Download or read book 806 Naval Air Squadron written by Brian Cull and published by Fonthill Media. This book was released on 2019-09-08 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 806 Squadron was formed in early 1940 and was equipped with Skuas and Rocs, both outdated as fighters and dive-bombers, the latter hampered by a gunner's turret, and most unsuited for modern warfare. However, 806 was fortunate to have at its head the volatile but skilful and aggressive Lt-Cdr Charles Evans, a 30-year-old born-leader with ten years experience flying with both the RAF and RN. With the aid of his equally experienced Senior Observer, Lt Desmond Vincent-Jones, the young fledgling pilots, mainly straight from training school, were soon receiving expert instruction. Having survived early ops over Norway and Dunkirk, 806 was selected to fly the new fleet-fighter, the underrated Fulmar, with which it went to war in the Mediterranean aboard the aircraft carrier Illustrious and won its spurs. The young pilots, led by the CO, wreaked havoc amongst the Italian navy's spotter seaplanes and bombers. This is their story.
Download or read book Naval Aviation News written by and published by . This book was released on 1955 with total page 506 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons written by Roy A. Grossnick and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 588 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Taranto written by David Hobbs and published by Seaforth Publishing. This book was released on 2020-11-30 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “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
Download or read book Dunkirk and the Little Ships written by Philip Weir and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-10-29 with total page 113 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During 1940 the German army swept with devastating speed across the Low Countries and into northern France and drove Allied forces back into a small pocket around Dunkirk. Without a swift withdrawal across the English Channel, the latter faced certain death or capture. The evacuation plan – Operation Dynamo – initially calculated that 45,000 men might be rescued, but between 26 May and 4 June 338,226 men were in fact brought back to England. Naval historian Philip Weir shows how this was made possible by a vast armada of disparate vessels including destroyers, minesweepers, fishing vessels and, most famously of all, the privately owned 'Little Ships'. He explores the vessels' various roles within the evacuation, and their subsequent fates, including preservation and participation in commemorative return runs to the port, which now take place every five years.
Download or read book U S Naval Air Reserve written by Peter B. Mersky and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons The history of VA VAH VAK VAL VAP and VFA squadrons written by Roy A. Grossnick and published by Naval Historical Center. This book was released on 1995 with total page 586 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Hawker Hunter written by Philip Birtles and published by Fonthill Media. This book was released on 2023-09-17 with total page 443 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Hawker Hunter was Britain's first swept-wing jet fighter capable of exceeding the speed of sound. It was a simple, rugged design that was easy to maintain in service. Once the limited initial range was improved, it became a versatile combat aircraft as a day fighter, ground-attack fighter, and fighter reconnaissance platform. In addition to worldwide service with the RAF, the Hunter was an export success, becoming a standard fighter with NATO and air forces, in the Middle East, India, Asia, Africa, and South America. Its modular construction made it easy to build, and it was ideal for refurbishing and updating earlier models for sale to overseas customers. Hunters are still active for contract work as low-cost platforms for aggressor training and systems development. This volume documents the jet fighter's extensive and fascinating history.
Download or read book Air Battle of Malta written by Anthony Rogers and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2017-04-30 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the Second World War, Malta was besieged for nearly two and a half years, during which time a decisive air war was waged between Britain, Italy and Germany.This is part of that story, from the early days in June 1940, when only a few Gladiator biplanes were available to combat Italian bombers and fighters, to the intervention of the Luftwaffe and the tenuous defense by outclassed Hurricanes, culminating in the desperate months of fighting following the arrival on Malta of the Spitfire in March 1942.What became of the many aircraft destroyed over the Maltese Islands, and what was the fate of their pilots and crews?More than a thousand aircraft were lost. Many crashed into the Mediterranean; others came down on Malta and the neighboring island of Gozo. This book focuses on the latter some 200 British, Italian and German machines, and the fate of their pilots and crews. It reveals where those airplanes fell, thus providing a record that will continue to be valued by future generations.This comprehensive volume documents all known aircraft crash sites in and around the Maltese Islands and provides the circumstances of each loss are related in detail with accounts from both sides.In Germany especially there are many still unaware of the fate of family members who never returned after the Second World War. This book reveals what happened to some who even today are still officially listed as missing.
Download or read book The British Carrier Strike Fleet written by David Hobbs and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2015-10-15 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a follow-up to the highly regarded British Pacific Fleet, David Hobbs looks at the post-World War II fortunes of the most powerful fleet in the Royal NavyÑits decline in the face of diminishing resources, its final fall at the hands of ignorant politicians, and its recent resurrection in the form of the Queen Elizabeth class carriers, the largest ships ever built for the Royal Navy. Despite prophecies that nuclear weapons would make conventional forces obsolete, British carrier-borne aircraft were almost continuously employed. The Royal Navy faced new challenges in places like Korea, Egypt, and the Persian Gulf. During these trials the Royal Navy invented techniques and devices crucial to modern carrier operations, pioneering novel forms of warfare tactics for countering insurgency and terrorism. This book combines narratives of poorly understood operations with clear analysis of their strategic and political background. With beautiful illustrations and original research, British Carrier Strike Fleet tells an important but largely untold story of renewed significance as Britain once again embraces carrier operation.
Download or read book Naval Air Station Atlantic City written by Richard V. Porcelli and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2012 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Few would guess Atlantic City has a rich aviation history, being instrumental in many technical advances and playing a key role in the defense of the nation. The wartime role of Naval Air Station Atlantic City, commissioned in 1943, was training naval fighter pilots as well as developing technology and procedures for ground controlled interception of enemy aircraft. After the war, Atlantic City was the site of testing new Navy aircraft as well as the development of all-weather, night-fighting, and attack capabilities. After the Navy left in 1958, the airfield became home to the Federal Aviation Administration's premier research center, a New Jersey Air National Guard jet fighter base, a US Coast Guard air station, and Atlantic City International Airport.
Download or read book Hurricane written by John Dibbs and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-05-18 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2017 marks the 80th anniversary of the remarkable Hawker Hurricane formally entering service. The RAF's first monoplane fighter, it dragged the Air Force into a position where it could defend Britain in her 'hour of need'. The true workhorse of the RAF, the Hurricane came into its own in the hot summer months of 1940 valiantly defending the skies above Britain. Outnumbering Spitfires three to one, the Hurricane also downed far more enemy aircraft. Without the obvious elegance of the Me 109 or the Spitfire, the Hurricane was nonetheless beloved by its pilots for its ability to simultaneously take a battering and inflict serious damage from its remarkably stable gun platform. This stunning new book reveals the Hurricane in all its glory – from fascinating first-hand accounts from the men who flew her to the truly breathtaking images from John Dibbs of the Hurricanes still in flight today. This lavish, fully illustrated edition is a must-have for all fans of aviation history.
Download or read book The Wrens of World War II written by Peter Hore and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-09-29 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The World War II codebreaking station at Bletchley is well known and its activities documented in detail. Its decryption capabilities were vital to the war effort, significantly aiding Allied victory. But where did the messages being deciphered come from in the first place? This is the extraordinary untold story of the Y service, a secret even more closely guarded than Bletchley Park. The Y service was the code for the chain of wireless intercept stations around Britain and all over the world. Hundreds of wireless operators, many of them who were civilians, listened to German, Italian and Japanese radio networks and meticulously logged everything they heard. Some messages were then used tactically but most were sent on to Station X – Bletchley Park – where they were deciphered, translated and consolidated to build a comprehensive overview of the enemy’s movements and intentions. Peter Hore delves into the fascinating history of the Y service, with particular reference to the girls of the Women’s Royal Naval Service: Wrens who escaped from Singapore to Colombo as the war raged, only to be torpedoed in the Atlantic on their way back to Britain; the woman who had a devastatingly true premonition that disaster would strike on her way to Gibraltar; the Australian who went from being captain of the English Women’s Cricket team to a WWII Wren to the head of Abbotleigh girls school in Sydney; how the Y service helped to hunt the German battleship Bismarck in the North Atlantic, and how it helped to torpedo a Japanese cruiser in the Indian Ocean. Together, these incredible stories build a picture of World War II as it has never been viewed before.
Download or read book 10 Greatest Ships of the Royal Navy written by John Ballard and published by Amberley Publishing Limited. This book was released on 2015-08-15 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this readable and informative book, John Ballard tells the story of ten of the most significant ships in the Royal Navy.
Download or read book Hawker Hurricane written by Martin Derry and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2014-12-01 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Sidney Camm's masterpiece, the Hawker Hurricane, entered RAF service in late 1937 it quickly became one of the most important aircraft in Britain's military arsenal, especially in the first three years of the Second World War. This title covers the history of this iconic design, from the prototype and the initial production variants' entry in to RAF service, through its development and use, first as a day fighter, and then night fighter, intruder, fighter-bomber, catapult-launched and then carrier-based fighter, and eventually dedicated ground attack machine. ??The Hurricane served in every wartime theatre, from Norway and France, the Battle of Britain, the defence of Malta, to the campaigns in the Western Desert and the Mediterranean, on the Russian Front and in the Far East where it saw service until the end of hostilities.??Split into three primary sections, this volume offers a concise yet informative history of the Hurricane's development, operational career and design improvements, including many contemporary photographs with detailed captions; a 16-page colour illustration section featuring 48 separate aircraft (in profiles and 2-views); and finally a section prepared by that well-known and established doyen of model makers, Tony O'Toole, listing and illustrating the plastic model kits produced of the Hurricane in all scales. ??As with the other books in the Flight Craft series, whilst published primarily with the scale aircraft modeler in mind, it is hoped that those readers who might perhaps describe themselves as 'occasional' modelers Ð if indeed they model at all Ð may also find that this colourful and informative work offers something to provoke their interests too.
Download or read book The Air War at Sea in the Second World War written by Martin W Bowman and published by Pen and Sword Aviation. This book was released on 2023-06-30 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Martin Bowman’s considerable experience as a military historian has spanned over forty years, during which time he has spent hundreds of hours interviewing and corresponding with numerous men and women and their relatives, in Britain, America and beyond, resulting in a wealth of material on the war at sea from World War One to the Falklands and the wars on terror. All these narratives have been woven into a highly readable and emotional outpouring of life and death in action in all his titles, as here, in World War Two, where the men of the Fleet Air Arm and the US Navy fighter (operating bomber and torpedo carrying aircraft) describe the compelling, gripping and thought-provoking narrative of the air war in the freezing Atlantic wastes to the waters of the mighty Pacific.
Download or read book Fighting Brits written by Jim Keys and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2013-11 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of Britain's fighting men from Bosworth Field to Afghanistan. Here is the blow by blow account of major battles from Trafalgar, Badajoz, Quebec and Waterloo and on to two world wars, Korea, the Falklands and Afghanistan
