Frank Carlson Library

Except for the strength of the U-boat fleet at the height of the Battle of the Atlantic, the German Navy, or Kriegsmarine, was never a match for the Royal Navy, even though the latter was overstretched and fighting in the Atlantic, Pacific, the Mediterranean and the Arctic. It was not meant to be that way. Hitler and his naval staff had a vision for a large and well-balanced fleet, including aircraft carriers.PLAN Z was the name given for the massive...

Seapower was a crucial element in the outcome of the Second World War. The U-Boat campaign almost brought Britain to her knees; the Arctic convoys were crucial to keeping Russia in the War; Pearl Harbor brought America into the conflict with massive repercussions; allied naval supremacy made the D-Day landings possible. This book examines in detail the key naval commanders of both sides including five British (Pound, Cunningham, Ramsay, Horton, Somerville)...

Operation BARBAROSSA, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, was a turning point second only to Pearl Harbor. Russia became an ally overnight but a most difficult, dangerous and demanding one. Stalin desperately needed oil, equipment and modern technology but the only practical route was round the North Cape to the ports of Archangel and Murmansk. The dual enemies of the vulnerable merchantmen were the German naval and air forces and the...

Above the Waves is the history of the first century of British Naval aviation, with personal accounts adding color to the achievements both in technology, such as angled flight decks, mirror deck landing systems, helicopter assault and vertical take-off, and in operations, including the sinking of the Konigsberg and the daring attack on the Italian fleet at Taranto, convoy protection, operations with the United States Navy in the Pacific, then, post-war,...

This is a narrative account of the operations of the Fairey Swordfish throughout World War Two. The most famous of these was the attack on the Italian fleet at Taranto, crippling three battleships and damaging several other ships as well as the seaplane base and an oil storage depot. The Swordfish played a prominent part in the Battle of Matapan and in the sinking of the Bismarck. Less happily, Swordfish were used in the unsuccessful and ill-prepared...