Author: Charles M. MelhornPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 200
Book Description
Two-block Fox
Author: Charles M. MelhornPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 200
Book Description
Sacred Vessels
Author: Robert L. O'ConnellPublisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195080068
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 430
Book Description
From a broad, historical perspective, the dreadnought represents an archetype, and its history a kind of moral tale. Its awesome size, its formidable presence, and its immense power have gained it tremendous respect, loyalty, and, as Robert O'Connell shows in this myth-shattering book, unwarranted longevity as well. With provocative insight and wit he offers us an irreverent history of the modern battleship and its place in American history, from the sinking of the coal-fueled Maine in 1898 to the deployment of the cruise missile-armed Missouri in the Persian Gulf War of 1991. The modern navies were the first of the armed services faced with fundamental and abrupt technological change. The wooden sailing ships that had fought sea battles for nearly two centuries were, in only a few years, rendered obsolete by a veritable tidal wave of innovation. With the deployment of the revolutionary HMS Dreadnought in 1903, the new technology reached its full fruition: the gigantic sleek, steel-clad, many-gunned vessel that would rule the seas (or at least the minds of Naval commanders) for years to come. O'Connell shows how other nations raced to emulate this new prototype (much in the fashion of the nuclear arms race of later decades), usually at the expense of much more effective forms of naval force. He also demonstrates compellingly the dashed expectations for the battleship occasioned by the outbreak of war in 1914. While many anticipated a massive twentieth-century Trafalgar, in actuality dreadnoughts everywhere avoided battle, and when they did fight, the results were most often inconclusive or even irrelevant. With the Battle of Jutland in 1916--the only real naval showdown of the war--the ineffectiveness of the battleship as the pre-eminent weapon of war was made abundantly clear: the German navy scored on only 120 hits out of 3,597 heavy shells fired while the British had an even more dismal showing--100 out of 4,598, or a hit ratio of 2.17%. Yet, in spite of this display of impotence, the world's great naval yards continued to turn out the huge vessels. O'Connell observes that even after the heart of the American fleet was sunk by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor, the almost superstitious faith in the battleship insured its survival. While they have never played a decisive role in the outcome of any modern war, they have continued to be resurrected and refurbished--even equipped with cruise missles--right up to the present day. Sacred Vessels is more than the unmasking of a false idol of naval history. It is a cautionary tale about the often unacknowledged influence of human faith, culture, and tradition on the exceedingly important, costly, and suppossedly rational process of national defense. Not only is it a gripping tale well-told, it is essential reading for anyone hoping to understand the dynamics involved in the arming of nations.
China as a Twenty-First Century Naval Power
Author: Michael A McDevittPublisher: Naval Institute Press
ISBN: 1682475441
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 281
Book Description
Xi Jinping has made his ambitions for the People's Liberation Army (PLA) perfectly clear, there is no mystery what he wants, first, that China should become a "great maritime power" and secondly, that the PLA "become a world-class armed force by 2050." He wants this latter objective to be largely completed by 2035. China as a Twenty-First-Century Naval Power focuses on China's navy and how it is being transformed to satisfy the "world class" goal. Beginning with an exploration of why China is seeking to become such a major maritime power, author Michael McDevitt first explores the strategic rationale behind Xi's two objectives. China's reliance on foreign trade and overseas interests such as China's Belt and Road strategy. In turn this has created concerns within the senior levels of China's military about the vulnerability of its overseas interests and maritime life-lines. is a major theme. McDevitt dubs this China's "sea lane anxiety" and traces how this has required the PLA Navy to evolve from a "near seas"-focused navy to one that has global reach; a "blue water navy." He details how quickly this transformation has taken place, thanks to a patient step-by-step approach and abundant funding. The more than 10 years of anti-piracy patrols in the far reaches of the Indian Ocean has acted as a learning curve accelerator to "blue water" status. McDevitt then explores the PLA Navy's role in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. He provides a detailed assessment of what the PLAN will be expected to do if Beijing chooses to attack Taiwan potentially triggering combat with America's "first responders" in East Asia, especially the U.S. Seventh Fleet and U.S. Fifth Air Force. He conducts a close exploration of how the PLA Navy fits into China's campaign plan aimed at keeping reinforcing U.S. forces at arm's length (what the Pentagon calls anti-access and area denial [A2/AD]) if war has broken out over Taiwan, or because of attacks on U.S. allies and friends that live in the shadow of China. McDevitt does not know how Xi defines "world class" but the evidence from the past 15 years of building a blue water force has already made the PLA Navy the second largest globally capable navy in the world. This book concludes with a forecast of what Xi's vision of a "world-class navy" might look like in the next fifteen years when the 2035 deadline is reached.
Sunburst
Author: Mark PeattiePublisher: Naval Institute Press
ISBN: 1612514367
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 294
Book Description
This acclaimed sequel to the Peattie/Evans prizewinning work, Kaigun, illuminates the rise of Japanese naval aviation from its genesis in 1909 to its thunderbolt capability on the eve of the Pacific war. In the process of explaining the navy's essential strengths and weaknesses, the book provides the most detailed account available in English of Japan's naval air campaign over China from 1937 to 1941. A final chapter analyzes the utter destruction of Japanese naval air power by 1944.
Modernizing the U.S. Aircraft Carrier Fleet
Author: John Frederic SchankPublisher: Rand Corporation
ISBN: 9780833037206
Category : Aircraft carriers
Languages : en
Pages : 98
Book Description
The U.S. Navy is currently designing the next generation aircraft carrier, the CVN 21. This class of carriers will use the same basic hull form as the current Nimitz class but will include a substantial redesign of the interior of the ship for improved weapons handling and stores management functions. It will also incorporate several new technologies including a new propulsion system and new aircraft launch and recovery systems. These improvements not only will increase the operational capability of the ship but also are anticipated to lower the ship's manpower requirements and maintenance costs. Under current force modernization plans, new ships of the CVN 21 class will be introduced every four or five years as the ships of the Nimitz class reach the end of their planned 50-year operational life. Under this strategy, Nimitz class carriers will be operating for over 50 more years and it will take decades to transform the aircraft carrier fleet to ships of the new class.On the basis of some preliminary calculations that appeared promising, RAND proposed to the Program Executive Office (PEO) for Aircraft Carriers an examination of a way to accelerate the transformation of the carrier force: replacing Nimitz-class carriers as they reach mid-life instead of refueling them. In this report we identify specific fleet management options for building new instead of refueling, and we evaluate their advantages and disadvantages. This report should be of interest to Navy and Office of Secretary of Defense planners examining fleet modernization options, especially those organizations addressing the costs of alternative force structure options.
Titans of the Seas
Author: James H. BelotePublisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 370
Book Description
Two naval historians follow carrier warfare in the Pacific through Coral Sea, Midway, Easter Solomons, Santa Cruz and the climatic Battle of the Philippine Sea, June 1944.
Carrier
Author: Tom ClancyPublisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9780425166826
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 372
Book Description
They are floating cities with crews of thousands. They are the linchpins of any military strategy, for they provide what has become the key to every battle fought since World War I: air superiority. The mere presence of a U.S. naval carrier in a region is an automatic display of strength that sends a message no potential enemy can ignore. Now, Tom Clancy welcomes you aboard for a detailed look at how these floating behemoths function. With his trademark style and eye for detail, Clancy brings you naval combat strategy like no one else can.Carrier includes: * Takeoffs and landings: flying into the danger zone * The aircraft onboard: their range, their power, their weaponry * The role of the carrier in modern naval warfare * Exclusive photographs, illustrations and diagrams Plus: An interview with the U.S. Navy's Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Jay Johnson
Carrier Warfare in the Pacific
Author: E. T. WooldridgePublisher: Smithsonian Books (DC)
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 344
Book Description
Capturing the times when lives and victory were in peril, this book records the exploits of the men who fought in WWII in the air and on the sea, including pilots and air crewmen of carrier squadrons, officers and men of the ship's company, and admirals and their staffs. Compelling personal accounts. Illus.
The Rise and Fall of the Aircraft Carrier
Author: Bernard IrelandPublisher:
ISBN: 9780856857119
Category : Aircraft carriers
Languages : en
Pages : 174
Book Description
Titans of the Rising Sun
Author: Raymond A. BawalPublisher: Inland Expressions
ISBN: 0981815731
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 210
Book Description
Intended to be glorious symbols of Japanese power, the Yamato class suffered from the disadvantage of being designed at a crossroads in naval strategy in which advances in aviation technology began to shift the focus of sea power from the battleship to the aircraft carrier. The story of the Yamato class illustrates the closing of one chapter in the history of naval warfare while at the same time the opening of another.