Arming the Fleet PDF Download

Author: Spencer Tucker
Publisher: US Naval Institute Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Author: David Hobbs
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 1526799804
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 343

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Book Description
A comprehensive history of the Royal Navy’s naval aviation component’s campaigns during World War II. For the first time, this book tells the story of how naval air operations evolved into a vital element of the Royal Navy’s ability to fight a three-dimensional war against both the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe. An integral part of RN, the Fleet Air Arm was not a large organization, with only 406 pilots and 232 front-line aircraft available for operations in September 1939. Nevertheless, its impact far outweighed its numbers—it was an RN fighter that shot down the first enemy aircraft of the war, and an RN pilot was the first British fighter “ace” with 5 or more kills. The Fleet Air Arm’s rollcall of achievements in northern waters went on to include the Norwegian Campaign, the crippling of Bismarck, the gallant sortie against Scharnhorst and Gneisenau as they passed through the Channel, air attacks on enemy E-boats in the narrow seas, air cover for the Russian convoys, air attacks that disabled Tirpitz, and strikes and minelaying operations against German shipping in the Norwegian littoral that continued until May 1945. By the end of the war in Europe the FAA had grown to 3243 pilots and 1336 aircraft. This book sets all these varied actions within their proper naval context and both technical and tactical aspects are explained with “thumbnail” descriptions of aircraft, their weapons and avionics. Cross reference with the Fleet Air Arm Roll of Honour has been made for the first time to put names to those aircrew killed in action wherever possible as a mark of respect for their determination against enemy forces on, above and below the sea surface which more often than not outnumbered them. The Fleet Air Arm and the War in Europe completes David Hobbs’s much-praised six-volume series chronicling the operational history of British naval aviation from the earliest days to the present. Praise for The Fleet Air Arm and the War in Europe “In this masterly addition to his series on the Fleet Air Arm at war, David Hobbs addresses naval air operations in the Atlantic, the North Sea, the Arctic, and the English Channel.” —Professor Andrew Lambert, Warship 2023 “With lots of action it rattles along and is a very good read.” —The Armourer Magazine, May 2022

Author: Wallace T. Martin
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 80

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Author: Ian Buxton
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 1848320930
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 323

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The launch in 1606 of HMS Dreadnought, the worlds's first all-big-gun battleship, rendered all existing battle fleets obsolete, but at the same time it wiped out the Royal Navy's numerical advantage, so expensively maintained for decades. Already locked in the same arms race with Germany, Britain urgently needed to build an entirely new battle fleet of these larger, more complex and more costly vessels In this she succeeded spectacularly; in little over a decade fifty such ships were completed, almost exactly double that of what Germany achieved It was only made possible by the companyÍs vast industrial nexus of shipbuilders, engine manufacturers, armament fleets and specialist armour producers, whose contribution to the Grand Feet is too often ignored. This heroic achievement, and how it was done, is the subject of this book. It charts the rise of the large industrial conglomerates that were key to this success, looks at the reaction to fast-moving technical changes, and analyses the politics of funding this vast national effort, both before and beyond the Great War. It also attempts to assess the true cost- and value- of the Grand Fleet in terms of the resources consumed. And finally, by way of contrast, it describes the effects of the post-war recession, industrial contraction, and the very different responses to rearmament in the run up to the Second World War.

Author: Stuart Lloyd
Publisher: Dalrymple and Verdun
ISBN: 9781905414086
Category : 2. verdenskrig
Languages : en
Pages : 152

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Book Description
Beskriver britiske flådeflys bemaling og camouflage i Atlanterhavs- og Middelhavsområdet i perioden 1937-1941

Author: Salvatore R. Mercogliano
Publisher: Government Printing Office
ISBN: 9780945274964
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 88

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Book Description
This publication is the eighth in the series The U.S. Navy and the Vietnam War. The publication focuses on the sealift and logistic operations during the war and includes a number of photographs as well as sidebars detailing specific people and ships involved in the logistic operations. This historical pictorial reference would be of interest to students, historians, members of the military, specifically the Navy, and military leaders, veterans, Vietnam War veterans, and the U.S. merchant marines.

Author: David Hobbs
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 1526793849
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 426

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Book Description
“If you only read one book on the development of the Fleet Air Arm and Naval air warfare in the Mediterranean during World War 2 then this should be it.” —Military Historical Society After the Italian declaration of war in June 1940, the Royal Navy found itself facing a larger and better-equipped Italian surface fleet, large Italian and German air forces equipped with modern aircraft and both Italian and German submarines. Its own aircraft were a critical element of an unprecedented fight on, over and under the sea surface. The best-known action was the crippling of the Italian fleet at Taranto, which demonstrated how aircraft carriers and their aircraft had replaced the dominance of battleships, but every subsequent operation is covered from the perspective of naval aviation. Some of these, like Matapan or the defense of the “Pedestal” convoy to Malta, are famous but others in support of land campaigns and in the Aegean after the Italian surrender are less well recorded. In all these, the ingenuity and innovation of the Fleet Air Arm shines through—Taranto pointed the way to what the Japanese would achieve at Pearl Harbor, while air cover for the Salerno landings demonstrated the effectiveness of carrier-borne fighters in amphibious operations, a tactic adopted by the US Navy. The author’s years of archival research together with his experience as a carrier pilot allow him to describe and analyze the operations of naval aircraft in the Mediterranean with unprecedented authority. This provides the book with novel insights into many familiar facets of the Mediterranean war while for the first time doing full justice to the Fleet Air Arm’s lesser known achievements. “A full and fascinating story.” —Clash of Steel

Author: Matthew Willis
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781911658498
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Few aircraft encompass as many contradictions as the Fairey Swordfish - the legendary 'Stringbag' naval torpedo bomber was approaching antiquation at the start of the war yet struck mortal blows against some of the most powerful battleships in the Axis fleets. Naval Aviation historian Matthew Willis explores how modern technology such as radar kept the Swordfish effective in the early years of the war and enabled it to find and hit the Italian fleet at Taranto, and the Bismarck in the Atlantic, in circumstances where no other aircraft could have succeeded.When it was finally superseded in its main role with the Fleet, the Swordfish fulfilled vital roles protecting convoys from the U-boat menace. The story of the Swordfish's service across the majority of theatres in WW2, from the hunt for the Graf Spee to the beaches of Normandy, is told here with never-before-published accounts from veteran aircrews. Includes 100+ historic photographs and unique images of the Royal Navy Historic Flight's preserved aircraft.

Author: Wallace T. Martin
Publisher: Government Printing Office
ISBN: 0160921619
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 215

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Book Description
Tells a compelling story of the secret weapons city of China Lake, California, a secluded Navy base in the middle of the vast Mojave Desert that has been quietly delivering weapons that work since 1943. The book also provides an inside look at Point Mugu, California, a DoD (Department of Defense) premiere electronic warfare site and home of the world’s largest instrumented over-water range where most Navy targets are tested. Combined, these two internationally recognized historic sites comprise the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (also known as NAWCWD, the "Division" or WD), an organization with a strong legacy in direct Warfighter support. Arming The Fleet: 1943-2011, Providing Our Warfighters the Decisive Advantage (Third Edition) describes WD’s significant influence on more than 25 major weapons systems. China Lake developed 75% of the air-launched weapons used during Vietnam and jointly developed 80% of those used during Iraqi Freedom and the Center continues to arm the fleet into the future. In addition, the Division has been awarded 1,600+ patents, and the book documents 50+ world “firsts” including nonnuclear work on the first atomic bomb, Sidewinder missile, plastic bonded explosives, biofuels, light sticks, air-bag sensors, stop action video as well as developing early technology that directly evolved into today’s GPS, digital computer searches, and MRI. Arming The Fleet (ATF) describes the Division’s role and quick response achievements in every major U.S. crisis from WWII to Iraqi Freedom – from Iwo Jima and Midway to Fallujah and Baghdad. ATF documents the Division as a world leader in guided missiles, advanced weapons and systems, and complex software integration on tactical aircraft, energetic materials and subsystems. In addition, the Division is conducting RDT&E (Research Development Test & Evaluation) on 25+ varied unmanned aerial systems (UAV) which is a top-four strategic thrust area. ATF tells the story about how many of today’s major weapons “in the news” got their start including Trident, Tomahawk, HARM, Standard Missile, and Sidewinder. Remarkably, most of the major technologies ever developed are still in fleet use today in one version or another. Arming The Fleet III includes 208 pages, 216 photos/graphics, and 1,000+ indexed items. Anyone wanting to learn more about major milestones in U.S. Naval weaponry and technology “then and now” will find this book of great interest – not just “history” as this Third Edition is updated through 2011. The legacy continues...

Author: Matthew Willis
Publisher: Tempest
ISBN: 1911658824
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 116

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Renowned naval aviation author Matthew Willis tells the story of the Supermarine Seafire – a navalized version of the famous Spitfire adapted for use on aircraft carriers. Some 2646 examples were built and saw action with the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm from November 1942 until after the Korean War in the early 1950s. It was involved in combat during the Allied landings in North Africa (Operation Torch), the Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy, the D-Day landings, and Operation Dragoon in southern France. With the Pacific fleet, the Seafire proved capable of intercepting and destroying the feared Japanese kamikaze attack aircraft.