A brilliant, concise and, perhaps, best single volume history of the Second World War at Sea. Written by veteran historian E. B. Potter during his time as resident historian at the United States Naval Academy this history is filled with action and analysis. As the conflict raged from the Pacific to the North Sea the author takes the action in each theater for the purposes of clarity but masterfully links the actions and events together to preserve the historical integrity of the work. A classic of Naval History.

Here is one of the most authoritative, thoroughly documented accounts of Allied naval action in the Atlantic and Mediterranean theaters of World War II. Normandy, Salerno, Operation Neptune, Morocco—this is the story of naval warfare such as the world had never before seen. TRIUMPH IN THE ATLANTIC presents the exciting narrative of Atlantic Surface Operations in all its dramatic detail, from the sinking of the British liner Athenia in 1939 to the devastating defeat of Germany in 1945. The Atlantic operation was a sea war that made the land war in Europe and Africa possible. It was a sea war fought over the range of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean against the worst hazards men could invent and the worst nature could provide. Through U-boat and surface attack, air threat and minefields, piercing cold and blazing heat, mountainous seas, blinding fog and cutting winds, ships carried out their missions of bringing the troops and supplies to the men and women who needed them. The fruit of years of painstaking preparation by historians at the U.S. Naval Academy, TRIUMPH IN THE ATLANTIC recalls not only the tactics and maneuvers of a wartime effort unmatched in history, but also the hopes and fears of the men who made it possible.

From the sinking of the British passenger liner Athenia on September 3, 1939, by a German U-boat (against orders) to the Japanese surrender on board the Missouri on September 2, 1945, War at Sea covers every major naveal battle of World War II. "A first-rate work and the best history of its kind yet written".--Vice Admiral William P. Mack, U.S.N. (Ret.). 30 photos.

"This final narrative volume of Morison's history recounts the infamous campaigns for Iwo Jima and Okinawa, two of the most bitterly contested campaigns of the war.When the U.S. Marines landed on Iwo Jima, they expected to secure it within a few days. No one had anticipated Japan's determination to defend the island to the last man. Morison describes the Japanese defense system of camouflaged rifle pits and fortified gunning positions that held the Allies at bay and the heavy and continuous cover of naval gunfire that prevented even greater losses. As it was, the securing of Iwo Jima cost the United States more casualties than had been incurred in taking any other island in the Pacific. On Okinawa, the conflict stretched over six long, bloody months.As land forces struggled for every inch they took on the islands, the U.S. Navy faced the desperate fury of the kamimaze corps and its harvest of flaming terror: explosions, burning and flooded ships, searing injuries and death. Fierce weather, logistical complexities, Japanese submarines, and the unexpected death of President Roosevelt also took their toll. Morison concludes his epic account with the final skirmishes of the war, the fateful decision to drop the atomic bomb, and the delicate negotiations leading to Japanese surrender."