The British Pacific Fleet: The Royal Navy's Most Powerful Strike Force
“Magnificent and important . . . should be on the shelves of anyone with a genuine interest in the history of the Royal Navy in the Second World War.” —Military History Monthly

In August 1944 the British Pacific Fleet did not exist. Six months later it was strong enough to launch air attacks on Japanese territory, and by the end of the war it constituted the most powerful force in the history of the Royal Navy, fighting as professional equals alongside the US Navy in the thick of the action. How this was achieved by a nation nearing exhaustion after five years of conflict is a story of epic proportions in which ingenuity, diplomacy and dogged persistence all played a part. As much a political as a technical triumph, the BPF was uniquely complex in its make-up: its C-in-C was responsible to the Admiralty for the general direction of his Fleet; took operational orders from the American Admiral Nimitz; answered to the Government of Australia for the construction and maintenance of a vast base infrastructure, and to other Commonwealth Governments for the ships and men that formed his fully-integrated multi-national fleet.

This ground-breaking new work by David Hobbs describes the background, creation and expansion of the BPF from its first tentative strikes, through operations off the coast of Japan to its impact on the immediate post-war period, including the opinions of USN liaison officers attached to the British flagships. The book is the first to demonstrate the real scope and scale of the BPF’s impressive achievement.

“Perhaps the greatest Royal Navy story of, at least, the twentieth century.” —Aircrew Book Review
1100819699
The British Pacific Fleet: The Royal Navy's Most Powerful Strike Force
“Magnificent and important . . . should be on the shelves of anyone with a genuine interest in the history of the Royal Navy in the Second World War.” —Military History Monthly

In August 1944 the British Pacific Fleet did not exist. Six months later it was strong enough to launch air attacks on Japanese territory, and by the end of the war it constituted the most powerful force in the history of the Royal Navy, fighting as professional equals alongside the US Navy in the thick of the action. How this was achieved by a nation nearing exhaustion after five years of conflict is a story of epic proportions in which ingenuity, diplomacy and dogged persistence all played a part. As much a political as a technical triumph, the BPF was uniquely complex in its make-up: its C-in-C was responsible to the Admiralty for the general direction of his Fleet; took operational orders from the American Admiral Nimitz; answered to the Government of Australia for the construction and maintenance of a vast base infrastructure, and to other Commonwealth Governments for the ships and men that formed his fully-integrated multi-national fleet.

This ground-breaking new work by David Hobbs describes the background, creation and expansion of the BPF from its first tentative strikes, through operations off the coast of Japan to its impact on the immediate post-war period, including the opinions of USN liaison officers attached to the British flagships. The book is the first to demonstrate the real scope and scale of the BPF’s impressive achievement.

“Perhaps the greatest Royal Navy story of, at least, the twentieth century.” —Aircrew Book Review
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The British Pacific Fleet: The Royal Navy's Most Powerful Strike Force

The British Pacific Fleet: The Royal Navy's Most Powerful Strike Force

by David Hobbs
The British Pacific Fleet: The Royal Navy's Most Powerful Strike Force

The British Pacific Fleet: The Royal Navy's Most Powerful Strike Force

by David Hobbs

eBook

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Overview

“Magnificent and important . . . should be on the shelves of anyone with a genuine interest in the history of the Royal Navy in the Second World War.” —Military History Monthly

In August 1944 the British Pacific Fleet did not exist. Six months later it was strong enough to launch air attacks on Japanese territory, and by the end of the war it constituted the most powerful force in the history of the Royal Navy, fighting as professional equals alongside the US Navy in the thick of the action. How this was achieved by a nation nearing exhaustion after five years of conflict is a story of epic proportions in which ingenuity, diplomacy and dogged persistence all played a part. As much a political as a technical triumph, the BPF was uniquely complex in its make-up: its C-in-C was responsible to the Admiralty for the general direction of his Fleet; took operational orders from the American Admiral Nimitz; answered to the Government of Australia for the construction and maintenance of a vast base infrastructure, and to other Commonwealth Governments for the ships and men that formed his fully-integrated multi-national fleet.

This ground-breaking new work by David Hobbs describes the background, creation and expansion of the BPF from its first tentative strikes, through operations off the coast of Japan to its impact on the immediate post-war period, including the opinions of USN liaison officers attached to the British flagships. The book is the first to demonstrate the real scope and scale of the BPF’s impressive achievement.

“Perhaps the greatest Royal Navy story of, at least, the twentieth century.” —Aircrew Book Review

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781783469222
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books Limited
Publication date: 01/31/2020
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 480
File size: 108 MB
Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

David Hobbs served in the Royal Navy as a pilot, and later became the Curator of the Fleet Air Arm Museum. He has since established himself as an authoritative writer on naval aviation topics, with more than a dozen highly regarded books to his name, most recently of these was The Royal Navy’s Air Service in the Great War published by Seaforth in 2017.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgements xi

Glossary xiii

Chapter 1 Background, Theory and Experience 1

Chapter 2 Forward Planning 25

Chapter 3 Evolution and Expansion 36

Chapter 4 Strikes against the Sumatran Oil Refineries 63

Chapter 5 Australia and Logistic Support 108

Chapter 6 Operation 'Iceberg I' 126

Chapter 7 Replenishment in Leyte Gulf 159

Chapter 8 Operation 'Iceberg II' 175

Chapter 9 Operation 'Inmate' 200

Chapter 10 Repairs in Australia and Improved Logistic Support 214

Chapter 11 Submarine and Mine Warfare 241

Chapter 12 Strikes against the Japanese Mainland 252

Chapter 13 Victory 294

Chapter 14 Repatriation, Trooping and War-Brides 322

Chapter 15 A Peacetime Fleet 347

Chapter 16 Retrospection 377

Appendices

A Composition of the BPF in January 1945 385

B Composition of the BPF in August 1945 387

C Composition of the BPF in August 1948 390

D BPF Air Stations and Air Yards 391

E BPF Flag and Commanding Officers in August 1945 393

F BPF Aircraft 400

G Pennant Numbers allocated to Commonwealth Ships in the BPF by the USN 1944-6 403

H The BPF Flying Programme for 9 August 1945 410

I HMS Implacable's Administrative Orders for the Repatriation of Allied Prisoners of War and Internees (RAPWI) dated 17 September 1945 411

J Admiral Fraser's Speech on leaving Australia 416

K Admiral Halsey's Speech on 15 August 1945 418

L Admiral Rawlings' Speech on 16 August 1945 421

Notes 423

Bibliography 445

Index 449

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