Download or read book Master of Seapower written by Thomas B Buell and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2012-09-15 with total page 658 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive biography of the most powerful naval officer in the history of the United States who was the controversial architect of the American victory in the Pacific. Someone once asked Admiral Ernest J. King if it was he who said, ""When they get in trouble they send for the sonsabitches."" He replied that he was not -—but that he would have said it if he had thought of it. Although never accused of having a warm personality, Ernest J. King commanded the respect of everyone familiar with his work. His is one of the great American naval careers, his place in history forever secured by a remarkable contribution to the Allied victory in the Second World War. ""Lord how I need him,"" wrote Navy Secretary Frank Knox on December 23, 1941, the day he summoned King to take control of the Navy at its lowest point, the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. Raised in a stern Calvinist home in Lorain, Ohio, Ernest King grew interested in a naval career after reading an article in a boys' magazine. After graduating from Annapolis fourth in his class (1901), King's early career was ""rather ordinary"" according to biographer Robert W. Love. But in 1909, at the end of a stint as a drillmaster at the Naval Academy, King distinguished himself by writing an influential essay entitled, ""Organization on Board Ship."" King performed well in a number of commands between 1914 and 1923, when he began a three-year stint as commander of the submarine base at New London, Connecticut. In 1926 his career took an important turn: he completed the shortened flight course at Pensacola, and from that point on, he would see aviation as the decisive element in naval warfare. This conviction deepened when he served as assistant bureau chief under Rear Admiral William Moffett, widely considered the father of American naval aviation. King's career received another boost when he ably commanded his first aircraft carrier, the Lexington, in the early 1930s. But as his prospects for advancement increased, so did his reputation as a difficult character. "He was meaner than hell," commented one junior officer, reflecting the general opinion that King was as much despised as he was respected. This didn't seem to bother him, though. Love observed that he "seemed almost to pride himself on the fact that he had earned his rank solely on his merits as a professional naval officer, rather than as a result of the friendship of others." In the spring of 1939, the sixty-year-old King coveted the job of Chief of Naval Operations. But his personality and decided lack of political skill or tact led President Roosevelt to pass him over in favor of Admiral Harold Stark. Seemingly banished to duty on the General Board in Washington, King's career was resurrected by the war that soon started in Europe. When Stark grew dissatisfied with the commander of his Atlantic Squadron, he looked to King, who took over in December, 1940. With his slogan ""do all that we can with what we have,"" King ably managed the undeclared war with Germany's U-boats. Although his command was limited to the Atlantic, it brought him to Washington frequently and he stayed abreast of developments in the Pacific. The morning after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Stark called him to Washington; soon after he was running the Navy -—first as Commander in Chief of the U.S. Fleet, soon adding the title Chief of Naval Operations, making him the first man to combine both jobs. In the early months of 1942, King's strategic brilliance earned him the complete confidence of President Roosevelt. When none of the British or American war planners even dared to think of going on the offensive in the Pacific in 1942-43, King successfully lobbied to do just that. "No fighter ever won his fight by covering up -—merely fending off the other fellow's blows," he wrote. "The winner hits and keeps on hitting even though he has to be able to take some stiff blows in order to keep on hitting." It's easy to see why even those who despised Ernest King were glad he was on their side.

Download or read book Sea Stories written by Admiral William H. McRaven and published by Grand Central Publishing. This book was released on 2019-05-21 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the success of his #1 New York Times bestseller Make Your Bed, which has sold over one million copies, Admiral William H. McRaven is back with amazing stories of bravery and heroism during his career as a Navy SEAL and commander of America's Special Operations Forces. Admiral William H. McRaven is a part of American military history, having been involved in some of the most famous missions in recent memory, including the capture of Saddam Hussein, the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips, and the raid to kill Osama bin Laden. Sea Stories begins in 1963 at a French Officers' Club in France, where Allied officers and their wives gathered to have drinks and tell stories about their adventures during World War II-the place where a young Bill McRaven learned the value of a good story. Sea Stories is an unforgettable look back on one man's incredible life, from childhood days sneaking into high-security military sites to a day job of hunting terrorists and rescuing hostages. Action-packed, humorous, and full of valuable life lessons like those exemplified in McRaven's bestselling Make Your Bed, Sea Stories is a remarkable memoir from one of America's most accomplished leaders.

Download or read book Make Your Bed written by Admiral William H. McRaven and published by Grand Central Publishing. This book was released on 2017-04-04 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on a Navy SEAL's inspiring graduation speech, this #1 New York Times bestseller of powerful life lessons "should be read by every leader in America" (Wall Street Journal). If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. On May 17, 2014, Admiral William H. McRaven addressed the graduating class of the University of Texas at Austin on their Commencement day. Taking inspiration from the university's slogan, "What starts here changes the world," he shared the ten principles he learned during Navy Seal training that helped him overcome challenges not only in his training and long Naval career, but also throughout his life; and he explained how anyone can use these basic lessons to change themselves-and the world-for the better. Admiral McRaven's original speech went viral with over 10 million views. Building on the core tenets laid out in his speech, McRaven now recounts tales from his own life and from those of people he encountered during his military service who dealt with hardship and made tough decisions with determination, compassion, honor, and courage. Told with great humility and optimism, this timeless book provides simple wisdom, practical advice, and words of encouragement that will inspire readers to achieve more, even in life's darkest moments. "Powerful." --USA Today "Full of captivating personal anecdotes from inside the national security vault." --Washington Post "Superb, smart, and succinct." --Forbes

Download or read book Memoir of an Executive Admiral written by Ba Raji and published by Partridge Africa. This book was released on 2014-09-12 with total page 183 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Memoir of an Executive Admiral is an insight into the career of retired Rear Admiral Bodunrin Raji in a mostly military-ruled Nigeria from 1975 to 2011. The story is told over a thirty-five-year period of the authors voluntary service in the Nigerian Navy. The pursuit of professionalism in the Nigerian Navy is relayed as a function of training and deployment, but not necessarily devoid of risks, intrigues, and occasional humour. A career in any chosen profession is fraught with challenges in a democracy where the subjugation of military to civil authority is taken for granted. The challenges are not only accentuated, but many careers were prematurely terminated through compulsory retirement or, in extreme cases, death by execution during the military rule in Nigeria. To successfully pursue and attain the highest professional level and rank in the Nigeria Armed Forces in the period spanned is not a mean achievement. In telling his story, retired Rear Admiral Raji provides answers to curious minds on the level of professionalism in the officer cadre of the Nigerian Armed Forces, inspires youths aspiring to join the officer cadre of navies, encourages serving officers, and advises them on preparations for life after retirement. Memoir of an Executive Admiral is educative and inspiring.

Download or read book Battleship Commander written by Paul L Stillwell and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2021-10-15 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first-ever biography of Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee Jr., who served a key role during World War II in the Pacific. Recognizing the achievements and legacy of one of the war's top combat admirals has been long overdue until now. Battleship Commander explores Lee's life from boyhood in Kentucky through his eventual service as commander of the fast battleships from 1942 to 1945. Paul Stillwell draws on more than 150 first-person accounts from those who knew and served with Lee from boyhood until the time of his death. Said to be down to earth, modest, forgiving, friendly, and with a wry sense of humor, Lee eschewed the media and, to the extent possible, left administrative details to others. Stillwell relates the sequential building of a successful career, illustrating Admiral Lee's focus on operational, tactical, and strategic concerns. During his service in the Navy Department from 1939 to 1942, Lee prepared the U.S. Navy for war at sea, and was involved in inspecting designs for battleships, cruisers, aircraft carriers, and destroyers. He sent observers to Britain to report on Royal Navy operations during the war against Germany and made plans to send an action team to mainland China to observe conditions for possible later Allied landings there. Putting his focus on the need to equip U.S. warships with radar and antiaircraft guns, Lee was one of the few flag officers of his generation who understood the tactical advantage of radar, especially during night battles. In 1942 Willis Lee became commander of the first division of fast battleships to operate in the Pacific. During that service, he commanded Task Force 64, which achieved a tide-turning victory in a night battle near Guadalcanal in November 1942. Lee missed two major opportunities for surface actions against the Japanese. In June 1944, in the Marianas campaign, he declined to engage because his ships were not trained adequately to operate together in surface battles. In October 1944, Admiral William Halsey's bungled decisions denied Lee's ships an opportunity for combat. Continuing his career of service near the end of the war, Lee, in the summer of 1945, directed anti-kamikaze research efforts in Casco Bay, Maine. While Lee's wartime successes and failures make for compelling reading, what is here in this biography is a balanced look at the man and officer.

Download or read book The Second Most Powerful Man in the World written by Phillips Payson O'Brien and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-03-03 with total page 546 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The life of Franklin Roosevelt's most trusted and powerful advisor, Admiral William D. Leahy, Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief “O'Brien's biography at last gives Leahy his due.”—John Lewis Gaddis • “Fascinating… greatly enriches our understanding of Washington wartime power.”—Madeleine Albright • “Beautifully written and thoroughly researched.”—Douglas Brinkley • “Transforms our understanding of America's wartime decision-making.”—Hew Strachan Aside from FDR, no American did more to shape World War II than Admiral William D. Leahy--not Douglas MacArthur, not Dwight Eisenhower, and not even the legendary George Marshall. No man, including Harry Hopkins, was closer to Roosevelt, nor had earned his blind faith, like Leahy. Through the course of the war, constantly at the president's side and advising him on daily decisions, Leahy became the second most powerful man in the world. In a time of titanic personalities, Leahy regularly downplayed his influence, preferring the substance of power to the style. A stern-faced, salty sailor, his U.S. Navy career had begun as a cadet aboard a sailing ship. Four decades later, Admiral Leahy was a trusted friend and advisor to the president and his ambassador to Vichy France until the attack on Pearl Harbor. Needing one person who could help him grapple with the enormous strategic consequences of the war both at home and abroad, Roosevelt made Leahy the first presidential chief of staff--though Leahy's role embodied far more power than the position of today. Leahy's profound power was recognized by figures like Stalin and Churchill, yet historians have largely overlooked his role. In this important biography, historian Phillips Payson O'Brien illuminates the admiral's influence on the most crucial and transformative decisions of WWII and the early Cold War. From the invasions of North Africa, Sicily, and France, to the allocation of resources to fight Japan, O'Brien contends that America's war largely unfolded according to Leahy's vision. Among the author's surprising revelations is that while FDR's health failed, Leahy became almost a de facto president, making decisions while FDR was too ill to work, and that much of his influence carried over to Truman's White House.

Download or read book Guy Griffiths written by Peter Jones and published by Australian Scholarly Publishing. This book was released on 2021-07-02 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In his long career in the Royal Australian Navy, Guy Griffiths participated in its emergence from Depression-era stricture, pre-World War II, to its reinvention in the 1950s and 60s as a capable middle-power force centred on aircraft carriers in the missile age. In this time, he personally experienced the RAN’s darkest days in the face of the Japanese onslaught and its fi nest hour in the Philippines Campaign of World War II, and its close involvements in the Korean War and then the Vietnam War. He witnessed the realities of war in positions of increasing responsibility. Guy Griffiths: The Life & Times of an Australian Admiral is the authorised biography of Rear Admiral Guy Griffiths AO, DSO, DSC, RAN. ‘From country boy to gold-braided admiral, Guy Griffiths has led a richly-textured life of service to the navy and the nation. As a teenage midshipman he survived the disastrous sinking of the battlecruiser HMS Repulse off Malaya in 1941 and went on to fight at sea with distinction in another two wars: Korea and Vietnam. It is an unmatched record of courage, dedication and achievement. This is the enthralling biography of a remarkable sailor and a genuinely great Australian.’—Mike Carlton AM, bestselling author of Flagship & First Victory

Download or read book Lincoln s Tragic Admiral written by Kevin John Weddle and published by University of Virginia Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Weddle reveals that the admiral was the victim of a double irony: although Du Pont championed technological innovation, he outspokenly opposed the use of the new ironclads to attack Charleston. Only when his objections were overridden did his use of these modern vessels bring his career to an end. Weddle exposes this historical misunderstanding, while also pinpointing Du Pont's crucial role in the development of United States naval strategy, his work in modernizing the navy between the Mexican War and the Civil War, and his push for the navy's technological transition from wood to iron.".

Download or read book Admiral Halsey s Story written by William F. Halsey and published by . This book was released on 2023-12-08 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Admiral Halsey's Story, first published in 1947, is the gripping autobiographical account by William F. Halsey (1882-1959), legendary commander of the U.S. Third Fleet during World War II. The book covers Halsey's life and career, with detailed descriptions of his command - and the men and ships in his command - during the war years in the Pacific. This edition includes all 16 maps and 25 pages of photographs found in the original edition, and a complete index.

Download or read book A Life for Hungary written by Nicholas Horthy and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Trailblazer written by Samuel Lee Gravely and published by US Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ' A Navy pioneer, Vice Adm. Samuel Gravely was the first African American to be commissioned a flag officer in the U.S. Navy, the first to command a Navy ship in the twentieth century, and the first to command a U.S. numbered fleet. In this memoir, co-authored by the noted naval historian Paul Stillwell, Gravely describes his life from his boyhood in Richmond, Virginia, through his officer service on board a World War II submarine chaser, to later tours of duty at sea and ashore. Denied housing and even jailed for impersonating an officer, he recounts efforts to overcome both cultural and institutional obstacles posed by racism as he rose through the ranks. In 2009, the Navy named the guided missile destroyer Gravely in his honor.' (Naval Institute Press website)

Download or read book Sailing True North written by Admiral James Stavridis, USN and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-10-13 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From one of the most distinguished admirals of our time and a former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, a meditation on leadership and character refracted through the lives of ten of the most illustrious naval commanders in history In Sailing True North, Admiral Stavridis offers lessons of leadership and character from the lives and careers of history's most significant naval commanders. He also brings a lifetime of reflection to bear on the subjects of his study--naval history, the vocation of the admiral, and global geopolitics. Above all, this is a book that will help you navigate your own life's voyage: the voyage of leadership of course, but more important, the voyage of character. Sailing True North helps us find the right course to chart. Simply as epic lives, the tales of these ten admirals offer up a collection of the greatest imaginable sea stories. Moreover, spanning 2,500 years from ancient Greece to the twenty-first century, Sailing True North is a book that offers a history of the world through the prism of our greatest naval leaders. None of the admirals in this volume were perfect, and some were deeply flawed. But from Themistocles, Drake, and Nelson to Nimitz, Rickover, and Hopper, important themes emerge, not least that serving your reputation is a poor substitute for serving your character; and that taking time to read and reflect is not a luxury, it's a necessity. By putting us on personal terms with historic leaders in the maritime sphere he knows so well, James Stavridis gives us a compass that can help us navigate the story of our own lives, wherever that voyage takes us.

Download or read book My Life written by Erich Raeder and published by Arno Press. This book was released on 1960 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The leader of the German naval forces until 1943 recounts his life, which coincided with the major developments of German naval power. He comments on the political and internationally significant events of the years after the Versailles Treaty, which he holds responsible for the rise of Nazism, and presents character sketches and impressions of some of the leading German political figures, including the Kaiser, Hitler, and Goring. He also comments on the Nurnberg trials of war criminals. With a foreward by H. Kent Hewitt, Admiral, U.S. Navy (Retired).

Download or read book The Life of David Glasgow Farragut First Admiral of the United States Navy written by Loyall Farragut and published by . This book was released on 1879 with total page 630 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Destroyer Captain written by James Stavridis and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2014-09-15 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This memoir of James Stavridis' two years in command of the destroyer USS Barry reveals the human side of what it is like to be in charge of a warship—for the first time and in the midst of international crisis. From Haiti to the Balkans to the Arabian GulfBarry was involved in operations throughout the world during his 1993–1995 tour. Drawing on daily journals he kept for the entire period, the author reveals the complex nature of those deployments in a "real time" context and describes life on board the Barry and liberty ashore for sailors and officers alike. With all the joy, doubt, self-examination, hope, and fear of a first command, he offers an honest examination of his experience from the bridge to help readers grasp the true nature of command at sea. The window he provides into the personal lives of the crew illuminates not only their hard work in a ship that spent more than 70 percent of its time underway, but also the sacrifices of their families ashore. Stavridis credits his able crew for the many awards the Barry won while he was captain, including the Battenberg Cup for top ship in the Atlantic Fleet. Naval aficionados who like seagoing fiction will be attracted to the book, as will those fascinated by life at sea. Officers from all the services, especially surface warfare naval officers aspiring to command, will find these lessons of a first command by one of the Navy's most respected admirals both entertaining and instructive.

Download or read book Make Your Bed with Skipper the Seal written by Admiral William H. McRaven and published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. This book was released on 2021-11-16 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A seal becomes a Navy SEAL in this children's adaptation of the #1 New York Times bestselling Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven. As Skipper the seal embarks on Navy SEAL training, he and his hardworking friends learn much more than how to pass a swimming test or how to dive off a ship. To be a great SEAL, you also have to take risks, deal with failure, and persevere through tough times—just as you do in life. (And always remember to make your bed!) In this entertaining children's adaptation of his #1 New York Times bestseller, Admiral William H. McRaven shares life lessons from Navy SEAL training and encourages young readers to become their best selves.

Download or read book The Quiet Warrior written by Thomas B Buell and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2009-11-01 with total page 562 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Regarded as the standard biography of World War II naval hero Adm. Raymond A. Spruance, this work is now available in trade paperback for the first time. Spruance, victor of the battles of Midway and the Philippine Sea and commander of the Fifth Fleet in the invasions of the Gilberts, the Marshalls, the Marianas, and Okinawa, is one of the towering figures in American naval history. Yet his reserved, cerebral personality did not make “good copy” for correspondents, and until the publication of The Quiet Warrior he remained an elusive figure. Thomas Buell has succeeded in evoking the nature of the man as well as recording the achievements of the admiral in this brilliant biography, which won the Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Literary Achievement the year of its publication.