Tag Archives: World War II

BOOK REVIEW – Valor and Courage: The Story of the USS Block Island Escort Carriers in World War II

Benjamin Hruska, Valor and Courage: The Story of the USS Block Island Escort Carriers in World War II. Tuscaloosa: University Alabama Press, 2021. 288 pp. Review by Lt Col Nicholas Smith Senior Instructor, United States Air Force Academy “For the … Continue reading

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BOOK REVIEW – Lethal Tides: Mary Sears and the Marine Scientists Who Helped Win World War II

Catherine Musemeche, Lethal Tides: Mary Sears and the Marine Scientists Who Helped Win World War II. New York: Harper Collins, 2022. 394 pp. Review by Dr. Gary Weir, PhD Editor Emeritus, International Journal of Naval History On Mary Sears’ eightieth … Continue reading

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U.S. Asiatic Fleet Submarines 1941-42: An Evaluation of Senior Leadership

James P. Ransom III Independent Historian There exists a misperception of submarines as self-sufficient hunters, prowling the seas and conducting their operations with little oversight, using only the cunning of their commanding officers and resourcefulness of their crews to perform … Continue reading

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The First Class at RAF No. 31 Radio School: August to September, 1941

Contents: In the Wilds of Ontario BCATP and the Aerodrome of Democracy A Desperate Measure No. 31 Radio School Launches Drinking from the Radar Fire Hose Life at at the School After the First Class’ Graduation Epilogue Bibliography Paul Renard … Continue reading

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BOOK REVIEW – Storm Over Leyte: The Philippine Invasion and the Destruction of the Japanese Navy

John Prados, Storm Over Leyte: The Philippine Invasion and the Destruction of the Japanese Navy. New York: NAL Caliber, 2016. 400 pp. Review By Lt. Col. Courtney Short USA, PhD Department of History, United States Air Force Academy   In … Continue reading

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The Treatment of Survivors and Prisoners of War, at Sea and Ashore

Contents: Background Sinking and Capture USNOB Argentia Boston “Fiery Furnace” at Fort Hunt Reunion Dr. Philip K Lundeberg Curator Emeritus of Naval History, Smithsonian Institution Background On the eve of POW/MIA remembrance day, we may seek deeper understanding by beginning … Continue reading

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The Australian Experience of Joint and Combined Operations: Borneo 1945

Contents: Australians and Coalition Warfare during World War II Command Preparing for the OBOE Operations Australian Organization and Structure OBOE I: Tarakan OBOE VI: Brunei Bay and Labuan OBOE II: Balikpapan Action at Balikpapan Lessons Learned and Lessons Missed Gregory … Continue reading

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BOOK REVIEW – Fabled Fifteen: The Pacific War Saga of Carrier Air Group 15

Thomas McKelvey Cleaver, Fabled Fifteen: The Pacific War Saga of Carrier Air Group 15. Philadelphia: Casemate, 2014. 240 pp. Review by LCDR Ethan Williams, USN United States Air Force Academy The 1944 combat performance of the U.S. Navy’s Carrier Air … Continue reading

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Learning to Fail: Lessons for the Twenty-First Century from the Pacific War

Brent Powers Lieutenant, U.S. Navy Introduction As the U.S. military finds itself several years into its rebalancing to the Pacific, with an unspoken focus on China, today’s naval officers would recognize the conditions that their pre-World War II forebears faced. … Continue reading

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BOOK REVIEW – “A” Force: The Origins of British Deception during the Second World War

Whitney T. Bendeck. “A” Force: The Origins of British Deception during the Second World War. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2013, 272 pp. Review by Joseph Moretz British Commission for Military History The role of deception in Allied military operations … Continue reading

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Strategy, Language, and the Culture of Defeat: Changing Interpretations of Japan’s Pacific War Naval Demise

By Hal M. Friedman Henry Ford Community College Military historians say that military history is written from the perspective of the victor. Japan’s naval defeat in the Pacific War, however, provides a highly arguable case. Much of the translated postwar … Continue reading

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BOOK REVIEW – Forgotten Weapon: U. S. Navy Airships and the U-boat War

William T Althoff, Forgotten Weapon: U. S. Navy Airships and the U-boat War. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2009. 417 pp. heavily illustrated with B& W photographs; maps, chronology, glossary, appendixes, bibliography, notes, index. Review by Andrew Lambert King’s College London. … Continue reading

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BOOK REVIEW – The Silent Service in World War II: The Story of the U.S. Navy Submarine Force in the Words of the Men Who Lived It

The Silent Service in World War II: The Story of the U.S. Navy Submarine Force in the Words of the Men Who Lived it. Edited by Edward Monroe-Jones and Michael Green, Casemate Publishers, (2012), 264 pp. Review by Phillip G. … Continue reading

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