O'Hara, Vincent The Greatest Naval War ever fought 1939-1945

The greatest naval war in history was undoubtedly the one that took place during the Second World War. It spanned the entire globe, involved dozens of nations, and encompassed more than 15,000 ships and 43.7 million tonnes of cargo, while some 570,000 people lost their lives at sea. Vince O'Hara covers every aspect of this massive naval war, providing a complete and comprehensive history in a single volume. The naval battle began in the Baltic Sea before dawn on 1 September 1939, when a German battleship opened fire on Polish troops entrenched in a fortress in the port city of Danzig, Poland. Over the next nine months, the conflict spread to British territorial waters in the North Sea, the English Channel and the eastern Atlantic; and in this theatre of war, the battle against submarines became one of the most epic aspects of the entire war. One of the most remarkable maritime achievements of the war occurred in 1940 during the German invasion of Norway, when the Kriegsmarine's successful assault, despite the vastly superior naval forces of the Allies, signalled the beginning of large-scale amphibious operations. While naval activity in Europe expanded into the Mediterranean, war broke out in the Pacific with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, leading to a series of decisive naval battles between Japan and the United States, including Wake Island, Coral Sea, Midway, and Guadalcanal. O'Hara not only skilfully examines all the major naval battles in Europe and the Pacific, but also provides a detailed analysis of secondary naval forces such as France, Italy and the Soviet Union. He examines little-known, smaller engagements such as the campaigns between Thailand and France or Peru and Ecuador. He also connects this wide range of naval battles by focusing on recurring themes such as technological innovation, leadership and control, logistics, and intelligence. And he shows that the most important naval platforms that emerged from the war and brought victory to the Allies were tankers, landing ships (LSTs) and Liberty ships not aircraft carriers, submarines or battleships. Finally, he shows readers how the effects of the naval battles won by the Allies continue to reverberate today.