Download or read book The British Admirals of the Fleet 1734 1995 written by T. A. Heathcote and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2002-01-22 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A companion volume to the same author's "The British Field Marshals 1736–1997", this book outlines the lives of the 115 officers who held the rank of Admiral of the Fleet in the Royal Navy from 1734, when it took its modern form, to 1995, when the last one was appointed. Each entry gives details of the dates of the birth and death of its subjects, their careers ashore and afloat, their family backgrounds, and the ships, campaigns and combats in which they served. Each is placed clearly in its domestic or international political context. The actions recorded include major fleet battles under sail or steam, single-ship duels, encounters with pirates on the Spanish Main and up the rivers of Borneo, the suppression of the Slave Trade (for which the Navy receives little gratitude), landing parties to deal with local dictators and revolutionaries, and the services of naval brigades in China, Egypt and South Africa.
Download or read book Sir John Fisher s Naval Revolution written by Nicholas A. Lambert and published by Univ of South Carolina Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume explores the intrigue and negotiations between the Admiralty and domestic politicians and social reformers before World War I. It also explains how Britain's naval leaders responded to non-military, cultural challenges under the direction of Adimiral Sir John Fisher.
Download or read book The British Battleship 1906 1946 written by Norman Friedman and published by Seaforth Publishing. This book was released on 2015-09-30 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The British battleship is one of the most intensely studied of all naval topics, but it is also among the most popular. Norman Friedman is one of the most highly regarded of all naval writers, with an avid following for his work. Therefore, a new book on British battleships by Friedman is a major event, and has been eagerly awaited ever since knowledge of the project began to circulate among enthusiasts.Friedman has the ability to bring new ideas to even the most over-worked subjects, based on extensive original research and a talent for explaining technology in the wider context of politics, economics and strategy. His latest book covers the development of Royal Navy capital ships, including battlecruisers, from the pre-history of the revolutionary Dreadnought of 1906 to the last of the line, HMS Vanguard in 1946. Repleat with original insights, the story that emerges will enlighten and surprise even the most knowledgeable.The attraction of the book is enhanced by sets of specially commissioned plans of the important classes by John Roberts and A D Baker III, both renowned experts in their own right, plus a colour section featuring the original Admiralty draughts, including a spectacular double gatefold.For many with an interest in warships, this will be the book of the year.
Download or read book Churchill and Fisher written by Barry Gough and published by James Lorimer & Company. This book was released on 2017-10-06 with total page 658 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A vivid study of the politics and stress of high command, this book describes the decisive roles of young Winston Churchill as political head of the Admiralty during the First World War. Churchill was locked together in a perilous destiny with the ageing British Admiral 'Jacky' Fisher, the professional master of the British Navy and the creator of the enormous battleships known as Dreadnoughts. Upon these 'Titans at the Admiralty' rested British command of the sea at the moment of its supreme test — the challenge presented by the Kaiser's navy under the dangerous Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz. Churchill and Fisher had vision, genius, and energy, but the war unfolded in unexpected ways. There were no Trafalgars, no Nelsons. Press and Parliament became battlegrounds for a public expecting decisive victory at sea. An ill-fated Dardanelles adventure, 'by ships alone' as Churchill determined, on top of the Zeppelin raids on Britain brought about Fisher's departure from the Admiralty, in turn bringing down Churchill. They spent the balance of the war in the virtual wilderness. This dual biography, based on fresh and thorough appraisal of the Churchill and Fisher papers, is a story for any military history buff. It is about Churchill's and Fisher's war — how each fought it, how they waged it together, and how they fought against each other, face to face or behind the scenes. It reveals a strange and unique pairing of sea lords who found themselves facing Armageddon and seeking to maintain the primacy of the Royal Navy, the guardian of trade, the succour of the British peoples, and the shield of Empire.
Download or read book British Battlecruisers 1905 1920 written by John Roberts and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2016-10-30 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A valuable stand-alone text . . . Contains large amounts of data on all of the vessels officially classified as battlecruisers in the Royal Navy.” —International Journal of Maritime History The brainchild of Admiral Sir John Fisher, battlecruisers combined heavy guns and high speed in the largest hulls of their era. Conceived as super-cruisers to hunt down and destroy commerce raiders, their size and gun-power led to their inclusion in the battlefleet as a fast squadron of capital ships. This book traces in detail the development of Fisher’s original idea into first battlecruiser Invincible of 1908, through to the Splendid Cats of the Lion class, and culminating in HMS Hood in 1920, the largest warship in the world for the next twenty years. The origins of the unusual light battlecruisers of the Courageous type are also covered. “The author is still the foremost authority on battleships from Dreadnought and, although now retired, he continues to research the subject. This new edition of the definitive book on battlecruisers has been updated with the latest findings from his research. An outstanding review of the subject.” —Firetrench “It is good to see this book back in print with this improved edition.” —Warship, “Naval Books of the Year”
Download or read book War and the State RLE The First World War written by Kathleen Burk and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-04-24 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume gives students and researchers an insight into British central government in 1914, how and why it altered during the war years and what permanent changes remained when the war was over. The war saw the scope of governmental intervention widened in an unprecedented manner. The contributors to this book analyse the reasons for this expansion and describe how the changes affected the government machine and the lives of the citizens. They consider why some innovations did not survive the coming of peace while others permanently transformed the duties and procedures of government.
Download or read book Pax Britannica written by B. Gough and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-07-28 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book by world-expert Barry Gough examines the period of Pax Britannica , in the century before World War I. Following events of those 100 years, the book follows how the British failed to maintain their global hegemony of sea power in the face of continental challenges.
Download or read book From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow written by Arthur J Marder and published by Seaforth Publishing. This book was released on 2014-06-13 with total page 473 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The five volumes that constitute Arthur Marder's From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow represented arguably the finest contribution to the literature of naval history since Alfred Mahan. A J P Taylor wrote that 'his naval history has a unique fascination. To unrivalled mastery of sources he adds a gift of simple narrative . . . He is beyond praise, as he is beyond cavil.' The five volumes were subtitled The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 19041919 and they are still, despite recent major contributions from Robert Massie and Andrew Gordan, regarded by many as the definitive history of naval events leading up to and including the Great War. This last volume describes the Royal Navy's final triumph. The convoy system brought rewards and the US Navy arrived in European waters. The striking 1918 raid on Zeebrugge was a big morale booster, and in November 1918 Beatty received the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet. In June the following year the Germand scuttled their fleet at Scapa Flow and so came to an end a major era in naval history. A new introduction by Barry Gough, the distinguished Canadian maritime and naval historian, assesses the importance of Marder's work and anchors it firmly amongst the great naval narrative histories of this era. This new paperback edition will bring a truly great work to a new generation of historians and general readers.
Download or read book Defending Albion written by K. W. Mitchinson and published by Springer. This book was released on 2005-02-07 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Defending Albion is the first published study of Britain's response to the threat of invasion from across the North Sea in the first two decades of the Twentieth Century. It examines the emergency schemes designed to confront an enemy landing and the problems associated with raising and maintaining the often derided Territorial Force. It also explores the long-neglected military and political difficulties posed by the spontaneous and largely unwanted appearance of the 'Dad's Army' of the Great War, the Volunteer Force.
Download or read book Unsinkable written by Richard Freeman and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2013-10-01 with total page 410 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ‘Unsinkable’ is the story of a man unjustly vilified: Churchill in the First World. His enemies – the Tory party – censured him for Antwerp, the Dardanelles and Gallipoli. He could do no right and was regarded as a dangerous maniac. But the true story is quite the opposite. This book tells how, as a brilliant First Sea Lord, Churchill was ousted by his enemies, yet clawed his way back to power against all the odds. As the leading critic of senselessly sending men to march towards machine guns his calls for ‘machines not men’ went unheeded. After a spell in the trenches he returned to London to clear his name over the Dardanelles. Then he relentless fought his way back to power through his brilliant, incisive criticism of the land war. The unsinkable politician finally became Munitions Minster in 1917, where he pushed output to unimagined levels. His weapons delivered the victory that had eluded others for the previous three years.
Download or read book On Course to Desert Storm written by Michael A. Palmer and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on 2011-01-20 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contributions to Naval History No. 5.. Traces the history of the United States Navy and the Persian Gulf from 1800 to the end of the Iran-Iraq War in 1988.
Download or read book Churchill as Home Secretary written by Charles Stephenson and published by Pen and Sword History. This book was released on 2023-02-22 with total page 454 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There can be few statesmen whose lives and careers have received as much investigation and literary attention as Winston Churchill. Relatively little however has appeared which deals specifically or holistically with his first senior ministerial role; that of Secretary of State for the Home Office. This may be due to the fact that, of the three Great Offices of State which he was to occupy over the course of his long political life, his tenure as Home Secretary was the briefest. The Liberal Government, of which he was a senior figure, had been elected in 1906 to put in place social and political reform. Though Churchill was at the forefront of these matters, his responsibility for domestic affairs led to him facing other, major, challenges departmentally; this was a time of substantial commotion on the social front, with widespread industrial and civil strife. Even given that ‘Home Secretaries never do have an easy time’, his period in office was thus marked by a huge degree of political and social turbulence. The terms ‘Tonypandy’ and ‘Peter the Painter’ perhaps spring most readily to mind. Rather less known is his involvement in one of the burning issues of the time, female suffrage, and his portrayal as ‘the prisoners’ friend’ in terms of penal reform. Aged 33 on appointment, and the youngest Home Secretary since 1830, he became empowered to wield the considerable executive authority inherent in the role of one of His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, and he certainly did not shrink from doing so. There were of course commensurate responsibilities, and how he shouldered them is worth examination.
Download or read book A Guide to the Sources of British Military History written by Robin HIgham and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-10-05 with total page 688 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Designed to fill an overlooked gap, this book, originally published in 1972, provides a single unified introduction to bibliographical sources of British military history. Moreover it includes guidance in a number of fields in which no similar source is available at all, giving information on how to obtain acess to special collections and private archives, and links military history, especially during peacetime, with the development of science and technology.
Download or read book Educating the Royal Navy written by Harry W. Dickinson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-01-25 with total page 506 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume provides the first comprehensive history of education and training for officers of the Royal Navy in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It covers the development of educational provision, from the first 1702 Order in Council appointing schoolmasters to serve in operational warships, to the laying of the foundation stone of the pre
Download or read book Defending the Empire written by Rhodri Williams and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 1991-01-01 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Deference issues were of central importance in British politics in the years before the first World War, as naval and military policy absorbed the attention of politicians of both parties. The growing menace to Briatin of the German Navy focused public attention on questions of naval strength and home defense. However, the heavy cost of overhauling the British Empire’s stretched defenses clashed with the domestic political priorities of successive governments. This book is the first scholarly work to examine the vigorous political debates over defense policy in this era from the perspective of the Conservative party, who were in office from 1899 to 1905 and in opposition from 1905 to 1914. It focuses in particular on the ideas and actions of Arthur James Balfour, leader of the Conservative party from 1902 to 1911 Rhodri Williams assesses how effective the Conservative leadership was in realizing its policy objectives. By explaining the Conservatives’ approach to contemporary controversies over conscription and the construction of Dreadnoughts, he highlights the complexity o the problems facing British policymakers in the period after the Boer War when, against a bleak financial background, they sought to rationalize and strengthen the Empire’s defenses. The book is important for many reasons. It significantly advances our understanding of the nature of Conservative politics in the early twentieth century. It sheds fresh light on one of the major areas of party political contention in the Edwardian era. It gives us interesting information on Balfour and on a key period of his distinguished political career. And it offers a new perspective on the process by which British defense policy ceased to revolve around the "Great Game” with Russia in Central Asia and came increasingly to turn on Anglo-German naval rivalry in the North Sea.
Download or read book Preparing for Blockade 1885 1914 written by Stephen Cobb and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-08 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today, the First World War is remembered chiefly for the carnage of the Western Front, but at the time the Royal Navy's blockade of Germany was a more frequent source of debate. For, even at a time of war, there were influential voices in Britain who baulked at a concept of economic warfare that hindered the free passage of goods on the high seas, and brought German society to the brink of famine. To further our understanding of these issues, this book looks at the background to the blockade, and the effects of its implementation in 1914. It argues that there was a widely shared, but largely unwritten, strategic culture within British naval circles which accepted that in a war with a major maritime power the British response would be to attack enemy trade. This is demonstrated by the fact that from at least the late 1880s the Royal Navy planned for the use of armed merchantmen to enforce an economic blockade of an enemy. This it did by entering into detailed arrangements with major British shipping companies for the design and subsidy of liners with the potential for use as merchant cruisers, and stockpiling their prospective armament. In line with the contemporary, Corbettian, view that seapower depends upon free communications, the book concludes by asserting that the primary role of the Grand Fleet in the First World War was to guarantee the ability of the merchant cruisers on the Northern Patrol to interdict German seaborne trade, rather than to engage in large set-piece battles.
Download or read book Strategy and War Planning in the British Navy 1887 1918 written by Shawn T. Grimes and published by Boydell Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Overturns existing thinking to show that the Royal Navy engaged professionally in war planning in the years before the First World War.
