Naval category: 2015 books

The Panama Canal was the costliest undertaking in history; its completion in 1914 marked the beginning of the “American Century.” Panama Fever draws on contemporary accounts, bringing the experience of those who built the canal vividly to life. Politicians engaged in high-stakes diplomacy in order...

From the first explorers, to the century of ships, to our modern fisheries and diversification, Maine's maritime story is told in engaging detail.  Lincoln Paine has laid down the framework for an understanding of Maine's maritime history by relating the population and landscape of today to their...

Gathered from museums and private collections, the hundreds of images here are a reminder of a time when sailing was central to the life and growth of New England. Including paintings and photographs of vessels built, owned, or commanded by New England men, these illustrations will fascinate anyone...

Admiral Nelson's most frequent cry was for more frigates. Though not ships of the line these fast and powerful warships were the 'eyes of the fleet'. They enabled admirals to find where the enemy lay and his likely intentions, as well as patrolling vital trade routes and providing information from...

Based on gripping first-hand testimony from the archives of the Imperial War Museum, this book reveals what it was really like to serve in the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was a period of huge change – for the first time the British navy went into battle with untried weapon systems,...

In the years between 1776 and 1815, grand square-rigged sailing ships dominated warfare on the high seas. Fighting Sail is a tabletop wargame of fleet battles in this age of canvas, cannon, and timbers. Players take on the roles of fleet admirals in battles ranging from the American War of Independence...

A long forgotten tale gets a new life as this book reveals the true story of the 18th-century shipwreck cannibalism scandal During the fierce winter of 1710, 14 Englishmen had taken refuge on Boon Island, a sparse 100-yard long stretch of rock, without food or adequate shelter, uncertain of...

This is the story of the most famous iceberg of all time--the iceberg that has gripped the imagination of the world, that humbled human technology and dramatized the wonders and dangers of the North Atlantic Ocean. Author Richard Brown uses the iceberg's story to present the natural history...

SSN 14 is a dramatic and honest account of a year in the life of HMS Turbulent, the Royal Navy nuclear powered attack submarine led by Ryan Ramsey. During 2011 Turbulent participated in the Libya intervention and passed through the Suez Canal to take up patrol in the Indian Ocean against the extraordinary...

On the morning of February 3, 1983, the Americus and Altair, two state-of-the-art crabbing vessels, idled at the dock in their home port of Anacortes, Washington. On deck, the fourteen crewmen--fathers, sons, brothers and friends who'd known one another all their lives--prepared for the ten-day trip...

This report from the Pentagon's Operational Test and Evaluation Director was issued in January 2014 and contains extensive detailed information about over 100 major weapons systems under development by the Department of Defense, Army, Navy, and Air Force - including such consequential systems as the...

This book examines the military collapse of China’s Ming Dynasty to a combination of foreign and domestic foes. The Ming’s defeat was a highly surprising development, not least because as recently as in the 1590s the Ming had managed to defeat a Japanese force considered to be perhaps the most...

From the sinkings of the El Faro to the Andrea Doria, with dozens of similar maritime tragedies in between, the vague explanation of “human error” has been cited as the reason for the tragedies.  For the first time, a 40-year safety consultant challenges much of that causation theory as too simple. The...

A collection of the 40 worst mercantile disasters in history—revealing that, despite popular belief, the Titanic tragedy was far from being the worst disaster at seaWhile the victims of the Titanic disaster at 1,507 persons accounted for a huge loss of life, each of the ships described in this...