THE IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM BOOK OF THE WAR AT SEA - The Royal Navy in the Second World War by Thompson, Julian

Motorbooks International, Osceola, 1996. US first edition, hard bound in dj, 7 1/2 x 10, VG/VG condition, glossy page stock, viii,. 280 pages, numerous illustrations in B&W and color, maps, index.--------------------------------------------This book is the story of nearly six years at sea as seen by British sailors, from Ordinary Seamen to Admirals, in their memoirs, diaries, letters home and taped interviews. The participants tell of an early triumph, the defeat of the pocket battleship Graf Spec by three cruisers; followed by the disastrous Norwegian Campaign, the evacuation of the BEF at Dunkirk and other channel ports; the agonising decision to destroy the French Fleet rather than let it fall into the hands of the enemy; the winning of the Battle of the Atlantic, the most important battle in the war for the Western Allies; the years of bitter Arctic convoys; desperate times in the Mediterranean, including Malta convoys, under the lash of the Luftwaffe; the destruction of the powerful German battleship Bismarck after she had sunk the pride of the Royal Navy, HMS Hood; the sacrifice of Swordfish aircrews trying to stop two German battlecruisers in their dash up the English Channel; the tragic loss of HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse off Malaya; the sinking of the powerful Scharnhorst off North Cape in the icy darkness of the Barents Sea and the landings at Normandy and elsewhere on the long road back. Finally Julian Thompson also examines the Royal Navy's little known contribution to the War in the Pacific alongside the United States Navy.