable rise lies the most remarkable underdog story in American military history—and in these pages, former Navy SEAL Benjamin H. Milligan captures it as never before. Told through the eyes of remarkable leaders and racing from one longshot, hair-curling raid to the next, By Water Beneath the Walls is the tale of the unit’s heroic naval predecessors, and the evolution of the SEALs themselves. But it’s also the story of the forging of American special operations as a whole—and how the SEALs emerged from the fires as America’s first permanent commando force when again and again some other unit seemed predestined to seize that role. Here Milligan thrillingly captures the outsize feats of the SEALs’ frogmen forefathers in World War II, the Korean War, and elsewhere, even as he plunges us into the second front of interservice rivalries and personal ambition that shaped the SEALs’ evolution. In equally vivid, masterful detail, he chronicles key early missions undertaken by units like the Marine Raiders, Army Rangers, and Green Berets, showing us how these fateful, bloody moments helped create the modern American commando—even as they opened up pivotal opportunities for the Navy. Finally, he takes us alongside as the SEALs at last seize the mantle of commando raiding, and discover the missions of capture/kill and counterterrorism that would define them for decades to come. Now required reading throughout the US special operations community, By Water Beneath the Walls is an essential history of the SEAL teams, a crackling account of desperate last stands and unforgettable characters accomplishing the impossible—and a riveting epic of the dawn of American special operations.

Weapons of Desperation

Weapons of Desperation PDF Author: Lawrence Paterson
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1526713497
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 367

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Book Description
As the Third Reich headed for destruction, German ingenuity in the naval field turned to unconventional weapons – midget submarines, radio-controlled explosive boats, and various forms of underwater sabotage. This is one of the last un-chronicled areas of World War II naval history and this well-known author describes how, facing overwhelming odds, German sailors – most of them volunteers – mounted attacks that were little better than suicide missions. Judged by their effect on the Allied advance, their successes were slight, but there seems to have been no collapse of morale and the indomitable bravery of those involved makes riveting reading. Pieced together from fragmentary sources, this largely untold story uncovers some of the most desperate operations of the War.

America's First Frogman

America's First Frogman PDF Author: Elizabeth Kauffman Bush
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
ISBN: 1612512984
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
Although bad eyesight kept him from receiving a commission in the U.S. Navy when he graduated from the Naval Academy in 1933, Draper Kauffman became a hero of underwater demolition in World War II and went on to a distinguished naval career. Today Admiral Kauffman is remembered as the nation's first frogman and the father of the Navy Seals. His spectacular wartime service disarming enemy bombs, establishing bomb disposal schools, and organizing and leading the Navy's first demolition units is the focus of this biography written by Kauffman's sister. Elizabeth Kauffman Bush, who also is the aunt of President George W. Bush, draws on family papers as well as Navy documents to tell Kauffman's story for the first time. Determined to defend the cause of freedom long before the U.S. ever entered the war, Kauffman was taken prisoner by the Germans as an ambulance driver in France, and after his release joined the Royal Navy to defuse delayed-action bombs during the London blitz. After Pearl Harbor his eyes were deemed adequate and he was given a commission in the U.S. Naval Reserve. With his experience, he was asked to establish an underwater demolition school in Fort Pierce, Florida, where he personally trained men to defuse bombs and neutralize other submerged dangers. His men were sent to demolish the obstacles installed by the Nazis at Normandy, and Kauffman himself led underwater demolition teams in the Pacific at Saipan, Tinian, and Guam and later directed UDT operations at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. His men remember him as an exceptional leader who led by example. He trained and fought alongside them, impervious to danger. Because of the high standards he set for those who became "frogmen,"thousands of American lives were saved in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. Draper Kauffman's early established UDT traditions of perseverance, teamwork, and a lasting brotherhood of men of extraordinary courage is carried on by Navy Seals. This is his legacy to the U.S. Navy and his country.

Iwo Jima Recon

Iwo Jima Recon PDF Author: Richard D. Camp, Dick Camp
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781616732615
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 140

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Book Description
Iwo Jima, February 17, 1945: The mission: to scout the beaches for underwater obstacles and mines and determine whether the soil would support vehicles. Four Navy Underwater Demolition Teams (predecessor to the SEALS) and twenty-two Marine observers-backed by battleships Tennessee and Nevada, a cruiser, several destroyers, and twelve Landing Craft Infantry ships configured as gunboats proceeded with the operation. The story of what followed - the battle for Iwo Jima that no one knows - is fully told for the first time in this book, a heart-stopping account of ill-equipped but heroic forces under fire from an unexpected, overwhelming enemy. Drawing on first-person accounts, deck logs, and after-action reports, Dick Camp brings the action to harrowing life: the thin-skinned reconfigured LCIs fighting it out with the Japanese in a valiant effort to protect the swimmers caught five hundred yards off the beach; the battleship Nevada ignoring orders to withdraw and moving in to knock out the enemys heavy caliber guns; the devastating action - casualities of 40 percent - that very likely saved the actual landing on the 19th.

Strangling the Axis

Strangling the Axis PDF Author: Richard Hammond
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108478212
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 295

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Book Description
Richard Hammond offers a major reassessment of the role of the war at sea in Allied victory in the Mediterranean region.

Frogmen

Frogmen PDF Author: William Schofield
Publisher: Branden Publishing Company
ISBN: 9780828320887
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
The authors recount the history of underwater warfare -- a new type of guerrilla war developed by the Italian navy toward the end of World War I and completely implemented during World War II. This type of warfare, conducted by frogmen with special training and prototype equipment, proved fatal to Allied civilian and military ships operating in the Mediterranean Sea. Single frogmen, or frogmen in teams of two, four or six, sank more vessels than any other traditionally formed military entity. It's main unit was the X Light Flotilla, whose frogmen conquered the Mediterranean and even planned an attack on the city of New York -- not completed due to War coming to an end.

Decima Flottiglia MAS

Decima Flottiglia MAS PDF Author: Walter S. Zapotoczny, Jr.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781625451132
Category : Underwater demolition teams
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
A group of determined young human torpedoes and assault swimmers fought bravely for Italy in the Second World War, inspiring fear and respect from the British Navy. The actions of these few men severely reduced British naval power in the Mediterranean. Even with small numbers, and using relatively limited resources, the frogmen were a very effective force in the war against the British. By the end of the war, these men would sink or severely disable over 73,000 tons of Allied warships, and over 128,000 tons of merchant shipping. The story of the Italian frogmen is one of determination and bravery. Against overwhelming odds, they were able to inflict considerable damage on Allied shipping. Their tactics also aroused confusion and nervousness with the Allied commanders and their ship's crews. Italy's Decima Flottiglia MAS pre-dates both the U.S. Navy Underwater Demolition Teams, formed in 1943 and forerunners of the better-known U.S. Navy SEALs; and the British Royal Marines Special Boat Service formed as an offshoot of the Special Air Service in 1941. Perhaps the determination and actions of the Decima Flottiglia MAS qualify them as the best commandos of the Second World War. This book tells their story.

Sea Devils

Sea Devils PDF Author: Iunio Valerio Borghese
Publisher: US Naval Institute Press
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
A fascinating memoir of service with the "human torpedoes" of the Italian Navy's Tenth Light Flotilla.