The U.S. Navy against the Axis tells the story of the U.S. Navy’s surface fleet in World War II with an emphasis on ship-to-ship combat. The book refutes the widely-held notion that the attack on Pearl Harbor rendered battleships obsolete and that aviation and submarines dominated the Pacific War. It demonstrates how the surface fleet played a decisive role at critical junctures. It was crucial to America’s ultimate victory and its story holds many lessons for today’s Navy and the nation as a whole. >The U.S. Navy against the Axis describes how swift adaptability and intellectual honesty were fundamental to the Navy’s success against Japan. The underlying premise is that the nation cannot assume that in a conflict against conventional or asymmetric enemies, it holds title to the same virtues the Navy demonstrated three generations ago. Instead those lessons need to be constantly studied and affirmed in the face of postwar mythologies, lest they be forgotten.

Former US naval intelligence officer Bath describes how his own area (before he was in it) was as responsible as Allied warships in the successful 1942-43 campaign against German U-boats known as the Battle of the Atlantic. He describes the cooperation at all levels, in all theaters of war, and at all points in the cycle from gathering through analysis to dissemination. He also considers the naval intelligence in the South Pacific, throughout highlighting the contributions of Britain and other Commonwealth states. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The author of A Century of British Naval Aviation, 1909-2009 examines the losses and successes of the Royal Navy during World War Two. On the declaration of war in 1939, the British Admiralty signaled all warships and naval bases “Total Germany, Total Germany.” It was fortunate that of Germany’s three armed services, the Kriegsmarine under Grosseradmiral Erich Raeder was the least well prepared. True, Admiral Karl Donitz’s U-Boat force was to give the Allies many anxious times, but Hitler was never comfortable or competent in his handling of naval surface forces. “Total Germany” is a concise yet comprehensive account of the Royal Navy’s part in the war at sea and the measures taken to ensure victory. The different approaches taken by the warring countries are expertly examined. The author reviews the differing strategies and tactics of the various theatres such as the Far East, Mediterranean, Atlantic and Arctic. “Not only does it cover every major event during WWII the author brings up some other less well known actions. A thoroughly enjoyable read.”—Ton Class Association

The factors leading to the defeat of the Axis Powers in World War II have been debated for decades. One prevalent view is that overwhelming Allied superiority in materials and manpower doomed the Axis. Another holds that key strategic and tactical blunders lost the war--from Hitler halting his panzers outside Dunkirk, allowing more than 300,000 trapped Allied soldiers to escape, to Admiral Yamamoto falling into the trap set by the U.S. Navy at Midway. Providing a fresh perspective on the war, this study challenges both views and offers an alternative explanation: the Germans, Japanese and Italians made poor design choices in ships, planes, tanks and information security--before and during the war--that forced them to fight with weapons and systems that were too soon outmatched by the Allies. The unprecedented arms race of World War II posed a fundamental "design challenge" the Axis powers sometimes met but never mastered.

Maple Leaf Against the Axis is a compelling recounting of the Second World War and the Canadians who fought it. Here, in all its passion and drama, is the story of how the Canadian army, navy and air force fought in battles ranging from Hong Kong to the Rhine River crossing. David Bercuson, one of Canada's preeminent military historians, covers the war on the ground, the naval war in the North Atlantic and elsewhere, and the air war-both the bomber offensive and the story of those Canadians who flew everything from Canso reconnaissance aircraft in the Indian Ocean to Typhoon fighter bombers with the Second Tactical Air Force in Europe. And he does it through recounting the stories of the men and women who were there and played a significant role in the Allied victory.

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.

Research and analysis revealed the Axis offensive against the United States during World War II failed due to the lack of a campaign plan to guide it. The Axis leadership correctly identified U.S. centers of gravity and had the capability to strike them, yet they failed to unify their effort or allocate adequate resources to the offensive. Finally, they failed to act while the opportunity existed in early 1942. The study of this offensive yields many implications for the United States today. These concern contemporary Anti-Submarine Warfare, Mine Countermeasures, terrorism, industrial sabotage, U.S. military focus on the Caribbean and the assignment of responsibility for the homeland defense mission to a regional CINC.