Archive Results For: WW1
Book Review-‘ Silver State Dreadnought: The remarkable story of battleship ‘Nevada’’ by S. M. Younger
USS Nevada was one of the first of a new generation of American dreadnoughts. She and her half-sister Oklahoma pioneered ‘all or nothing’ protection and oil burning as designed. She had turbines, but the US Navy was still worried about potential range disadvantages of these power plants and thus made Oklahoma a reciprocating engined vessel, […] Read More
Filed under: WW1 | WW2 | Post WW2
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics | Navies | Shipbuilding & Design
Book Review -‘Progressives in Navy Blue: Maritime strategy, American empire and the transformation of US naval identity 1873–1998’ by Eric Grove
During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the United States navy was transformed. The ‘old navy’ of wooden cruisers devoted to constabulary duties and monitors to be mobilized for coast defence was transformed into a steel navy primarily organized for war. Its capabilities were demonstrated against Spain in 1898. This has traditionally been seen […] Read More
Filed under: Atlantic | WW1 | Interwar | WW2 | Other (Twentieth C) | Nineteenth Century | Other (Nineteenth C) | Pacific
Subjects include: Navies | Shipbuilding & Design | Strategy & Diplomacy
Book Review – ‘The US Navy: A concise history’ by Johan Francke
In this concise history, Craig L. Symonds describes, among other issues, the role played by political decisions and political debate in the formation of the US Navy and, similarly, the influence of technological innovation. For the supporters of maritime policy, the importance of the navy was a matter of projecting state power and self-confidence. Others […] Read More
Filed under: WW1 | Interwar | WW2 | American Revolution | Post WW2 | American Civil War | Eighteenth Century | Nineteenth Century | Other (Nineteenth C) | Other (Eighteenth C) | Twentieth Century
Subjects include: Navies
Book Review – ‘The Battleship Holiday: The naval treaties and capital ship design’ by Robert J. C. Mowat
This is a book which belies its title, and is much the better for doing so. The successive treaties that define the title enter the narrative late (p. 87) and leave it early (p. 188) but are discussed in commendable detail. The complex interplay of personalities, national objectives and priorities, economic limitations and developing technologies […] Read More
Filed under: WW1 | English Channel | North Sea | Twentieth Century
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics | Navies | Shipbuilding & Design
Book Review – ‘We Die Like Brothers: The sinking of the SS ‘Mendi’’ by Clifford J. Pereira
The SS Mendi sank off the Isle of Wight in 1917, with the loss of over 600 South African passengers. The book underlines one of a number of instances where the courage and determination of men from the empire lost their lives through a mixture of incompetency and accident. However, it is the aspirations for […] Read More
Filed under: WW1 | English Channel
Subjects include: Manpower & Life at Sea | Miscellaneous | Navies
Book Review – ‘Coastal Patrol: Royal Navy Airship operations during the Great War 1914–1918’ by Frank Scott
This is a niche topic, but the author, Brian J. Turpin, has a solid grounding in aviation technology, and does an excellent job in detailing the rapid wartime development of the Royal Navy’s non-rigid airship types, from the earliest Submarine Scouts, through to the Sea Scout Zeros and Coastals, and ending with the well-regarded North […] Read More
Filed under: WW1 | English Channel
Subjects include: Naval Aviation
Book Review – ‘Naval Warfare: A global history’ by Eric Grove
I have to admit to have been putting off reading and reviewing this book; I am grateful to the reviews editor for his forbearance. The reason is that I know, like and admire Professor Jeremy Black of Exeter University, one of the most prolific serious historical authors in the world with more than a hundred […] Read More
Filed under: WW1 | WW2 | Post WW2 | Nineteenth Century
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics | Naval Aviation | Navies | Submarines
Book Review – ‘The Victoria Cross Wars: Battles, campaigns and conflicts of all the VC heroes’ by Adam Prime
This is not the first book to be concerned with the Victoria Cross nor will it be the last, the acts of bravery which are recognized by the award continue to captivate those interested in military history. What sets this book apart from the others is that it offers insight into every war in which […] Read More
Filed under: WW1 | WW2 | Crimean War | Nineteenth Century
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics | Biography | Navies
Book Review – ‘The War in the North Sea: The Royal Navy and the Imperial German Navy 1914–1918’ by Harold N. Boyer
In addition to grand strategy, author Quintin Barry discusses the ships of both fleets as they existed in August 1914 and then throughout the war, as well as the state of officers and ratings. This book is heavily detailed, documented, and most interesting while bringing a four-year struggle under one cover. The only criticism offered […] Read More
Filed under: WW1 | North Sea | Twentieth Century
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics | Navies
Book Review – ‘Churchill and Fisher: Titans at the Admiralty’ by Thomas Malcomson
Barry Gough’s latest book delves deeply into the dynamic and rollercoaster relationship between Sir Winston Churchill and Admiral Lord ‘Jacky’ Fisher, from the years leading up to and through the First World War. Gough’s goal is to present a thorough accounting of the British navy’s preparation for and endeavours during that conflict, without the ‘preference […] Read More
Filed under: WW1 | Twentieth Century
Subjects include: Administration | Biography | Navies | Strategy & Diplomacy
Book Review-‘British Dockyards in the First World War: Transactions of the Naval Dockyards Society Volume 12’ by P. MacDougall (ed.)
In his post-war study of the First World War, The World In Crisis (vol. 1, 1911–14) the former First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, observed drily that during the ‘naval scare’ of 1909, ‘The Admiralty had demanded six ships; the economists offered four; and we finally compromised on eight.’ This was a response to […] Read More
Filed under: WW1
Subjects include: Harbours & Dockyards
Book Review-‘How the Navy Won the War: The real instrument of victory, 1914–1918’ by J. Ring
Debates over what role British seapower might play in a European conflict long preceded the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. The idea that sea power might enable Britain to limit her military commitment to the Continent remained an alluring prospect throughout the conflict, and has proven no less attractive to many commentators […] Read More
Filed under: WW1
Subjects include: Navies