Naval Forces

Throughout the twentieth century, the pilots of the Royal Australian Navy carved their name with pride to build a service that would take shape as the Navy's Fleet Air Arm. Australian naval aviators stood tall in the gallant ranks of the fighter Aces of World War 1.They fought, and some of them...

The story begins in 1629, when the pride of the Dutch East India Company, the Batavia, is on its maiden voyage en route from Amsterdam to the Dutch East Indies, laden down with the greatest treasure to leave Holland....

In 1858, 14-year-old Narcisse Pelletier sailed from Marseilles in the French trader Saint-Paul. With a cargo of Bordeaux wine, they stopped in Bombay, then Hong Kong, and from there they set sail with more than 300 Chinese prospectors bound for the goldfields of Ballarat and Bendigo. Around the...

From bestselling author Michael Veitch (Australia's Secret Army, Turning Point) comes the story of the brilliant, yet controversial campaign which ended Australia's involvement in World War II. Borneo: The Last Campaign tells the story of Operation OBOE, the massive, three-pronged assault on the...

Brought to you by Penguin. The definitive account of the rise and fall of the world's fastest plane from British Airways' former Chief Concorde Pilot. October 24th, 2023 will mark 20 years since Concorde disappeared from our skies. Yet still Mike Bannister, the last Concorde Chief Pilot, faces...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The extraordinary true story of the World War II air, land, and sea campaign that brought the U.S. Navy to the apex of its strength and marked the rise of the United States as a global superpower, from the acclaimed author of The Last Stand of the Tin Can...

Submariners are a special breed. Not for them a life on the ocean wave, the fresh air and sunshine of other naval sailors. With stealth and daring they go deep and dark, alone and unseen, in often dangerous waters. They sometimes call themselves the Silent Service, with good reason. Australian...

Bloomsbury presents The Convoy by Angus Konstam, read by Philip Pope. A fresh approach to the Battle of the Atlantic, told through the spectacular story of HG-76, a major turning point in the naval war. When HG-76 sailed from Gibraltar to Britain in December 1941, it was specially targeted by...

No espionage missions have been kept more secret than those involving American submarines. Now, Blind Man's Bluff shows for the first time how the Navy sent submarines wired with self-destruct charges into the heart of Soviet seas to tap crucial underwater telephone cables. It unveils how the...

Bloomsbury presents Pacific Thunder: The US Navy's Central Pacific Campaign, August 1943-October 1944 by Thomas McKelvey Cleaver, read by Stuart Milligan. A thorough and compelling investigation of the Central Pacific campaign in World War II that saw the US Navy progress from the edge of...

Sweeping from the frigid waters of the North Atlantic to the steaming South Pacific, this riveting chronicle of submarine warfare is the first to cover all the major submarine campaigns of the war, describing, in detail, the operations of the British, American, Japanese, Italian, and German...

Through the Valley is the captivating memoir of the last US Army soldier taken prisoner during the Vietnam War. In 1971 William Reeder was a senior captain on his second tour in Vietnam. He had flown armed, fixed-wing OV-1 Mohawks on secret missions deep into enemy territory in Laos, Cambodia...

This intimate true account of Americans at war follows theepic drama of an unlikely group of men forced to work together in the face of an increasingly desperate enemy during the final year of World War II. Sprawling across the Pacific, this untold story follows the crew of the newly-built...

The legendary explorer of the Titanic shares inside stories of danger, suspense, and discovery - plus previously untold stories about his own dyslexia and how it has shaped his life....

Bloomsbury presents Bitter Peleliu by Joseph Wheelan, read by Mack Gordon. The hard-hitting history of the Pacific War's 'forgotten battle' of Peleliu – a story of intelligence failings and impossible bravery. In late 1944, as a precursor to the invasion of the Philippines, U.S. military...

Using his own experiences, log books, and correspondence with other U-boat crewmen, Hans Goebeler offers rich and personal details about what life was like in the German Navy under Hitler. Since his first and last posting was to U-505, Goebeler's perspective of the crew, commanders, and war...

Brought to you by Penguin. Hear the enthralling story of the HMS Queen Elizabeth, the Royal Navy's largest ever warship. 65,000 tons. 280 metres long. A flight deck the size of sixty tennis courts. A giant piece of Sovereign British territory that's home to up to fifty Aircraft. HMS Queen...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Read by the author. "A fast-paced debut...Espionage buffs will savor this vibrant account." — Publishers Weekly A U.S. naval counterintelligence officer working to safeguard Pearl Harbor; a Japanese spy ordered to Hawaii to gather information on the American fleet. On...

For this rousing, revisionist history, the former head of exhibitions at England's National Maritime Museum has combed original documents and records to produce a most authoritative and definitive account of piracy's "Golden Age." As he explodes many accepted myths (i.e. "walking the plank" is...

Stalking the Red Bear, for the first time ever, describes the action principally from the perspective of a commanding officer of a nuclear submarine during the Cold War - the one man aboard a sub who makes the critical decisions - taking us closer to the Soviet target than any work on submarine...

The thunderous roar of exploding depth charges was a familiar and comforting sound to the crew members of the USS Barb, who frequently found themselves somewhere between enemy fire and Davy Jones's locker. Under the leadership of her fearless skipper, Captain Gene Fluckey, the Barb sank the...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The exhilarating true story of the U.S. Navy’s improbable victory at the Battle of Samar—“a dire survival-at-sea saga” (Denver Post) from the acclaimed author of Neptune’s Inferno “A critically acclaimed, blow-by-blow look at a small American force...

A thrilling Special Forces memoir - from Selection to the Falklands war, Northern Ireland, and beyond this is essential listening for anyone interested in the SAS. Many aspire to serve with the Special Air Service, arguably the world's most prestigious regiment, but few achieve their aim. In...

In April 1943, Commander Peter Gretton was in charge of escorting a vital Allied trade convoy from New York to Great Britain across the North Atlantic. Over the course of the voyage, the sixty-one merchant ships of convoy HX231, along with the six ships of B7 Escort Group, were continuously...

An incisive account of the Arctic convoys, and the essential role Bletchley Park and Special Intelligence played in Allied success Between 1941 and 1945, more than eight hundred shiploads of supplies were delivered to the Soviet Union protected by allied naval forces. Each journey was a battle...