The Sea and the Second World War: Maritime Aspects of a Global Conflict

by Marcus Faulkner (Editor), Alessio Patalano (Editor)

Overview

The sea shaped the course and conduct of World War II, from the first moments of the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, to the Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945. The impact could be felt far beyond the shoreline, as the arms and armies carried across the oceans were ultimately destined to wage war ashore. Populations and industries depended on the raw materials and supplies in a war that increasingly became a contest of national will and economic might. Ultimately, it was the war at sea that linked numerous regional conflicts and theaters of operation into a global war.

As the war grew in complexity and covered an increasingly larger geographical area, the organization of the maritime effort and the impact it had on the formulation of national strategy also evolved. This volume illustrates the impact of naval operations on the Second World War by highlighting topics previously neglected in the scholarship. In doing so, it provides new insights into political, strategic, administrative, and operational aspects of the maritime dimension of the war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781949668070
Publisher:	University Press of Kentucky
Publication date:	07/07/2020
Series:	New Perspectives on the Second World War
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	326
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Marcus Faulkner is senior teaching fellow in the Department of War Studies at King's College London. He is the author of The Great War at Sea: A Naval Atlas 1914–19 and War at Sea: A Naval Atlas, 1939–1945, and coeditor of Northern European Overture to War, 1939–1941: From Memel to Barbarossa. Alessio Patalano is a reader in East Asian Warfare and Security at the Department of War Studies at King's College London and specializes in Japanese naval history, strategy, and contemporary maritime issues in East Asia. His latest monograph is Postwar Japan as a Seapower: Imperial Legacy, Wartime Experience and the Making of a Navy.

Marcus Faulkner is a senior teaching fellow in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. He is the author of The Great War at Sea: A Naval Atlas, 1914–1919 and War at Sea: A Naval Atlas, 1939–1945, and coeditor of Northern European Overture to War, 1939–1941: From Memel to Barbarossa.
Alessio Patalano is a reader in East Asian Warfare and Security at the Department of War Studies at King’s College London and specializes in Japanese naval history, strategy, and contemporary maritime issues in East Asia. His latest monograph is Postwar Japan as a Seapower: Imperial Legacy, Wartime Experience and the Making of a Navy.

Table of Contents

Buying Time: British Sumbarine Capability in the Far East, 1919-1940
Naval Strategies in Collision: Britain, the USA, and Japan at the Beginning of the Pacific War
The Perils of Technological Transofrmation: A Case Study of the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor
The Dominions and British Maritime Power in the Second World War
Schnellboote, Strategy, and the Defense of Festung Europa, 1943–1944
The Development of Combined Operations Headquarters and the Admiralty during the Second World War: Personalities and Administration
To the Jungle Shore: Australia and Amphibious Warfare in the South West Pacific Area, 1941-1945
Naval Gunfire Support at Iwo Jima: The Perils of Doctrinal Myopia
Naval Power, Mao Zedong, and the War in China, 1926-1949
The Army-Navy Contest for Control of Land-Based Antisubmarine Aviation and the Military Unification Debate, 1942-1948

What People are Saying About This

Professor David Snead

"The Sea and the Second World War is a critical addition to our understanding of the war. Rarely does a collection of essays offer so many new and persuasive assessments. Well done!"

Dr. Steven Paget

"This is a fine collection of essays by some of the leading scholars in the field. The book addresses comprehensively the vital importance of the sea across a range of theaters during the Second World War through a diverse selection of case studies. The examinations and re-examinations in this volume will be of interest to both scholars and practitioners."

From the Publisher

" The Sea and the Second World War is a critical addition to our understanding of the war. Rarely does a collection of essays offer so many new and persuasive assessments. Well done!" — Professor David Snead, Liberty University

"This is a fine collection of essays by some of the leading scholars in the field. The book addresses comprehensively the vital importance of the sea across a range of theaters during the Second World War through a diverse selection of case studies. The examinations and re-examinations in this volume will be of interest to both scholars and practitioners." — Dr. Steven Paget, University of Portsmouth

Editorial Reviews

This is an excellent, well-written volume, reflecting the quality of the contributors, and provides much thought-provoking and intellectually stimulating reading.

The Naval Review

The Sea and the Second World War is an exceptionally good collection of essays on the naval side of the war for the serious student of naval operations.

Strategy Page

The Sea and the Second World War is a collection of thought-provoking papers about disparate maritime aspects of the Second World War.

The Northern Mariner

This is a fine collection of essays by some of the leading scholars in the field. The book addresses comprehensively the vital importance of the sea across a range of theaters during the Second World War through a diverse selection of case studies. The examinations and re-examinations in this volume will be of interest to both scholars and practitioners.

Dr. Steven Paget

The Sea and the Second World War is a critical addition to our understanding of the war. Rarely does a collection of essays offer so many new and persuasive assessments. Well done!

Professor David Snead

" The Sea and the Second World War is an exceptionally good collection of essays on the naval side of the war for the serious student of naval operations." — Strategy Page

" The Sea and the Second World War is a collection of thought-provoking papers about disparate maritime aspects of the Second World War." — The Northern Mariner

From the Publisher