Military History

Reviewed by James P. Rife, M.A. Amateur historian, ship modeler, and rocket scientist Mark Lardas packs much into Osprey’s latest addition to its excellent ‘Campaign Series’ of reference books, The Glorious First of June 1794. This was the British name for the first major fleet action against the French Navy since the Battle of the Saintes in April 1782. In only ninety-six pages, Lardas concisely recounts the events of that campaign, the key commanders on both sides, the three-day battle itself, and its aftermath, while placing everything within the larger context of the French Revolution. This is no small feat considering the complexity of the overall subject matter,…

By J. Michael Wenger, Robert J. Cressman, and John F. Di Virgilio, Naval Institute Press (2022) Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. This is the fourth volume in the Pearl Harbor Tactical Series published by the Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD. The previous three volumes are No One Avoided Danger: NAS Kaneohe Bay and the Japanese Attack of 7 December 1941 (2015); This is No Drill: The History of NAS Pearl Harbor and the Japanese Attacks of 7 December 1941 (2018); and They’re Killing My Boys: The History of Hickam Field and the Attacks of 7 December 1941 (2019) previously reviewed by me in 2020: www.navyhistory.org/2020/12/pearl-harbor-tactical-studies-series…

Sea Harrier pilot with three "kills" in the Falklands.

This month, we’re joined by historians Paul Stillwell, and Trent Hone to discuss the Battle of Surigao Strait. The post Blog first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

John H. Maurer and Erik Goldstein (editors), Naval Institute Press, (2022). Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. The editors are well-published senior scholars, well-equipped to undertake the organization and editing of this volume which focuses on the interwar years of two global conflicts. Professor John H. Maurer is the Alfred Thayer Mahan Professor of Sea Power and Grand Strategy and served as the Chair of the Strategy and Policy Department at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. Erik Goldstein serves as Professor of International Relations and History Boston University; his research interests include diplomacy, formulation of national diplomatic s…

By Ken W. Sayers, McFarland Publishing (2021). Reviewed by Jeff Schultz Ken Sayers’s U.S. Navy Patrol Vessels: A History and Directory from World War I to Today provides a thorough look at the multitude of patrol vessels from the mid-19th century USS Michigan to the modern Cyclone-class which have served the United States Navy in varying capacities since World War I across many oceans and waterways. Sayers, a former USN officer who served on a Pacific Fleet destroyer, at the Pentagon, and later worked for IBM, assembled this 550-page tribute to the lesser US Navy surface combatants from the World Wars, into the Cold War conflicts and even the modern day. Sayer…

An article in the Russian Wikipedia with not equivalence on other languages: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A4%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%82_(%D0%B7%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9_%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9_%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%BF%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81)#.D0.A0.D0.B0.D0.BA.D0.B5.D1.82.D0.B0_9.D0.9C96 In short: SA-N-6a Grumble (1984),S-300F Fort (export Rif), missile 5V55RM,land equivalent S-300P 5V55R, speed 2597, range 40,5/2,7. SA-N-6b Grumble (1990), S-300FM Fort-M (export Rif-M), missile 48N6,land equivalent S-300PMU-1 48N6, speed 3888, range 81/2,7 (but effective maximum range limited to 93 Km/50,2 nm because guidance issues). …

By Matthew J Garretson, Friends of Naval Aviation, Pensacola, FL (2021). Reviewed by Ens. Sydney M. Willis, USN Blue Angels Decades Vol: 1 is a comprehensive history of the Blue Angels, the Navy’s Flight Demonstration Squadron, through the view of primary documents in their archives. The book transforms a collection of documents into a coherent timeline of the Blue Angels’ history. Mathew Garretson, the author, lets the documents speak for themselves and only adds captions to each providing more context or stories that connect them to make a cohesive timeline. Garretson is a naval historian who focuses primarily on aviation and is the print historian for the Bl…

Persuant to the low altitude bombing discussion Brad and I have had down in the H4 folder regarding RN/RAF low level bombing techniques and tactics, I stumbled across this RAF History Site: here The Day By Day (by day, by day ) and Background tabs have some interesting information.

Captain Rinn following his talk about Operation Ernest Will and the Samuel B. Roberts to Dr. Winkler’s Middle East Operation course at the USNA in 2019. The Naval Historical Foundation mourns the loss of Capt. Paul X. Rinn, an individual who embraced history as Surface Warfare Officer, a factor that likely contributed to the survival of his ship – the guided missile frigate Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58) – when she hit an Iranian-laid mine on April 14, 1988 in the Persian Gulf. Captain Rinn’s embracing the heritage of the previous two ships to carry the Samuel B. Roberts name was eloquently told in Bradley ***ton’s No Higher Honor: Saving the USS Samuel B. Roberts in the P…

This is from the same RAF site regarding the 1991 Gulf War. The Battles tab has some interesting graphics and descriptions of movements and engagements. here

After the Summer, I continue researching about 1950s fighting planes. Today I've finded a curious information about the forward deployment of 4xCF-100 Canuck of the Belgian Air Force, with the support of 2xC-119 Flying Boxcar, to the Belgian Congo, after the Leopoldville Riots and a year before his independence and the subsequent Katanga Secession War. It was named Operation Simba. As force deployment was small (and the CF-100 was a all-weather interceptor, similar to the F-89 Scorpion, without specific air-to-ground weapons), but was impressive because his long range and the small size and facilities of the Belgian Air Force (We can remember also other daring operations…

One Soviet Defector Shoved Japan Into the Superpower Struggle (War is Boring)

Operation Source: The British Midget Submarine Attack on the Tirpitz (Defense Media Network)

Great National Interest article by Andrew Davies on ASW warfare, the challenging sound environment of the seas last years, and very interesting links: http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/why-killing-enemy-submarines-not-easy-it-use-be-21576 Main links: https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Caution.png https://www.japcc.org/portfolio/alliance-airborne-anti-submarine-warfare/ https://www.japcc.org/wp-content/uploads/JAPCC_ASW_web.pdf https://www.japcc.org/wp-content/uploads/A-Forecast-for-Maritime-Air-ASW-in-the-Future-Operational-Environment.pdf https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/simulating-anti-submarine-warfare/

Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. Developing the Naval Mind is an important, thoughtful volume written by two Naval Academy history professors is designed for officers of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps but also serves Sailors and Marines of all ranks as a compendium on developing professionalism and skills needed to rise through the ranks. Likewise, it can also serve the officers and enlisted men of our other sea services, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine, but also is valuable to officers and enlisted men of the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, as well as the U.S. Space Force. Moreover, it can serve as a significant source for the members of other nations’ land, sea…

Reviewed by CAPT Richard Dick, USN (RET) Dr. Justus Doenecke has studied intensely the events and personalities involved in the eventual American intervention in World Wars I and II, authoring six books on these topics. The author’s depth of research and knowledge of secondary sources covering the early 20th century in the U.S. greatly strengthens this book, More Precious Than Peace. In particular, he builds on his Nothing Less Than War, a history of the events leading up to America’s declaration of war in April 1917. More Precious Than Peace examines the American experience in World War I but from a fairly restricted point of view. The author reviews American gro…

Article about the Project 1941 Titan (NATO Kapusta) class SSV-33 Ural Russia’s Giant Secret Spy Ship Killed Rats, Ruined Careers and Almost Got Blown Up TWICE (War is Boring blog)

I was reading erroneously the Google News of Philipinnes ..... http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/metro-ma...oved-us-embassy

Found casually reading about Chinese warships in the Chinese Wikipedia (article in Chinese, but the on-line translator are magic. Set them in the option "Traditional Chinese"): http://news.qq.com/a/20111222/000468_1.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_South_Reef_Skirmish