Naval Forces

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...

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...

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...

New York Times Best Seller “Gripping…this yarn has it all.” (USA Today) “A wonderful book.” (Christian Science Monitor) “Enthralling.” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) “A must-read.” (Booklist, starred review) A human drama unlike any other - the riveting and...

The Longest Campaign tells the epic story of British sea power in the Second World War....

One of WWII’s pivotal events was the capture of U-505 on June 4, 1944. The top secret seizure of this massive Type IX submarine provided the Allies with priceless information on German technology and innovation....

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...

In 1768 Captain James Cook and his crew set out on a small British naval vessel in search of a missing continent. 2020 marks the 250th anniversary of that voyage, and Cook's 'discovery' of Australia. Captain Cook's Epic Voyage reveals the hardships and adventure of this remarkable quest, and the...

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 submarine and anti-submarine forces....

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...

The Barb sank the greatest tonnage of any American sub in World War II. This is a gripping adventure chock-full of "you-are-there" moments....

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...

On 27 October 1942, four "Long Lance" torpedoes fired by the Japanese destroyers Makigumo and Akigumo exploded in the hull of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet....

Battles, blockades, convoys, raids: how the indefatigable British Royal Navy ensured Napoleon's ultimate defeat.

Using his own experiences and correspondence with other U-boat crewmen, Hans Goebeler offers rich details about what life was like in the German Navy under Hitler....

A few minutes before midnight on April 14, 1912, the "unsinkable" RMS Titanic, on her maiden voyage to New York, struck an iceberg....

Mutiny on the Spanish Main tells the dramatic story of HMS Hermione, a British frigate which, in 1797, was the site of the bloodiest mutiny in British naval history, which saw the death of her captain and many of her officers....

A history of the Royal Navy’s FAA since 1945, featuring a survey of the aircraft flown, the conflicts fought, and the daily life of those in service.

World War II is usually seen as a titanic land battle, decided by mass armies, most importantly those on the Eastern Front. Phillips Payson O'Brien shows us the war in a completely different light. In this compelling new history of the Allied path to victory, he argues that in terms of...

In this the first comprehensive treatment of Pearl Harbor since the early 1990s, respected Pacific War naval historian Mark Stille traces the road to war and the Japanese attack itself.

The Mediterranean, 1943... The HMS Rob Roy. A tiny machine, just 230 feet from stem to stern....

This is the astounding true story of the ordeal and escape of the British frigate Amethyst from Chinese Communist batteries in the Yangtze River in April 1949....

Ice Road to Russia is a gripping, true account of the British Arctic Convoys of the Second World War, told in a clear, narrative style that brings the listener onto the freezing decks and into the tense silence between attacks. These were not routine supply runs.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ‘A terrific book … It really is one of the most enjoyable histories I’ve read in many a year’ JAMES HOLLAND ‘Riveting … A brilliant account’ DAILY MAIL THE FIRST AUTHORISED HISTORY OF THE SBS. Britain’s SBS – or Special Boat Service – was the...