The Battle of Heligoland Bight
The Battle of Heligoland Bight

Author: Eric W. Osborne

Publisher:

Published: 2006-06-13

Total Pages: 168

ISBN-13:

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The battle of Heligoland Bight was the first major action between the British and German fleets during World War I. The British orchestrated the battle as a warning to the German high command that any attempt to operate their naval forces in the North Sea would be met by strong British resistance. Heligoland Island guarded the entrance to the main German naval anchorage at Kiel. Fought on August 28, 1914, the engagement was complicated by dense fog, the piecemeal engagement of German forces, and the unexpected appearance in the area of additional British ships, which were hard to distinguish from foe. Initial British damage was significant; however, fearing that the protracted battle would allow the bulk of the German fleet to join the battle, the British brought in their battle cruiser reinforcements and won the day, inflicting heavy losses on the Germans. The battle was significant for its political and strategic ramifications for the two sides. The Germans became reluctant to engage large forces in an attempt to gain a decisive maritime victory. After this defeat, any plans for large-scale fleet operations had to be approved by the Kaiser, which hampered the German fleet's effectiveness. This left the North Sea to Great Britain for much of the war.

British Battleships of World War One
British Battleships of World War One

Author: R.A. Burt

Publisher: Naval Institute Press

Published: 2012-11-15

Total Pages: 359

ISBN-13: 1612519555

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This new edition of a classic work on British battleships is the most sought after book on the subject. Containing many new photographs from the author's exhaustive collection this superb reference book presents the complete technical history of British capital ship design and construction during the dreadnought era. Beginning with Dreadnought, all of the fifty dreadnoughts, 'super-dreadnoughts' and battlecruisers that served the Royal Navy during this era are described and superbly illustrated with photographs and line drawings.

Battle for the Baltic Islands 1917
Battle for the Baltic Islands 1917

Author: Gary Staff

Publisher: Pen and Sword Maritime

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13:

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"In 1917, despite the revolution, the Russians were still willing to continue the war against Germany. This book reveals Operation Albion, the German seaborne operation that changed their minds. The Baltic Islands were pivotal for the defence of the Finnish Gulf and the Russian capital, St. Petersburg. This campaign therefore had great importance for the war in the East, and it was only soon after the fall of the Baltic Islands that the Russians began peace negotiations (freeing hundreds of thousands of German soldiers for the Kaiser's last gamble on the Western Front)." "Gary Staff's study of arguably the most successful combined operation (by any side) of the Great War, scuttles the myth that the Imperial German Navy's surface fleet achieved little after the Battle of Jutland."--BOOK JACKET.

Germany's High Sea Fleet in the World War
Germany's High Sea Fleet in the World War

Author: Admiral Reinhard Scheer

Publisher: Frontline Books

Published: 2014-04-30

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 1848322097

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Anglo-German naval rivalry before 1914 had been expected to culminate in a cataclysmic fleet action in the North Sea once war was declared, a battle upon which the outcome of the war would depend: yet the two fleets met only once, at Jutland in 1916, and the battle was far from conclusive. ??In his own account of the war in the North Sea, first published in 1920, Admiral Scheer, the German commander at Jutland, gives his own explanation for the failure of either fleet to achieve the decisive victory expected of it, particularly the failure of his own operation plans that resulted in the battle of Jutland. ??This book is an invaluable account of one of the most important theatres of the First World War, written by one of its most senior commanders.

Approach to Battle
Approach to Battle

Author: Alan Jeffreys

Publisher: Helion and Company

Published: 2017-01-24

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 1913336913

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The Indian Army was the largest volunteer army during the Second World War. Indian Army divisions fought in the Middle East, North Africa and Italy - and went to make up the overwhelming majority of the troops in South East Asia. Over two million personnel served in the Indian Army - and India provided the base for supplies for the Middle Eastern and South East Asian theatres. This monograph is a modern historical interpretation of the Indian Army as a holistic organisation during the Second World War. It will look at training in India - charting how the Indian Army developed a more comprehensive training structure than any other Commonwealth country. This was achieved through both the dissemination of doctrine and the professionalism of a small coterie of Indian Army officers who brought about a military culture within the Indian Army - starting in the 1930s - that came to fruition during the Second World War, which informed the formal learning process. Finally, it will show that the Indian Army was reorganised after experiences of the First World War. During the interwar period, the army developed training and belief for both fighting on the North West Frontier, and as an aid to civil power. With the outbreak of the Second World War, in addition to these roles, the army had to expand and adapt to fighting modern professional armies in the difficult terrains of desert, jungle and mountain warfare. A clear development of doctrine and training can be seen, with many pamphlets being produced by GHQ India that were, in turn, used to formulate training within formations and then used in divisional, brigade and unit training instructions - thus a clear line of process can be seen not only from GHQ India down to brigade and battalion level, but also upwards from battalion and brigade level based on experience in battle that was absorbed into new training instructions. Together with the added impetus for education in the army, by 1945 the Indian Army had become a modern, professional and national army.

The Fairey Battle
The Fairey Battle

Author: Greg Baughen

Publisher: Fonthill Media

Published: 2017-06-29

Total Pages: 259

ISBN-13:

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New insights into the early development of the Fairey BattleThe truth behind the decision to declare the plane obsoleteBased on original documentationThe story of what might have been had the Air Ministry used the plane correctly The Fairey Battle is best known for being one of the worst aircraft to serve in the Royal Air Force. On operations, it suffered the highest loss rate of any plane in the RAF’s history. The missions flown by its brave crews became a byword for hopelessness and futility. Born out of muddled thinking, condemned before it even reached the squadrons and abandoned after the briefest of operational careers, the plane seems to thoroughly deserve its reputation. But was the Battle so useless? Why did it suffer such terrible loses? Was there nothing that could have been done to prevent the disasters of 1940? A fresh look at the documents of the time suggest there was. They reveal a very different story of ignored recommendations and missed opportunities. It was the way it was used rather than fundamental flaws in the design that ensured its operational career was such a dismal failure. It might even be argued that in the desperate days of the summer of 1940, the Fairey Battle was exactly what Britain needed. Illustrations: 61 black-and-white photographs

Naval Operations
Naval Operations

Author: Julian S. Corbett

Publisher:

Published: 2003-05-01

Total Pages: 448

ISBN-13: 9781843424901

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This volume is mainly concerned with the Dardanelles operations from their inception as a naval diversion to their development into a major combined operation and its failure. Although the narrative is related from a naval point of view it is necessarily concerned with military movements, but they have been dealt with only in so far as seemed essential to make clear the navy s part in supporting the army. Purely naval operations treated include the raid on the Yorkshire coast in December 1914 and the Dogger Bank action on 24th January 1915. In a separate cover are ten maps/plans accompanying the text.