Brian Lane Herder Livres

"Drawing on difficult-to-access wartime documents and other contemporary sources, this is the first compact, illustrated study of the tactics and techniques of the US fast carriers of Task Forces 50, 58 and 38 during the naval war against Japan in 1943-45. This title concentrates on exactly how these highly successful forces actually operated: their composition in ships, aircraft and men; the essential technology at their disposal; the evolving doctrine for their employment; the opposition and dangers they faced; and how they overcame them at the tactical level. It explains in straightforward terms the intricate details of topics such as how ships manoeuvred, how aircraft were deployed and recovered, the formations and approaches used by fighters, dive-bombers and torpedo-bombers against naval and land targets, and how Task Forces defended themselves. The text is supported by a wide range of wartime photos and full-colour illustrations, showing, for example, the formations employed by ships and aircraft, with altitudes and ranges throughout the course of attacks." -- provided by publisher

A highly illustrated study of the last great campaign in the Pacific Theater of World War II: the US Navy's and Royal Navy's air, surface, and submarine attacks on the Japanese Home Islands.

"At the dawn of the "Steel Navy" era, the rapidly expanding US Navy's fleet of capital ships consisted not only of battleships but also armored cruisers, the forerunner of the battlecruiser. Armored cruisers sacrificed the battleship's superlative firepower and protection for superior speed and range but, as this study shows, their role was not always easy to define. Controversial because they were as large and expensive as battleships but not able to withstand a battleship in battle, contemporary strategists pointed out that, "naval wars are not won by running away from stronger ships." Despite being produced at great expense, tactically they never really had a legitimate mission-traditional deployments were commerce raiding and protection, but despite this, author Brian Lane Herder illustrates how successful the use of armored cruisers was for the US Navy. After 1906, some replaced US battleships in the Pacific, functioning as oversized gunboats, most notably, the modified armored cruiser Pennsylvania which witnessed the first landing of an airplane on a ship. On November 5, 1915, North Carolina became the first cruiser to launch an aircraft from a catapult while underway. After the war, surviving US armored cruisers represented the US Navy on their Asiatic station until the final cruiser was scuttled in 1946. Using detailed, color artwork and photos, this fascinating book describes the development and deployment of these controversial but intriguing ships, providing examples of the key service they played in the US Navy in a variety of defensive and escorting roles"--Amazon.com

This volume offers a comprehensive file on the scientific investigation of crime. It includes the scene of crime (how evidence is taken and the investigation begun), genetic fingerprinting, ballistics (how bullets are matched to firearms), and "personality profiling".

The epic story of the American battleships that turned the US Navy into a global power, and were made famous in the cruise of the Great White Fleet.

A highly illustrated study of Operation Torch, the first major Allied amphibious invasion of the war.

Aleutians 1942–43 is the full story of the forgotten battle to liberate American soil from the Japanese during World War II.It is often forgotten that during World War II, the Japanese managed to successfully invade and conquer a precious part of American home soil--the first time this had happened since 1815. Capturing the Aleutian Islands, located in Alaska territory, was seen by the Japanese as vital in order to shore up their northern defensive perimeter.Fighting in the Aleutians was uniquely brutal. It is a barren, rugged archipelago of icy mountains and thick bogs, with a climate of constant snow, freezing rains, and windstorms. These geographic conditions tended to neutralize traditional American strengths such as air power, radar, naval bombardment, and logistics. The campaign to recapture the islands required extensive combined-ops planning, and inflicted on the United States its second highest casualty rate in the Pacific Theater. Featuring the largest Japanese banzai charge of the war, first use of pre-battle battleship bombardment in the Pacific, and the battle at the Komandorski Islands, this is the story of America's forgotten war.

For more than half a century, gunboats were the United States' most visible military presence around the world. Most famously operating in the Philippines and China, many US gunboats were built, purchased, captured, or reassembled overseas, where they usually spent their entire careers never coming within 7,000 miles of the country they served. These little warships and their crews often had colorful, unpredictable lives, serving and fighting in the Spanish-American War, the Yangtze Patrol, and the Caribbean "Banana Wars." Gunboat service gave command experience to the future leaders of the US Navy, such as Chester Nimitz, Bill Halsey, and John S. McCain Sr. World War II spelled the end of the gunboat era, however, as Japan's overwhelming 1941-42 offensives destroyed or captured many of them, and by 1945, the mighty US Navy had outgrown its need for gunboats to show the flag on far-flung shores. This fascinating book outlines the gunboats' types, origins, and capabilities, and tells the story of their key role in America's global expansion. Book jacket.

This detailed study reveals the history of the Meuse-Argonne campaign, the US Army's first full-scale offensive against German forces in France.

The story of how the US Navy developed its first battleship fleet, their first combat test in the Spanish-American War, and the battleships' careers through World War I.This fully illustrated study examines the US's first six 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.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 armored at the expense of speed.