Naval category: 2015 books

One of only two survivors of the famous Cockleshell Hero raid, Bill Sparks' war and postwar career has never before been told in full. In this gripping book, he describes not only his part in Operation FRANKTON, the daring Gironde raid, and his escape back to Britain, but how he fought with the Greek...

Did you know…Until 1812 the British Royal Navy would seize Americans and force them into British military service. This was one of the causes of the war between Britain and the US between 1812 and 1815 (see Pressgangs).British seamen in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were extremely...

“Condition Red” was an expression that we used to indicate the imminence of any type of engagement. Aboard the G it was a colloquialism that served to express the conviction that the next few hours or days or weeks were going to be packed with action. We first heard it soon after we arrived in...

'The Ministry of Defence does not comment upon submarine operations' is the standard response of officialdom to enquiries about the most secretive and mysterious of Britain's armed forces, the Royal Navy Submarine Service. Written with unprecedented co-operation from the Service itself and privileged...

In 1982, the average Briton didn't know the Falkland Islands existed, let alone their status as a disputed British territory just off the coast of Argentina. That changed when the Argentinians invaded the islands and overwhelmed the small defending force. Both nations claimed the islands were theirs,...

Part of our value-added professional format series of U.S. military manuals, this U.S. Marine Corps manual provides guidance to individual Marines (private through general officer) and their dependents on terrorism and its effects. This reference publication gives an overview of terrorism, explains...

Part of our value-added professional format series of U.S. military manuals, this U.S. Marine Corps manual is to be used as a tool to help ensure that the values of the Corps continue to be reinforced and sustained in all Marines after being formally instilled in entry level training. This document...

Between Drake's Revenge and the Polaris submarine, the most recent Revenge, are the glory years of the Royal Navy. Revenge was at the Armada, the Azores, Trafalgar and Jutland and with weapons capable of terrible destruction.The first Revenge commanded by Queen Elizabeth's favourite, Francis Drake,...

From Roger Knight, established by his multi-award winning book The Pursuit of Victory as 'an authority ... none of his rivals can match' (N.A.M. Rodger), Britain Against Napoleon is the first book to explain how the British state successfully organised itself to overcome Napoleon - and how very close...

At one time British ships carried half of the world's trade, transporting every conceivable type of freight from and to all four corners of the globe – and in times of crisis the merchant fleet has also offered military assistance. In fact, the merchant convoys and armed cruisers that defied the...

This biography of John Jervis, who became Admiral Lord Vincent, makes compelling reading. It throws an oblique light on Nelson’s personality. St Vincent, who was born twenty-three years before Nelson, and survived for eighteen years after Trafalgar, fundamentally influenced the younger man’s career...

Born the son of George Byng, a favorite of the king and himself an admiral and member of the admiralty board (and later First Lord of the Admiralty), John Byng seemed destined for a shining career in the Royal Navy. He saw his first fleet action at Cape Passaro, the elder Byng's finest hour, as a...

Captain Henry Morgan's capture of the city of Panamá in 1671 is seen as one of the most audacious military operations in history. In The Sack of Panamá , Peter Earle masterfully retells this classic story, combining thorough research with an emphasis on the battles that made Morgan a pirate legend. Morgan's...

A detailed history of the submarine, from the first man-powered submersibles to the deep sea exploration and military crafts of todayPioneer submariners built astonishing contraptions which made perilous voyages or sank like stones. Some were driven by muscle-power or steam engines with chimneys....