Sea Battles and Naval Heroes in the 17th-century Dutch Republic

Sea Battles and Naval Heroes in the 17th-century Dutch Republic

Author: Peter Sigmond

Publisher:

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13:

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"In the 17th century the sea was crucially important to all the inhabitants of the Republic of the United Provinces. The wealth of the regents was based on merchant shipping and overseas trade, and the fishing industry was vital for the feeding of the whole population. Safety at sea and protection against enemy invasion were guaranteed by the war fleet. Consequently, the navy and the admirals who commanded the fleet were at the centre of attention. After all, their success of failure determined the fate of many. If they were successful they were worshipped; if they lost. they were abused by the mob. Many paintings, prints, drawings and objects in the Rijksmuseum bear witness to these men and their fortunes at sea. There are splendid images of sea battles and portraits of admirals and their ships. But what do these wonderful pictures tell us? Why were they made? What do they really show, and how did they originate?"--Back cover.


The Royal Netherlands Navy of World War II

The Royal Netherlands Navy of World War II

Author: Ryan K. Noppen

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2020-08-20

Total Pages: 49

ISBN-13: 1472841891

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In the late 19th and early 20th century, a combination of coastal defence for the homeland and fleet defence for the East Indies became the established naval strategy for the Royal Dutch Navy and set the template for the world wars. Battleships were too expensive to build and maintain, so after World War I, there was significant investment in submarine development and construction. A handful of modern light cruisers and a new class of destroyers were also constructed during the interwar years to serve as a small Fleet-in-Being in the East Indies, as well as to support the actions of the navy's submarines. The light cruiser HNLMS De Ruyter and the Java-class light cruisers were the most powerful units of the new fleet whilst the backbone of the destroyer fleet was the Admiralen-class and the Tromp-class of destroyer leaders. Beginning in December 1941, the Dutch Navy played a very active role in the defence of the East Indies against the Japanese during World War II. The Battle of the Java Sea at the end of February 1942 crushed Dutch naval power in the East Indies, sinking the cruisers Java and De Ruyter and killing Admiral Karel Doorman. However, several Dutch surface warships and submarines continued the fight against the Axis powers alongside the Allies until the end of World War II, including a pair of British-built destroyers, Van Galen and Tjerk Hiddes. This beautifully illustrated book from a leading scholar on Dutch military history provides a comprehensive guide to the Royal Netherlands Navy of the World War II period, complete with detailed cutaways and battleplates of the fleet in action.


John Paul Jones

John Paul Jones

Author: Evan Thomas

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2010-06-15

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13: 1451603991

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The New York Times bestseller from master biographer Evan Thomas brings to life the tumultuous story of the father of the American Navy. John Paul Jones, at sea and in the heat of the battle, was the great American hero of the Age of Sail. He was to history what Patrick O’Brian’s Jack Aubrey and C.S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower are to fiction. Ruthless, indomitable, clever; he vowed to sail, as he put it, “in harm’s way.” Evan Thomas’s minute-by-minute re-creation of the bloodbath between Jones’s Bonhomme Richard and the British man-of-war Serapis off the coast of England on an autumn night in 1779 is as gripping a sea battle as can be found in any novel. Drawing on Jones’s correspondence with some of the most significant figures of the American Revolution—John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson—Thomas’s biography teaches us that it took fighters as well as thinkers, men driven by dreams of personal glory as well as high-minded principle, to break free of the past and start a new world. Jones’s spirit was classically American.


The History of Holland

The History of Holland

Author: Mark T. Hooker

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 1999-08-30

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 0313050686

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Holland was once a superpower upon whose empire the sun never set. Today it is on the leading edge of social change. This history of Holland, from its earliest beginnings to the present day, provides the most up-to-date survey of modern Dutch history, including the current Dutch approach to a number of social issues, such as the welfare state, the environment, socialized medicine, and the role of the military in the post-Cold War world. Containing a wealth of current information and statistics, this work will help the reader to understand the Dutch both within the historical context in which Holland exists and as world leaders in social change as we approach the twenty-first century. This engagingly written history provides a contemporary overview of Holland's geography, economy, political system, and society. Chapters arranged chronologically trace the history and culture of the nation from the Ice Age to the new post-Cold War world. Chapters on recent Dutch history show how Holland has claimed a leading role in social change: the Dutch have authorized euthanasia, socialized medicine, and legalized soft drugs. A selection of brief biographical sketches will introduce the reader to many of the important Dutch personalities throughout Holland's history, and a bibliographical essay will help the researcher to locate recommended books and other materials for further reading.