Naval

Essex-class aircraft carriers played an essential role in the victory of the United States over Japan in the Second World War. Without these remarkable ships, the island-hopping campaign of American forces across the Pacific towards Japan would not have been possible. They also took part in the Korean and Vietnam wars that followed. During the Second World War they were at the centre of the powerful task groups that could put up hundreds of aircraft to support forces on the ground. They were als...

Brief history covering the technical design work followed by a plethora of graphical illustrations including captioned walk-around 3d graphic illustrations

The first in a four-part series which provides details of all USN warships from 1893 to the present day. Every class and individual ship has an entry providing details of the procurement, dimensions and characteristics, and a summary of each ship's history and development. Volume One covers Fleet Carriers, Battle Carriers and Light Carriers.

U-552 was one of the legendary U-boats of the Second World War. Under its commander Erich Topp, it carried out a total of ten operational patrols, sinking 30 ships and damaging three in a period of 20 months. In the days of the big convoy battles, when the Allies’ detection technology had not yet been perfected, before the German radio codes had been broken, and convoys were not or at best weakly escorted, Topp was among the U-boat arm’s most successful commanders. Within 16 months he was decora...

This second of two volumes on American landing craft of World War II focuses on the larger LCT, LSM, LCS(L)(3), and LST vessels that transported tanks and heavy equipment to the shores of North Africa and Normandy and throughout the Pacific. The need for massive numbers of landing craft capable of disgorging huge numbers of troops and equipment was predicted by the US Army in 1940. Later, the British army estimated that over 2,000 of such vessels would be required for the assault on Europe.

During the Second World War the Royal Navy's flotillas of small, fast and powerfully armed motor gun boats (MGBs) were looked upon as the 'Spitfires of the seas'. Operating from their harbour bases around the south and east coasts of England, RN Coastal Forces crews would set out under cover of darkness to look for trouble with German shipping in the Channel and the North Sea. The centerpiece of this manual is MGB 81, a combat veteran that saw repeated action between 1942 and 1945 in the North S...

The War of the Pacific (in Spanish, Guerra del Pacifico), also known as the Saltpeter War (Guerra del salitre), was a war between Chile and a Bolivian-Peruvian alliance that lasted from 1879 to 1884. It was fought over Chilean claims on coastal Bolivian territory in the Atacama Desert. The war ended with victory for Chile, which gained a significant amount of resource-rich territory from Peru and Bolivia. Chile's army took Bolivia's nitrate rich coastal region and Peru was defeated by Chile's na...

Duke Hawkins new series has arrived. A complete portrait of this iconic ship, containing photos of all the features including action shots, deck views, weapons and maintenance in addition to up-to-date information.

We go above and below deck to discover how a supercarrier is built, examining its structure, systems, departments, flight deck and hangar deck. With the full cooperation of the US Navy, they join the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) to discover how a supercarrier operates, looking at flight operations, logistics and life onboard. Commissioned in 1977, this awesome carrier has a complement of more than 6,000 crew and an embarked air wing of anything up to 90 aircraft, together capable of deliver...

FRENCH Language book. In depth look at this subject with detailed illustrations and photos.

FRENCH Language book. In depth look at this subject with detailed illustrations and photos.

Brief history covering the technical design work followed by a plethora of graphical illustrations including captioned walk-around 3d graphic illustrations