Library Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

Memoirs of a seafarer / Ian Tew. "By the age of seven, Ian Tew had learnt to sail and by his eighth birthday he became the owner of "Titwillow", a yellow sailing dinghy. It marked the beginning of what was to be a life at sea. After attending the Pangbourne Nautical College, which was an ominous experience, Ian left his seafaring family to join British India Steam Navigation as a cadet. He was assigned to a ship on the East African run and then, in 1962, he flew to Bombay on his first flight as an officer in training to join the infamous deck passenger ship the 'Dara'. The tragedy that followed was the biggest peacetime disaster to strike a British ship since the Titanic. Following survival leave, Captain Tew was sent to Calcutta, where he spent two months in hospital drifting in and out of a coma from fever. An East African voyage was next and it would be two years before a return to England was on the horizon. As a young officer in the British Merchant Navy, Ian progressed in his career and went on to become a prominent Salvage Master - joining Selco Salvage of Singapore in 1974. He navigated the busy waters of the Middle and Far East, salved vessels from the shores of the UK to the Japanese Coast, was arrested in Massawa Ethiopia during the war with Eritrea, culminating with the Iran Iraq War. Ian Tew's story, recounted while stranded in Tahiti, provides a fascinating insight into a life of voyage and discovery, of expert seamanship, salvage and courage. Life may often be dangerous at sea, but it is seldom dull. Captain Ian Tew lives in Milford on Sea. He is the author of the novel 'The Dare', a collection of stories 'Reflections On The Sea' as well as the memoirs 'Sailing in My Grandfather's Wake' and 'Salvage: A Personal Odyssey'. 2018. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92TEW

The illustrated guide to aircraft carriers of the world / Bernard Ireland. "For centuries, battle fleets were challenged only by other ships, but the coming of the aircraft changed all that. With a rapid development encouraged by war, the aircraft soon became a threat, a defence and an indispensable auxiliary. Operating necessarily beyond the range of shore-based air support, the fleets, led by the Royal Navy, learned how to carry their own aircraft and by the end of World War I the aircraft carrier as we know it today had properly come into being. This unique and impressive encyclopedia is both a fascinating history of the aircraft carrier's development and a comprehensive country-by-country visual directory of more than 170 of the world's aviation ships over nearly a century. The book's coverage follows the definition of an aircraft carrier as "a ship whose primary function is to operate aircraft", and includes, at one end of the chronological scale, kite balloon ships and airships and, at the other, the many types of modern ships that carry aircraft such as V/STOL jets and helicopters. Each directory entry is accompanied by a specification panel detailing country of origin, the company that built the carrier, construction and completion dates, displacement, dimensions, types of aircraft carried, armament, power and performance. All the carriers are accompanied by identification photographs, many of which are full-colour and have never previously been published together in one volume. With magnificent illustrations and up-to-date information, this book provides both enthusiasts and historians with key information about the world's aircraft carriers, and is an essential reference for everyone interested in naval aviation."--Provided by the publisher. [2006]. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 623.822.7(100)

Broke of the Shannon : and the war of 1812 /edited by Tim Voelcker. Captain Broke's victory in 1813 over Captain Lawrence of USS Chesapeake, which was to have far reaching influence on the future of North America, did much to restore the morale of the Royal Navy, shattered by three successive defeats in single-ship duels with US frigates, and stunned the American nation which had come to expect success. Both Britain and the USA claim to have won the war but only Canada, the third country heavily involved, can fully claim to have done so, for the peace that followed established her as an independent nation. Leading historians from all three countries have joined to give their sometimes conflicting views on different aspects in a way to interest and entertain general readers, as well as challenge academics. It is a tale of political and military blunders, courage and cowardice in battle, a bloody ship-to-ship fight, and technical innovation in the hitherto crude methods of naval gunnery. It also tells the human story of Broke's determination to achieve victory so he could return to his wife and children after seven lonely years at sea. The near-fatal wound Broke received in hand-to-hand fighting as he boarded the Chesapeake meant that he never served again at sea, but his work on naval gunnery, paid for out of his own pocket, transformed Admiralty thinking and led to the establishment of the British naval school of gunnery, HMS Excellent. 2013. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92BROKE

The merchantmen in action : evacuations and landings by merchant ships in the Second World War /Roy V. Martin. "During World War 2, the Merchant Navy's main task was to run the German blockade, bringing essential food, fuel and materials to a besieged nation. The civilian crews came from all parts of the Empire and beyond - more than one in six were killed. Even less is known about the part played by merchantmen in evacuations from countries that were overrun. They saved over 90,000 troops from Dunkirk and went on to rescue more than 200,000 troops and civilians from other parts of France. When Singapore fell, the Merchant Navy again helped many to escape. They moved men and materials for the landings of Madagascar, North Africa and the Mediterranean coast of Europe. A British government press release reported that 50,000 volunteer British merchant seamen manned over 1,000 ships for D-Day. They also manned salvage ships, rescue tugs and other specialist craft. Merchantmen in Action tells the story of these other achievements. Chapters include Singapore; the Norwegian campaign; Dunkirk; the Channel Islands; Greece and Crete; Sicily and Italy; the Normandy landings; the South of France, Gibraltar, etc, with detailed ship listing and human stories."--From publisher. 2012. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.545:656.61

The letters of George & Elizabeth Bass / Miriam Estensen. In August 1800, George Bass returned to England after five years in the British colony of New South Wales. Gifted, ambitious and impatient with the limitations of a naval career, he took leave from the navy to purchase a ship of his own and organise a commercial venture to Sydney. He also met Elizabeth Waterhouse, and fell very much in love. They were married on 8 October 1800. On 9 January 1801, George Bass sailed for Australia. For the next two years, and across two oceans, letters were the only link between George and Elizabeth Bass. His were brief, dashed across the page with an impatient hand, embedded with tantalising references to his life at sea or the colony of New South Wales and filled with love for his wife. Hers were many pages of small, neat script with news of her friends and family, her own thoughts and pursuits, and her yearning for a husband who would never return. The separate worlds in which George and Elizabeth lived also come to life in their letters: an England of domestic chatter and streets filled with soldiers awaiting a Napoleonic invasion; the hot humid coastal towns of Brazil, where Bass sought to sell his merchandise and took on board firewood, fresh water and tobacco; Sydney society and the disappointment of the ladies in Elizabeth not having come with her husband to join their small social circle; the exotic and languid Pacific islands where trade was difficult and ship labour hard. 2009. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92BASS

Fight for the sea : naval adventures from the Second World War /by John Frayn Turner. "This collection of popular naval stories covers the entire span of World War II, beginning when the British Royal Navy faced fascist forces on its own until the final Allied victory over the Japanese in 1945. Fight for the Sea offers a rich mixture of accounts about such large and well-known battles and operations as the Battle of the Coral Sea, as well as lesser-known actions such as the submarine attack on Corfu harbour, the loss of the USS Leedsdown, and the saga of the USS Rich to characterize the breadth and variety of the war at sea. Also included are memories of John F Kennedy's heroic actions with PT 109 and George H W Bush's near-death experience with an aircraft known as the 'flying casket'. A sailor's eye view of the war at sea, this compelling compilation has broad appeal. John Frayn Turner's prose crackles with action and tension to keep the reader's attention, and even those who know little about the war will find the stories to be a welcome introduction to the subject. Among the book's special attractions are the little-known contributions of rescue ships and merchant seamen and the adventures of civilians, including Johnnie Ferguson, who spent three weeks adrift in an open boat when her ship was torpedoed. Readers will come away with not only a clear understanding of the giant scope of World War II but of the individual grit and determination that produced victory."--Provided bby the publisher. 2013. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.545.9(100)

Langsdorff and the Battle of the River Plate / by David Miller. "This compelling new study of the Battle of the River Plate concentrates on Kapitèan zur See Hans Langsdorff, the commander of the German pocket battleship Graf Spee - it is written from his point of view. The story of his mission at the start of the Second World War to prey on merchant shipping is graphically retold, and Langsdorff's command decisions are the primary focus of David Miller's gripping narrative. He considers in vivid detail the factors Langsdorff had to consider as he assessed the situation of his ship and choose his course of action. He describes the intelligence Langsdorff received and his knowledge of the position and strength of the forces of the Royal Navy that were arrayed against him. Langsdorff's interpretation of his mission and the tense calculations he had to make in order to carry it out are the essential elements of this dramatic story. Langsdorff, operating alone and thousands of miles away from home and with no prospect of support, had to grapple with the enormous burden of a lone command. He made grave mistakes, and these are ruthlessly exposed. But this fascinating re-examination of his actions and his leadership does nothing to diminish his reputation as a brave and honourable officer."--Provided by the publisher. 2013. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.49"1939"(43)

Admiral Togo : Nelson of the East /Jonathan Clements. Togo Heihachiro (1848-1934) was born into a feudal Japan that had shut out foreign contact for 250 years. As a teenage samurai, he witnessed the destruction wrought upon his native land by British warships. As the legendary "Silent Admiral," he was at the forefront of innovations in warfare, pioneering the Japanese use of modern gunnery and wireless communication. Togo is best known as the "Nelson of the East" for his resounding victory over the tsar's navy in the Russo-Japanese War, but he also lived a remarkable life, studying at a British maritime college and witnessing the Sino-French War, the Hawaiian Revolution, and the Boxer Uprising. After his retirement, he was appointed to oversee the education of Emperor Hirohito. This new biography spans Japan's sudden, violent leap out of its self-imposed isolation and into the twentieth century. Delving beyond Togo's finest hour at the Battle of Tsushima, it portrays the life of a shy Japanese sailor in Victorian England; his reluctant celebrity in America; his role in forgotten wars over the short-lived Republics of Ezo and Formosa; and the accumulation of peacetime experience that forged a wartime hero. -- from Back Cover. 2010. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92TOGO

The watery grave : the life and death of HMS Manchester /Richard Osborne. "In 2002 the wreck of a British cruiser was located by divers off the coast of Tunisia. The stunning photographs of the wreck inspired Dr Richard Osborne to delve into the controversy surrounding the loss of one of the Royal Navy's proudest ships - HMS Manchester. After taking part in the Norway campaign of 1940, Manchester was sent to the Mediterranean, where she was involved in the dangerous Malta convoys. On her first convoy she was struck by a torpedo and badly damaged. In danger of sinking at any minute, her skipper, Captain Harold Drew, managed to save his ship. Her next operation was to prove her last. In Operation Pedestal, the vital Malta relief convoy, Manchester was again hit by a torpedo. This time, rather than risk the lives of his crew Drew decided to scuttle his ship. For this Drew was court-martialled in what would become the longest such case in the history of the Royal Navy. Using the testimony of those involved, the highly respected naval historian Dr Osborne pieces together one of the most intriguing stories to emerge from the Second World War. Coupled with photographs of the wreck and a detailed account of its discovery, The Watery Grave: The Life and Death of HMS Manchester, will shed new light on this remarkable tale."-- 2015. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.82MANCHESTER

Orkney in wartime : Commemorating the battle of Jutland, the sinking of HMS Hampshire, the Churchill barriers and much more /Colin Nutt "Orkney was a major base for the Royal Navy in both World Wars. Published to tie in with the centenaries of the Battle of Jutland and the sinking of HMS Hampshire in 1916, the book provides an account of the principal naval events, locations and legacy of the two World Wars in and around Scapa Flow. Unusually for books in the Picturing Scotland series, but necessarily for this title, the book contains a mixture of black and white archive images alongside present-day colour pictures. It also has more text than usual in order to describe the crucial events and developments that are the subject of the book. Although published to coincide with the commemorations of the centenaries of the events mentioned above, the book is not a dated product and will continue to feed into the growing interest in Orkney's military past. The idea was suggested by Orkney people who understand this market."--Provided by the publisher. 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.459:940.545.9(410.521)

Aircraft carriers : the illustrated history of the world's most important warships /Michael E. Haskew. "Soon after the Wright Brothers' historic flight in 1903, officials explored the airplane's military applications. The seaplane and the flying boat were conceived to combine air and naval operations, but their potential proved limited. Aircraft that could operate from the deck of a ship, however, offered tremendous possibilities. A few visionaries seized the opportunity, and by mid-century the aircraft carrier eclipsed the battleship as the preeminent weapon of naval warfare. Since the first successful launch of an airplane from the deck of a naval ship in 1910, "fighting flattops" have evolved into immense, nuclear-powered vessels--floating cities capable of launching dozens of aircraft performing a variety of missions, including attack, escort, antisubmarine patrol, and deterrence. This illustrated history covers that evolution, from the first tentative steps taken by naval aviators before World War I to the roles these massive ships have played in the War on Terror. While author Michael Haskew focuses on US Navy carriers, he also provides coverage of parallel and competing carrier developments overseas. In addition to explaining the technologies behind past and present carriers and their aircraft, Haskew reexamines major engagements involving carriers, especially the epic Pacific battles of World War II, as well as personalities who were central to carrier development and deployment and naval doctrine relating to carriers. Filled with carefully curated period photography and modern images showing aircraft carriers throughout the decades, Aircraft Carriers is a celebration of naval warfare's most important innovation."-- 2016. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 623.822.74

Operation Tadpole / John Bevan "The exploits of the Italian frogmen in the Mediterranean during World War 2 are well documented; the Royal Navy's counter-sabotage operations are not. What is known of the wartime diving operations of the Royal Navy in Gibraltar is often based on the 1958 film, 'Silent Enemy' which dramatised the events putting Commander Lionel 'Buster' Crabb at the heart of the operations. Buster Crabb had disappeared in mysterious circumstances under a Russian cruiser just 2 years before the film was released and the subsequent media furore was a marketing opportunity the film producers could not afford to miss. Crabb was indeed part of the diving team in Gibraltar at the time and did take part in the heroic underwater operations of the RN diving team. But he was not in charge. The real 'silent hero' of the operations was Lieutenant William 'Bill' Bailey. Operation Tadpole chronicles the actual events of the Royal Navy's underwater operations in Gibraltar and reinstates Lieutenant Bailey's true place in history."--Provided by the publisher. 2017 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.545.9(42:468.2)

Ship models from the age of sail : building and enhancing commercial kits /Kerry Jang. "The vast majority of period ship models are built from kits, usually primarily of wood with some ready-made fittings. Although these commercial offerings have improved significantly in recent years, all of them can be enhanced in accuracy or detail by an experienced modelmaker. This book, by an expert ship modeller, distils lessons gleaned from a lifetime practising the hobby to the highest standards, setting out methods of improving basic kits and gradually developing the skills and confidence to tackle the construction of a model from scratch. Using a variety of kits as the starting point, each chapter demonstrates a technique that can be readily improved or a feature that can be replaced to the advantage of the finished model. Topics include hull planking, representing copper sheathing, many aspects of more accurate masting and rigging, and how to replace kit parts and fittings from scratch. Ultimately, the impact of a period model depends on its accuracy, and the book also provides guidance on plans and references, where to find them and how they are best used. The plank-on-frame model, sometimes with exposed frames in the Navy Board style, has always been considered the crowning achievement of period ship modelling, and this book concludes with coverage of the very latest kits that put fully framed models within the reach of ordinary mortals. Offering advice, expertise and inspiration, Ship Models from the Age of Sail has something for anyone interested in building a period ship model, whatever their level of skill."--Provided by the publisher. 2022. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.8203

Naval battles of the Second World War : the Atlantic and the Mediterranean /Leo Marriott. "The Second World War was a truly global conflict and maritime power played a major role in every theatre of operations. Land campaigns depended on supplies transported by sea, and victory or defeat depended on the outcome of naval battles. So Leo Marriott's highly illustrated two-volume account of the struggle sets naval actions in the wider strategic context as well as giving graphic accounts of what happened in each engagement. This first volume concentrates on the Royal Navy's confrontation with the ships and submarines of the German Kriegsmarine during the Battle of the Atlantic, the Arctic convoys and the struggle across the Mediterranean against the Italian navy to supply the opposing armies in North Africa. The Battle of the River Plate, the pursuit of the Bismarck, the PQ17 convoy to the Soviet Union and Operation Pedestal, the most famous convoy sent to relieve Malta, are among the episodes described in vivid detail and illustrated with a selection of striking photographs. This concise but wide-ranging introduction to the naval war emphasizes the sheer scale of the conflict in every sea and shows the direct impact of each naval battle on the course of the war ."--Provided by the publisher. 2022. • BOOK • 1 copy available.

Bomb Alley, Falkland Islands 1982 : Aboard HMS Antrim at War /David Yates. "This is the untold story of the Falklands War as experienced by a below-decks seaman on one of the most important ships to be despatched to the South Atlantic. It is a no-holds-barred account as seen through the eyes of a Royal Navy matelot who shared the terror of the first encounter with Argentinean forces when South Georgia was retaken from the invaders in Operation Paraquat. Then, HMS Antrim led the first attack into the North Falklands Sound where she destroyed enemy defences and later became part of the main force anti-aircraft defences in the infamous 'Bomb Alley' or San Carlos Water. During one of the many air attacks, the ship was struck by a bomb that destroyed her defensive missile system, but through pure chance, the bomb did not explode and remained aboard wedged in the aft 'heads'. All around the stricken ship other RN vessels were taking extreme punishment from the almost continuous onslaught from low-flying Argentinean jets. HMS Antelope, HMS Coventry and the Atlantic Conveyer were all lost within a short period whilst the army was trying to establish a bridgehead."--Provided by the publisher. 2007. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 997.11024092

Captain James Cook / Rob Mundle. A biography of Captain James Cook (1728-1779). As a sailor, the author highlights the sailing and navigational challenges faced by Cook on his voyages. Born in Yorkshire, Cook joined the Royal Navy in 1755, participating in the Seven Years War and mapping the Newfoundland coast before undertaking the three voyages of discovery in the Pacific which made him famous. Commanding the Endeavour, Cook's first voyage in 1768 was to observe the transit of Venus. He went on to circumnavigate and map the coastline of New Zealand before sailing west to make the first recorded European contact with the eastern coast of Australia. Cook returned to the Pacific in 1772 in command of the Resolution to search for the hypothetical Terra Australis, circumnavigating the globe at an extreme southern latitude, one of the earliest to cross the Antarctic circle. Commanding the Resolution again on his third voyage of discovery and in search of the North West Passage, Cook stopped in Hawaii in 1779 where he was killed. Includes a bibliography and glossary of sailing terms. 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92COOK

At war in distant waters : British colonial defense in the Great War /Phillip G. Pattee. "At War in Distant Waters investigates the reasons behind Great Britain's combined military and naval offensive expeditions outside of Europe during the Great War. Often regarded as unnecessary sideshows to the conflict waged on the European continent, Pattee argues that the various campaigns were necessary adjuncts to the war in Europe, and fulfilled an important strategic purpose by protecting British trade where it was most vulnerable. Since international trade was essential for the island nation's way of life, Great Britain required freedom of the seas to maintain its global trade. While the German High Seas Fleet was a serious threat to the British coast, forcing the Royal Navy to concentrate in home waters, the importance of the island empire's global trade made it a valuable target to Germany's various commerce raiders, just as Admiral Tirpitz's risk theory had anticipated."-- 2013. • BOOK • 2 copies available. 355.49"1914/1918"(41-44)

Dutch warships in the age of sail, 1600-1714 : design, construction, careers and fates /James Bender ; introduction by J. D. Davies. "For most of the seventeenth century the Netherlands constituted the most important maritime power in the world, with by far the largest merchant fleet and a dominance in seaborne trade that other countries feared and envied. Born out of an 80-year struggle against Spain for independence, the Dutch republic relied on naval power to guarantee its freedom, promote its trade and defend its overseas colonies. The Dutch navy was crucial to its survival and success, yet the ships that made up its fleets are among the least studied of any in the age of sail. The reasons for this include a decentralised administration of five separate admiralties, often producing ships of the same name at the same time, the widespread co-opting of merchantmen into naval fleets, and competing systems of measuring ships, all of which leads to confusion and error. The most significant contribution of this book is to produce the first definitive listing of all Dutch fighting ships - whether purpose-built, purchased, hired or captured - from the heyday of the United Provinces, complete with technical details and summaries of their careers. It also provides an appreciation of the administrative, economic and technical background, and outlines the many campaigns fought by one of the most successful navies in history. With its unique depth of information, this is a work of the utmost importance to every naval historian and general reader interested in the navies of the sailing era."--Provided by the publisher. 2014. • FOLIO • 2 copies available. 623.82(492)

Papers and addresses : Mercantile marine and navigation, from 1871 to 1894 /Lord Brassey, K.C.B., D.C.L. Part II. Navigation -- I. The examination of adjusters of compasses. Paper read at the Institution of Naval Architects, March 31, 1871 -- II. The Channel lights. Speech, House of Commons, May 1873 -- III. Additional lighthouse. Speech, House of Commons, March 4, 1880 -- IV. Harbour works, lights, shipping, etc. Addresses as President of the Second International Maritime Congress, July 18, 1893 -- V. The loss of the 'Victoria' and the new programming of shipbuilding. Letters to 'Times,' July 7 and December 29, 1893 1894. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 656.61(42)

Henry VIII : a European court in England /edited by David Starkey 1991 • FOLIO • 5 copies available. 92Henry VIII

Breaking the Chains : the Royal Navy's War against White Slavery /Tom Pocock "When the Napoleonic wars ended, Britain had already halted the transatlantic trade in African slaves, although slavery itself in the Caribbean had yet to be abolished. But, in the Mediterranean, the enslavement of Europeans by north African states - semi-autonomous regencies of the Ottoman Empire - continued with Algiers as its driving force. This, too, would have to stop and, if necessary, be stopped by force. But, when that seemed to have been achieved without apparent ruptures with the ruling Sultan in Constantinople, a new and unexpected crisis arose. The Greeks, subjects of the Sultan for four centuries, rose against their rulers and many in the west also saw them as Christian slaves, despite their religion being under no threat. [...] The confrontation that followed threatened war, which all except the Greeks and Russians wished to avoid; eventually war, not only between east and west but within Europe itself, seemed possible. The British strained to avoid the conflict, once with unworthy avoidance of their own responsibility; despite this, extreme violence did erupt. This narrative is primarily as seen by those in the executive arm of British foreign policy: the Royal Navy and, whenever possible, it is told in their own words."--Taken from the Introduction. 2006. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.48:326.4"18"

Poor England has lost so many men : the loss of Queen Anne's man o'war Association, three other warships & 1,450 lives in the Isles of Scilly /edited by Richard Larn. "Locals on the Isles of Scilly woke on 23rd October 1707, completely unaware of the disaster that was still unfolding out amongst the Western Rocks. Wrecks were no novelty here on Scilly, but a disaster on this scale was unprecedented, and its impact and effect on Islanders must have been one of total disbelief as the news spread. During the previous night a fleet of British men o'war had literally blundered into the rocks surrounding the Bishop and CLers, with an appalling loss of ships and men, which was to prove the second worst disaster in the long history of the Royal Navy. Boatmen from St.Agnes and Samson, the enarest islands to the largest of the wrecks, were the first to return with gruesome evidence, floating wreckage and the bodies of literally dozens of drowned men. This Commemoration booklet not only precis events leading up to and after the accident, bubt looks into the effect it most certainly had on both authority and locals alike. The discovery of the corpse at Porth Hellick of Sir Clowdisley Shovell, an admiral as famous in his time as Lord Nelson was in his; Parson Henry Penneck, less than nine months in this idyllic island parish, suddenly faced with the burial of over 1,000 seamen, no wonder he left in December. These and other topics are succinctly covered in this account of Scillies worst ever shipwreck 300 years ago."--Provided by the publisher. 2006. • PAMPHLET • 1 copy available. txt

The war of the gunboats / Bryan Cooper "The 'little ships' of the Second World War - the fast and highly manoeuvrable motor torpedo boats and gunboats which fought in coastal waters all over the world - developed a special kind of naval warfare. With their daring nightly raids against an enemy's coastal shipping - and sometimes much larger warships - they acquired the buccaneering spirit of an earlier age. And never more so than in the close hand-to-hand battles which raged between opposing craft when they met in open waters. Large numbers of these small fighting boats were built by the major naval powers. The Germans called them Schnellboote (Fast Boats), referred to by the British as E-boats (E for Enemy). In the Royal Navy they were MTBs and MGBs. The American equivalent were PT boats (for Patrol Torpedo). They fought in the narrow waters of the English Channel and the stormy North Sea, in the Mediterranean off the coasts of North Africa and Italy and among the islands of the Aegean, across the Pacific from Pearl Harbour to Leyte Gulf, in Hong Kong and Singapore, and off Burma's Arakan coast. Bryan Cooper's book traces the history and development of these craft from their first limited use in the First World War and the fast motor boats designed in the 1930s for wealthy private clients and water speed record attempts. With account of the battles which took place during the Second World War, when the vital importance of coastal waters came to be recognised, he captures the drama of this highly individual form of combat. And not least the sea itself which was the common enemy of all who crewed these frail craft."--Provided by the publisher. 2009. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.824"19"

Normandy, the sailors' story: a naval history of D-Day and the battle for France /Nick Hewitt. "On 6 June 1944, Operation Neptune began. The D-Day landings in Normandy, involving 7,000 ships and nearly 200,000 sailors, formed the largest seaborne invasion in history. Nick Hewitt draws on groundbreaking new material to chart the complex campaign at sea which enabled the Allied assult, and the violent sea battle that mirrored the fighting on land. Aboard ships ranging from frail plywood landing craft to sleek destroyers, sailors were active combatants in the operation, having already worked tirelessly to secure the Seine Bay in the months preceding. They fought battles against German submarines, aircraft, and warships, and maintained careful watch to keep control of the English Channel. But despite this immense effort from the Navy, the wider maritime campaign has been broadly forgotten. Hewitt recounts these sailors' stories for the first time--and shows how, without their actions, D-Day would have failed."--Provided by the publisher. [2024] • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.54/21421

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