Books published by publisher Pen and Sword Maritime

In 1922 the US Navy commissioned its first small experimental aircraft carrier. This was followed into service by two much larger and capable carriers in 1927 with five more being built prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor including three large Yorktown class.To take the offensive against the Japanese Navy, the American Congress funded by far the largest carrier building program in history based on the Essex class, a larger version of the pre-war Yorktown vessels. Of the twenty-six ordered, fourteen were commissioned in time to see Second World War service. These were joined by many smaller classes of carriers, including light carriers and escort carriers.Post-war ever larger and more capable carriers were commissioned. Since 1975, when the first of a fleet of ten nuclear-powered Nimitz class carriers was commissioned, they have epitomized United States superpower status and worldwide power projection. These are due to be replaced in the decades to come with the even more sophisticated nuclear-powered Gerald R. Ford class.Compiled and written by Michael Green, Aircraft Carriers of the United States Navy contains superb images of all the different types of classes of carriers employed by the US Navy since 1922. These and its highly informative text and captions give the reader a broad overview of this fascinating subject.

In 1922 the US Navy commissioned its first small experimental aircraft carrier. This was followed into service by two much larger and capable carriers in 1927 with five more being built prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor including three large Yorktown class. To take the offensive against the Japanese Navy, the American Congress funded by far the largest carrier building programme in history based on the Essex class, a larger version of the pre-war Yorktown vessels. Of the twenty-six ordered, fourteen were commissioned in time to see Second World War service. These were joined by many smaller classes of carriers, including light carriers and escort carriers. Post-war ever larger and more capable carriers were commissioned. Since 1975, when the first of a fleet of ten nuclear-powered Nimitz class carriers was commissioned, they have epitomized United States superpower status and worldwide power projection. These are due to be replaced in the decades to come with the even more sophisticated nuclear-powered Gerald R. Ford class. Compiled and written by Michael Green, Aircraft Carriers of the United States Navy contains superb images of all the different types of classes of carriers employed by the US Navy since 1922. These and its highly informative text and captions give the reader a broad overview of this fascinating subject.

As any sailor knows, life at sea is hazardous under even normal circumstances. In times of war with an enemy intent on killing and sinking you it is infinitely more so. David Blackmore has researched 100 extreme cases over the span of history and written graphic descriptions covering the background, the events and the tragic consequences. Many were the result of enemy action, others (too many) straight human error and the remainder were caused by act of God, not least the weather.

As any sailor knows, life at sea is hazardous under even normal circumstances. In times of war with an enemy intent on killing and sinking you it is infinitely more so.David Blackmore has researched 100 extreme cases over the span of history and written graphic descriptions covering the background, the events and the tragic consequences.Many were the result of enemy action, others (too many) straight human error and the remainder were caused by act of God, not least the weather.Examples include the Syracuse Harbour disaster (BC413), the rout at Aboutir Bay (1798), and the Prince of Wales/Repulse sinking due to lack of air cover (1941). All make for fascinating and informative reading.

Designed as the technological marvel of her age, RMS Titanic claimed to be the largest, strongest, safest ship of the early 20th Century; a triumph of centuries of Great Britain’s unrivaled shipbuilding expertise. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. The 1500 American and British victims of RMS Titanic went to their watery graves never knowing that much of the ship was imperfectly forged from cheap and recycled scrap-iron and that the tragedy was caused by a chain of gross negligence and greed.Crime investigator Robert Strange has studied scientific, forensic evidence from metal raised from the ship’s carcass miles deep on the ocean floor, and secrets hidden for a hundred years within the archives of the shipyard that built and launched the Titanic, to answer the question: ‘Who Sank the Titanic?’Who Sank the Titanic: The Final Verdict examines the intense cost-cutting pressures which contributed to Titanic’s demise and one of the greatest loss-of-life disasters in maritime history. The book uncovers gross negligence in every area of the ship’s planning and construction and accuses her owners, her planners, her builders and the Government ministers who watched her set sail of complicity in one of the greatest mass-homicides in history.Robert Strange is a highly experienced producer and director of TV programs both in the UK and US. He has produced series for the BBC, ITV, Channel Four and satellite channels including Panorama, Dispatches, Cutting Edge and True Stories. A one-time Fleet Street investigative reporter and crime correspondent, he has been fascinated by the Titanic disaster and this book is the result of five years of extensive research.

Since the beginning of the Royal Navy Submarine Service in 1901, 173 submarines have been lost and in many circumstances with their entire crew. War inevitably takes a heavy toll: in World War Two alone – 341 officer and 2,801 ratings failed to return to harbour. The loss of personnel was roughly equivalent to the strength of the Submarine Arm at the outbreak of war.Between the first loss, A1 in 1904, and the last, Artemis in 1971, lie many stories in which cool nerve was very much in evidence and one can marvel at the escape of the only survivor of Perseus; and of the sinking of Olympus from which the few survivors had to swim seven miles before receiving help; and of Surgeon-Lieutenant Charles Rhodes who died that others may live. These and many other accounts of submarine escape are described within this history – and whenever possible in the words of survivors or witnesses.

A reporter explores the role that criminal negligence may have played in history’s most famous disaster at sea. The RMS Titanic was hailed as largest, strongest, safest ship of its time, an exemplar of British shipbuilding. But what the 1,500 victims who sailed to their watery graves never knew was that much of the ship was imperfectly forged from cheap and recycled scrap iron—and that the tragedy may have been caused by gross negligence and greed. Investigative reporter Robert Strange has studied scientific, forensic evidence from metal raised from the ship’s carcass miles deep on the ocean floor, and secrets hidden for a hundred years within the archives of the shipyard that built and launched the vessel, to answer the question: Who sank the Titanic? This book examines the intense cost-cutting pressures which could have contributed to the Titanic’s demise and one of the greatest loss-of-life disasters in maritime history. The book makes the argument that there was negligence in every area of the ship’s planning and construction—and that her owners, her planners, her builders, and the government ministers who watched her set sail could be considered complicit in one of the greatest mass homicides in history.

Since the beginning of the Royal Navy Submarine Service in 1901, 173 submarines have been lost and in many circumstances with their entire crew. War inevitably takes a heavy toll: in World War Two alone – 341 officer and 2,801 ratings failed to return to harbor. The loss of personnel was roughly equivalent to the strength of the Submarine Arm at the outbreak of war.Between the first loss, A1 in 1904, and the last, Artemis in 1971, lie many stories in which cool nerve was very much in evidence and one can marvel at the escape of the only survivor of Perseus; and of the sinking of Olympus from which the few survivors had to swim seven miles before receiving help; and of Surgeon-Lieutenant Charles Rhodes who died that others may live. These and many other accounts of submarine escape are described within this history – and whenever possible in the words of survivors or witnesses.

On 22 May 1941 the cruiser HMS Gloucester (The Fighting 'G') was sunk by aircraft of the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Crete. Of her crew of 807 men, only 83 survived to come home at the end of the War in 1945. It is unknown how many men went down with the ship and how many died in the sea clinging to rafts and flotsam during the many hours before the survivors were finally rescued by boats searching for German soldiers who were victims of a previous British naval attack. The fact that Allied destroyers were in the proximity and were not sent to the rescue was a result of poor naval communications and indecision by the local fleet commanders. Gloucester had been low on antiaircraft ammunition and her crew exhausted before being dispatched from the main fleet to search for the stricken destroyer HMS Greyhound. With only HMS Fiji as company, she came under attack from German bombers and when Gloucester's ammunition was finally exhausted she suffered several direct hits and was set ablaze from stem to stern and left out of control.This book looks at the ship's history and operational successes from her launching in 1937 to her final demise. It includes many firsthand accounts from the surviving crew and the author's painstaking research has revealed the awful truth about one of the Royal Navy's greatest disasters during World War Two.

On 22 May 1941 the cruiser HMS Gloucester (The Fighting 'G') was sunk by aircraft of the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Crete. Of her crew of 807 men, only 83 survived to come home at the end of the War in 1945. It is unknown how many men went down with the ship and how many died in the sea clinging to rafts and flotsam during the many hours before the survivors were finally rescued by boats searching for German soldiers who were victims of a previous British naval attack. The fact that Allied destroyers were in the proximity and were not sent to the rescue was a result of poor naval communications and indecision by the local fleet commanders. Gloucester had been low on antiaircraft ammunition and her crew exhausted before being dispatched from the main fleet to search for the stricken destroyer HMS Greyhound. With only HMS Fiji as company, she came under attack from German bombers and when Gloucester's ammunition was finally exhausted she suffered several direct hits and was set ablaze from stem to stern and left out of control.This book looks at the ship's history and operational successes from her launching in 1937 to her final demise. It includes many firsthand accounts from the surviving crew and the author's painstaking research has revealed the awful truth about one of the Royal Navy's greatest disasters during World War Two.

WINNER OF (Gold Award) HISTORICAL FICTION AWARD for 2012; by the Military Writers Society of America (MWSA). P7A IS THE FIRST IN A TRILOGY SET IN WWII: "In late 1941, President Roosevelt agonized over the rapid advances of the Japanese forces in Asia, they seemed unstoppable. He foresaw their intentions of taking India and linking up with the two other Axis Powers, Germany and Italy, in an attempt to conquer the Eastern Hemisphere. US naval forces had been severely surprised and diminished in Pearl Harbor and the army was outnumbered and ill-prepared to take on the invading hoards. One of his few options was to form a defensive line on the eastern side of the Patkai and Himalayan Ranges, there he could look for support from the Chinese and Burmese. It was to be the only defence to a Japanese invasion of India.To support and supply these troops, fighting in hostile jungle terrain where overland routes had been cut off, he desperately needed to set up an air supply from Eastern India. His problem was lack of aircraft and experienced pilots to fly the dangerous 'Hump, over the world's highest mountains. Hence came Operation Seven Alpha, a plan to enlist the aircraft, DC-3s, and pilots, veterans of World War One, of American Airlines. This newly formed Squadron would fly these medium-range aircraft in a series of long-distance hops across the Pacific and Southern Asia to the Assam Valley in India. They would then create and operate the vital supply route carrying arms, ammunition and food Eastward to the Allied bases and return with wounded personnel. This is the story of this little-known operation in the early days of the Burma Campaign.This book is based on the true experiences of those who were involved and is a fitting tribute to the bravery and inventiveness of a band of men who answered their country's desperate call at the outset of the war against Japan in Asia."

Billy Yank or Billy Yankee was the name given to the Union soldiers of the North during the American Civil War: and a famous and enduring symbol of the period. Typically Billy Yank is presented dressed in regulation blue uniform topped with a forage hat, the standard headdress used by the military of the period. This handy guide delves a little deeper and sets out to discover exactly what the typical ‘Billy Yank’ looked like and how they lived. Compiled by two experts on the subject of military uniforms of the period, and crammed with fascinating facts and images, this is an excellent glimpse into the life and times of the union soldier and a valuable addition to the popular G.I. series.