At the start of the 20th century the Ottoman Navy was a shadow of its former might, a reflection of the empire as a whole - the "Sick Man of Europe". Years of defeat, nepotism, and neglect had left the Ottoman Navy with a mix of obsolete vessels, whilst the list of prospective enemies was ever-growing. An increasing Russian naval presence in the Black Sea and the alarming emergence of Italy and Greece as regional Naval powers proved beyond all doubt that intensive modernization was essential, indeed, the fate of the Empire as a naval power depended on it. So the Ottoman Navy looked to the ultimate naval weapon of the age, the dreadnought battleship, two of which were ordered from the British with extreme alacrity. But politics intervened, and a succession of events culminated in the Ottoman Navy fielding a modern German battlecruiser and state-of-the-art light cruiser instead - with dramatic consequences. In this meticulous study, Ryan Noppen presents a fresh appraisal of the technical aspects and operations of the warships of the Ottoman Navy in World War I. It is the first work of its kind in the English language - produced with a wealth of rare material with the cooperation of the Turkish Consulate and Navy. Packed with precise technical specifications, revealing illustrations and exhaustive research, this is an essential guide to a crucial chapter in the Aegean arms race

Ottoman Navy Warships 1914–18 (New Vanguard, 227)

History

Noppen, Ryan K.

Middle East

Osprey_Publishing

This is the story of Germany's commerce raiders of World War I, the surface ships that were supposed to starve the British Isles of the vast cargoes of vital resources being shipped from the furthest reaches of the Empire. To that end pre-war German naval strategists allocated a number of cruisers and armed, fast ocean liners, as well as a complex and globe-spanning supply network to support them - known as the Etappe network. This book, drawing on technical illustrations and the author's exhaustive research, explains the often overlooked role that the commerce raiders played in World War I. Whilst exploring the design and development of the ships, it also describes their operational history, how they tied up a disproportionate amount of the British fleet on lengthy pursuits, and how certain raiders such as the SMS Emden were able to wreak havoc across the oceans.

German Commerce Raiders 1914–18 (New Vanguard, 228)

Europe

At the outbreak of World War I, Austria-Hungary had four modern light cruisers and twenty modern destroyers at their disposal, constructed in the early 20th century to defend their growing overseas interests. It was these fast light vessels, not the fleet's prized battleships, which saw most action during the war; from the bombardment of enemy batteries during the Montenegrin Campaign, to their victory over the Allied fleet at the Battle of the Strait of Otranto in 1917.
With the help of specially-commissioned artwork, author Ryan Noppen examines the cruisers and destroyers that the Austro-Hungarian Empire had at their disposal during World War I. His study covers their design and development, with thrilling combat reports highlighting the way in which the strategies evolved throughout the Adriatic Campaign.

Austro-Hungarian Cruisers and Destroyers 1914–18 (New Vanguard, 241)

This authoritative study examines the French Navy's last battleships, using detailed color 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. 
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.

French Battleships 1914–45 (New Vanguard, 266)

In 1940, the strategically vital island of Malta was Britain's last toehold in the central Mediterranean, wreaking havoc among Axis shipping. Launching an air campaign to knock Malta out of the war, first Italy and then Germany sought to force a surrender or reduce the defenses enough to allow an invasion. 
Drawing on original documents, multilingual aviation analyst Ryan Noppen explains how technical and tactical problems caused the original Italian air campaign of 1940–41 to fail, and then how the German intervention came close to knocking Malta out of the war. Using stunning full color artwork, this fascinating book explains why the attempt by the Axis powers to take the British colony of Malta ultimately failed.

Malta 1940–42: The Axis' air battle for Mediterranean supremacy (Air Campaign, 4)

A new history of the development of the Dutch fleet in the early 20th century, and the role these warships played in World War II, from the defense of Rotterdam to the Battle of the Java Sea and beyond. In the late 19th and early 20th century, a combination of coastal defense for the homeland and fleet defense 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 HNLMSDe 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 defense 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 cruisersJavaandDe 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 GalenandTjerk 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.

The Royal Netherlands Navy of World War II (New Vanguard)

The history of how the Luftwaffe planned to knock out Holland in a surgical, lightning campaign, but instead suffered wounds against the outnumbered but effective Dutch that would come to haunt them in the Battle of Britain. From the perspective of the German High Command, its invasion of the Netherlands on May 10, 1940 was supposed to be a lightning fast surgical strike, aimed at shoring up the right flank of the Wehrmacht's massive assault on France and Belgium. In a bold manoeuvre, the German Luftwaffe would launch what was at the time the largest airborne operation in history, calculating that surprise and speed would negate the need for a lengthy ground campaign or large numbers of ground troops, using paratroops and air-landing troops to capture key strategic point that would clear the path for the subsequent capitulation of main Dutch city and the government itself. The entire operation was expected to take only 24 hours. The actual campaign proved to be much less efficient and had devastating results for the Luftwaffe. The Netherlands possessed Europe's first fully integrated antiaircraft network, coordinated from a central command as well as modern and competitive aircraft. Furthermore, the Dutch were not taken by surprise on May 10, 1940, as is often assumed in most histories, thanks to the efforts of Dutch intelligence services and an early radar system. By the end of May 10, only some of the German objectives had been achieved and the battle in Dutch skies and for Dutch airfields stalemated for a further four days. Finally on the fifth day of the invasion with its pre-campaign strategy having largely failed, the Luftwaffe resorted to the terror bombing of Rotterdam in a desperate and successful attempt to force the Dutch government to capitulate. While the Battle of the Netherlands can be seen as a tactical victory for Germany, strategically it has to be seen as the first major defeat for the Luftwaffe. Explaining the technical capabilities and campaign plans of the two sides, and charting how the battles were fought, this fascinating book re-examines and reassesses this little-known part of World War II. Dutch-speaking aviation analyst Ryan Noppen argues that while the air campaign against Holland was a tactical victory for Germany, the ability of the well-prepared but outnumbered Dutch to inflict heavy losses was a warning of what would come when the Luftwaffe launched the Battle of Britain.

Holland 1940: The Luftwaffe's first setback in the West (Air Campaign, 23)

Military

Review\n"Informative text coupled with archive images and some first class artwork by illustrator Paul Wright." - Robin Buckland, Military Model Scene\nThe history of Nazi Germany's attempt to build a modern aircraft carrier, and the other aviation ships that Germany and Italy designed or operated.\nThe quest for a modern aircraft carrier was the ultimate symbol of the Axis powers' challenge to Allied naval might, but fully-fledged carriers proved either too difficult, expensive, or politically unpopular for either to make operational. After the Anglo-German Naval Agreement of 1935, Hitler publicly stated his intention to build an aircraft carrier, the Graf Zeppelin, which was launched in 1938. A year later, the ambitious fleet-expansion Z-Plan, was unveiled with two additional aircraft carriers earmarked for production. However, by the beginning of World War II, Graf Zeppelin was not yet completed and work was halted. Further aircraft carrier designs and conversion projects such as the ocean liner Europa and heavy cruiser Seydlitz were considered but, in January 1943, all construction work on surface vessels ceased and naval resources were diverted to the U-boat Campaign.\nThis book explains not only the history of Germany's famous Graf Zeppelin fleet carrier and German carrier conversion projects but also Italy's belated attempt to convert two of her ocean liners into carriers. It considers the role of naval aviation in the two countries' rearmament programs, and describes how ultimately it was only Italian seaplane carriers and German ocean-going, catapult-equipped flying boat carriers that both Axis powers did eventually send into combat.

German and Italian Aircraft Carriers of World War II (New Vanguard, 306)

Dildy, Douglas C.

Mers el-Kébir 1940: Operation Catapult (Campaign, 405)

Africa

When the United States went to war with Spain in April 1898, few European observers believed the small and relatively inexperienced American navy could achieve a decisive naval victory over an established European colonial power. In less than five months however, two Spanish naval squadrons lay at the bottom of the seas and the once great Spanish Empire ceded its last colonies in Asia and the New World to the upstart Americans. Admiral George Dewey, victor at the battle of Manila Bay, became a demigod in the eyes of the American media and public overnight and the excitement of new conquests overseas breathed new life into the traditional American expansionist doctrine of Manifest Destiny. The American naval hubris that developed in the wake of the Spanish-American War in reality rested on only a handful of modern battleships in a navy that was an obsolescent coastal defense force only ten years before. No one understood this better than Theodore Roosevelt. An expansionist who fought with distinction during the war with Spain and an advocate of the sea power theories of Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan, Roosevelt knew the present American navy was not strong enough to defend American shores against the larger navies of Europe let alone those of a new empire. European powers still skirted the Monroe Doctrine as evidenced by the British-German-Italian blockade of Venezuela from 1902-03 and the Dutch FI Venezuela War of 1908, and the United States was increasingly threatened in the Philippines, Samoa, and the Caroline and Marshall Islands by the imperial ambitions of Germany and Japan. To remedy the lack of naval preparedness for America's sudden emergence as a world power, Roosevelt and the United States embarked on rapid naval building program. To emphasize America's growing naval prowess and to demonstrate his "speak softly and carry a big stick" approach to foreign policy, Roosevelt sent the Great White Fleet, a squadron composed of sixteen battleships (all commissioned after 1898), to circumnavigate the globe, a great technical and logistical feat for the time. As impressive as the spectacle of the Great White Fleet was, all of the ships in it were quickly being rendered obsolescent by the dreadnought-type battleships coming into service in Great Britain and Germany. This did not catch the United States off-guard however for as the Great White Fleet was completing its world cruise, the USS South Carolina, America's first dreadnought whose design pre-dated that of HMS Dreadnought, was already fitting out. By the beginning of World War I, the United States possessed the third largest navy in the world and had ten dreadnoughts in service with four more under construction.

US Navy Dreadnoughts 1914–45 (New Vanguard)

Americas

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