Read Books Online and Download eBooks, EPub, PDF, Mobi, Kindle, Text Full Free.
Mers El Kebir 1940
Download Mers El Kebir 1940 full books in PDF, epub, and Kindle. Read online Mers El Kebir 1940 ebook anywhere anytime directly on your device. Fast Download speed and no annoying ads. We cannot guarantee that every ebooks is available!
Book Synopsis Mers el-Kébir 1940 by : Ryan K. Noppen
Download or read book Mers el-Kébir 1940 written by Ryan K. Noppen and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2024-10-24 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fascinating analysis of the World War II battle between Great Britain and France to ensure French ships were kept out of German hands during World War II. Following France's armistice with the Axis powers, Great Britain realized that if Germany or Italy insisted upon the transfer of battleships, cruisers, and destroyers from the French Navy to the control of their own navies, the balance in the Mediterranean would immediately swing in their favour. Churchill decided that the Marine Nationale's most powerful vessels would need to be secured through diplomacy, coercion, or force. The French Navy commander-in-chief was equally eager to keep their ships out of Axis hands, but he also did not want the British to have them. These increasingly hostile circumstances led to Operation Catapult, which began on 3 July 1940, and saw the two nations battle for the ships. Expert naval historian Ryan Noppen analyses the Royal Navy Operation Catapult at Mers el-Kébir, the follow-up Operation Lever and the French retaliatory actions in the subsequent days. This book examines the rapid deterioration of Anglo-French relations and how the two former allies quickly fell into armed conflict. Fully illustrated with detailed maps, photographs and artwork that bring to life the British and French forces involved, it presents an engaging treatment of an often-forgotten episode early in World War II.
Book Synopsis From Versailles to Mers El-Kébir by : George E. Melton
Download or read book From Versailles to Mers El-Kébir written by George E. Melton and published by US Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book concerns itself with one of the most unlikely relationships in the two decades before World War II: the alliance of the Royal Navy and the French fleet. By the mid 1930s, both fleets had overextended themselves with global defense commitments, owing mainly to the collapse of the world war alliances and to an ominous shift in the balance of world naval power. To maximize their power, England and France combined their assets in a naval alliance. The union was not an altogether happy one, but it survived in one form or another until the British attack upon the French fleet at Mers el-Kaebir in 1940. George E. Melton brings new insights to the diplomacy that led to this often strained cooperation, and reinterprets some of the most important events of early World War II"--
Book Synopsis De Gaulle and Algeria, 1940-1960 by : Michael Kettle
Download or read book De Gaulle and Algeria, 1940-1960 written by Michael Kettle and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 728 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Book Synopsis French Battleships 1914–45 by : Ryan K. Noppen
Download or read book French Battleships 1914–45 written by Ryan K. Noppen and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-01-24 with total page 49 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On September 1, 1910, France became the last great naval power to lay down a dreadnought battleship, the Courbet. The ensuing Courbet and Bretagne-class dreadnoughts had a relatively quiet World War I, spending most of it at anchor off the entrance to the Adriatic, keeping watch over the Austro-Hungarian fleet. The constraints of the Washington Naval Treaty prevented new battleships being built until the 1930s, with the innovative Dunkerque-class and excellent Richelieu-class of battleships designed to counter new German designs. After the fall of France in 1940, the dreadnoughts and fast battleships of the Marine Nationale had the unique experience of firing against German, Italian, British, and American targets during the war. This authoritative study examines these fascinating ships, using detailed colour plates and historical photographs, taking them from their inception before World War I, through their service in World War II including the scuttling of the French fleet at Toulon in 1943, and the service of Richelieu in the war against Japan.
Book Synopsis England's Last War Against France by : Colin Smith
Download or read book England's Last War Against France written by Colin Smith and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2010-11-25 with total page 607 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Genuinely new story of the Second World War - the full account of England's last war against France in 1940-42. Most people think that England's last war with France involved point-blank broadsides from sailing ships and breastplated Napoleonic cavalry charging red-coated British infantry. But there was a much more recent conflict than this. Under the terms of its armistice with Nazi Germany, the unoccupied part of France and its substantial colonies were ruled from the spa town of Vichy by the government of Marshal Philip Petain. Between July 1940 and November 1942, while Britain was at war with Germany, Italy and ultimately Japan, it also fought land, sea and air battles with the considerable forces at the disposal of Petain's Vichy French. When the Royal Navy sank the French Fleet at Mers El-Kebir almost 1,300 French sailors died in what was the twentieth century's most one-sided sea battle. British casualties were nil. It is a wound that has still not healed, for undoubtedly these events are better remembered in France than in Britain. An embarrassment at the time, France's maritime massacre and the bitter, hard-fought campaigns that followed rarely make more than footnotes in accounts of Allied operations against Axis forces. Until now.
Book Synopsis US Navy Battleships 1886–98 by : Brian Lane Herder
Download or read book US Navy Battleships 1886–98 written by Brian Lane Herder and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-06-27 with total page 49 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After the American Civil War, the US Navy had been allowed to decay into complete insignificance, yet the commissioning of the modern Brazilian battleship Riachuelo and poor performance against the contemporary Spanish fleet, forced the US out of its isolationist posture towards battleships. The first true US battleships began with the experimental Maine and Texas, followed by the three-ship Indiana class, and the Iowa class, which incorporated lessons from the previous ships. These initial ships set the enduring US battleship standard of being heavily armed and armoured at the expense of speed. This fully illustrated study examines these first six US battleships, a story of political compromises, clean sheet designs, operational experience, and experimental improvements. These ships directly inspired the creation of an embryonic American military-industrial complex, enabled a permanent outward-looking shift in American foreign policy and laid the foundations of the modern US Navy.
Book Synopsis How Churchill Waged War by : Allen Packwood
Download or read book How Churchill Waged War written by Allen Packwood and published by Grub Street Publishers. This book was released on 2018-10-30 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An analytical investigation into Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s decision-making process during every stage of World War II. When Winston Churchill accepted the position of Prime Minister in May 1940, he insisted in also becoming Minister of Defence. This, though, meant that he alone would be responsible for the success or failure of Britain’s war effort. It also meant that he would be faced with many monumental challenges and utterly crucial decisions upon which the fate of Britain and the free world rested. With the limited resources available to the UK, Churchill had to pinpoint where his country’s priorities lay. He had to respond to the collapse of France, decide if Britain should adopt a defensive or offensive strategy, choose if Egypt and the war in North Africa should take precedence over Singapore and the UK’s empire in the East, determine how much support to give the Soviet Union, and how much power to give the United States in controlling the direction of the war. In this insightful investigation into Churchill’s conduct during the Second World War, Allen Packwood, BA, MPhil (Cantab), FRHistS, the Director of the Churchill Archives Centre, enables the reader to share the agonies and uncertainties faced by Churchill at each crucial stage of the war. How Churchill responded to each challenge is analyzed in great detail and the conclusions Packwood draws are as uncompromising as those made by Britain’s wartime leader as he negotiated his country through its darkest days.
Book Synopsis Somerville's Force H by : Raymond Dannreuther
Download or read book Somerville's Force H written by Raymond Dannreuther and published by White Lion Publishing. This book was released on 2005 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Between June 1940 and March 1942, the legendary Force H, based in Gibraltarnder the command of Admiral Sir James Somerville, was almost constantly inction. Formed in haste after the fall of France, Force H began its historyith the unpleasant but necessary task of disabling the French fleet aters-el-Kebir. The Force had two vital missions: to maintain a flow ofupplies to Malta and carry the war to the Italian fleet, and to protectritish shipping in the Atlantic. Its dual role was vividly demonstrated whents most famous ship, Ark Royal, flew off 48 Hurricanes to Malta from wellnside the Mediterranean on 21 May 1941 and then, just six days later, played critical part in the destruction of the Bismarck 450 miles out in thetlantic. This fascinating and thoroughly researched history is the firstook to be devoted to Force H. It is also a tribute to Somerville, one of theoyal Navy's most remarkable officers, who welded a hastily assembledollection of ships into a formidable fighting force.
Download or read book The Deadly Stroke written by Warren Tute and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2007-10-18 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With the defeat of the French forces by the Germans, Winston Churchill was determined that the French fleet would not fall into German hands, and to that end he ordered that every French ship from Alexandria to Martinique, Portsmouth to Dakar either surrender or be seized. Only those in Algeria committed to the Vichy government refused. In a tragic and ironic battle the British sank the French fleet at Oran, the author explores in detail the events surrounding this event. With an Introduction by Sir John Colville.
Book Synopsis French Tanks of World War II (1) by : Steven J. Zaloga
Download or read book French Tanks of World War II (1) written by Steven J. Zaloga and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2014-02-20 with total page 99 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first of two volumes covering the French armor of World War II, this title looks at the infantry and battle tanks that faced the onslaught of the German Blitzkrieg in 1940. Many of the French tanks were intended as replacements for the World War I-era Renault FT, and various modernization efforts throughout the inter-war years had given rise to a number of new infantry tanks, including the Renault R35 and R40, FCM 36, and the Hotchkiss H35 and H39. Alongside these developments was a separate family of battle tanks, starting with the Renault D1, D2, and, finally, the best-known French tank of the campaign – the Char B1 bis. French Tanks of World War II (1) offers a background to the design and development of these tank types, and an evaluation of their performance in the Battle of France.
Book Synopsis German Heavy Cruisers vs Royal Navy Heavy Cruisers by : Mark Lardas
Download or read book German Heavy Cruisers vs Royal Navy Heavy Cruisers written by Mark Lardas and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2021-08-19 with total page 81 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This superbly illustrated study explores the epic clashes of British and German heavy cruisers at the beginning of World War II. The opposing heavy cruisers of the German Kriegsmarine and the Royal Navy engaged in a global game of cat and mouse during the opening years of World War II. This was a period in which the heavy cruiser still reigned supreme in open waters, with the opposing sides reluctant to risk their battleships, and aircraft yet to dominate the seas. These swift vessels fought each other in the South Atlantic, North Atlantic, the frigid waters of the Denmark Strait and the Arctic approaches to Russia, capturing the public imagination in the process. This fascinating and beautifully illustrated book examines the design, development and technical performance of these opposing warships, and explores the clashes between them at the Battle of the River Plate in December 1939, the Christmas Day Battle 1940 and the Battle of the Denmark Strait in May 1941. The ships examined include the Deutschland-class Panzerschiffe and Admiral Hipper-class cruisers, and the Royal Navy County- and York-class heavy cruisers.
Book Synopsis The Royal Netherlands Navy of World War II by : Ryan K. Noppen
Download or read book The Royal Netherlands Navy of World War II written by Ryan K. Noppen and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-08-20 with total page 49 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Book Synopsis Dinner with Churchill by : Cita Stelzer
Download or read book Dinner with Churchill written by Cita Stelzer and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2013-01-08 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This engaging biography invites readers to dinner with Winston Churchill and his political guests in the years surrounding WWII. A friend once said of Winston Churchill: “He is a man of simple tastes; he is quite easily satisfied with the best of everything.” But for Churchill, dinners were about more than good food, excellent champagnes, and Havana cigars. “Everything” included the opportunity to use the table both as a stage on which to display his brilliant conversational talents and as an intimate setting in which to glean gossip and diplomatic insights and to argue for the many policies he espoused over his long political career. In this riveting, informative, and entertaining account, Cita Stelzer draws on previously untapped material, diaries of guests, and a wide variety of other sources to tell of some of the key dinners at which Churchill presided before, during, and after World War II. An “acutely revealing” and eloquent look at one of Great Britain’s most impactful prime ministers, Dinner with Churchill offers delicious new insights into the food, cocktails, and conversations that shaped history (The Times Literary Supplement).
Book Synopsis French Battleships 1922-1956 by : John Jordan
Download or read book French Battleships 1922-1956 written by John Jordan and published by Seaforth Publishing. This book was released on 2009-09-17 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The battleships of the Dunkerque and Richelieu classes were the most radical and influential designs of the interwar period, and were coveted by the British, the Germans and the Italians following the Armistice of June 1940. After an extensive refit in the USA, Richelieu went on to serve alongside the Royal Navy during 1943-45. Using a wealth of primary-source material, some of which has only recently been made available, John Jordan and Robert Dumas have embarked on a completely new study of these important and technically interesting ships. A full account of their development is followed by a detailed analysis of their design characteristics, profusely illustrated by inboard profiles and schematic drawings. The technical chapters are interspersed with operational histories of the ships, with a particular focus on the operations in which they engaged other heavy units: Mers el-Kebir, Dakar and Casablanca. These accounts include a detailed analysis of their performance in action and the damage sustained, and are supported by specially-drawn maps and by the logs of Strasbourg and Richelieu. Twenty-two colour profile and plan views illustrate the ships' appearance at the various stages of their careers.
Book Synopsis From Versailles to Mers el-Kébir by : George E Melton
Download or read book From Versailles to Mers el-Kébir written by George E Melton and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2015-10-15 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The two decades before World War II were some of the most unsettled in modern history. From Versailles to Mers el-Kébir examines one of the most unlikely—and perhaps least studied—relationships to form during that turbulent era: the alliance of the Royal Navy and the French fleet. Beginning from a global perspective and gradually narrowing, George E. Melton brings new insights to the diplomacy that led to this often strained cooperation and reinterprets some of the most important events of early World War II. By the mid-1930s the Royal Navy and French fleet had overextended themselves with global defense commitments, owing mainly to the collapse of the world war alliances and to an ominous shift in the balance of world naval power. To maximize their power, England and France combined their assets in a naval alliance. Successful in keeping both Italy and Japan neutral early in the war, that alliance brought the French and English success against German surface raiders and U-boat operations in the Atlantic. The two powers were on such good terms that in1939, during a joint operation to the north of Scotland, HMS Hood and its escorts served for a week under the command of Vice Admiral Marcel Gensoul, French commander of the Dunkerque. Afterward, the British seamen affectionately referred to the Dunkerque as “the friend of the Hood.” Still, the union was not an altogether happy one. The global defense imperatives of the Admiralty frustrated the regional ambitions of the Rue Royale. The union ultimately came to a violent end when the British attacked the French squadron at Mers el-Kébir in the summer of 1940 after France had signed an armistice with Germany. What followed was a poorly constructed cover up to mask the operation as a regrettable but necessary action. Melton’s study challenges this popular myth. Thoroughly researched and documented, From Versailles to Mers el-Kébir concludes that the operation was a disastrous failure.
Book Synopsis French Battleships of World War One by : John Jordan
Download or read book French Battleships of World War One written by John Jordan and published by Seaforth Publishing. This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When war broke out in August 1914 France had only two dreadnoughts in service, with a second pair running trials. The main body of the elite Arm e Navale was made up of the eleven battleships of the _Patrie_ and _Danton_ classes, both of which were intermediate designs with two main gun calibres. Older ships included survivors of the notorious _Flotte d echantillons_ ('fleet of samples') of the 1890 programme and their successors designed during the 1890s. This book traces the development of French battleships from 1890 to 1922, and also covers the extensive modifications made to the survivors during the interwar period. The structure follows that of previous books in this highly successful series, with Part I by John Jordan devoted to design, followed by historical chapters by Philippe Caresse covering 1900 to 1945\. It is liberally illustrated throughout with line drawings and labelled schematics, plus photographs from the extensive Caresse collection, many of which are previously unpublished. This is the most comprehensive account of these ships published in English or in French, and is destined be the standard reference for many years to come. AUTHORS: John Jordan is the Editor of the _Warship_ annual and a lifelong student of French naval history. His previous three books on French Battleships, Cruisers and Destroyers were critical and commercial successes. Philippe Caresse, his collaborator on this book, is a leading authority on late 19th-century French warships.
Book Synopsis World in the Balance by : Brooke C. Stoddard
Download or read book World in the Balance written by Brooke C. Stoddard and published by Potomac Books, Inc.. This book was released on 2011 with total page 437 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In mid-1940, the British Expeditionary Force desperately attempted to flee the small French port of Dunkirk and reach British shores. France was falling, and the men were well aware that the German army had already conquered Poland, Denmark, Norway, Holland, and Belgium. Only Britain remained. Churchill then proclaimed to the House of Commons, "Hitler will have to break us in this island or lose the war." There were, perhaps, no more telling words spoken in World War II. For the following five months, Great Britain waged a heroic, and clandestine, struggle with Nazi Germany--one both psychological and diplomatic--over the fate of the world. World in the Balance recounts these pivotal months. Rallying after Churchill's speeches, destroying the French fleet so it would not fall to the Germans, fending off Nazi agents from former King Edward VIII, weakening England's defenses to build up those of Egypt, establishing a dedication to secret radar, and engaging in deft diplomacy--notably saving Gibraltar by keeping Spain neutral and successfully courting favor in the United States--set all the pieces in place for eventual victory over Axis fascism.
