The Price of Admiralty The Evolution of Naval Warfare

by Keegan, John

• ISBN13: 9780140096507
• ISBN10: 0140096507
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1990-02-01
• Publisher: Penguin Books

Summary

Keegan illuminates the history of naval combat by expertly dissecting four landmark sea battles, each featuring a different type of warship: The Battle of Trafalgar, the Battle of Jutland in World War I, the Battle of Midway in World War II, and the long and arduous Battle of the Atlantic.

Author Biography

Sir John Desmond Patrick Keegan (1934–2012), was one of the most distinguished contemporary military historians and was for many years the senior lecturer at Sandhurst (the British Royal Military Academy) and the defense editor of the Daily Telegraph (London). Keegan was the author of numerous books including The Face of Battle, The Mask of Command, The Price of Admiralty, Six Armies in Normandy, and The Second World War, and was a fellow at the Royal Society of Literature.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Battle at Sea	p. xv
Trafalgar
The Wooden World	p. 1
The Strategic Background	p. 4
Nelson versus Napoleon	p. 15
Nelson versus Villeneuve	p. 28
Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail	p. 41
Battle off Cape Trafalgar	p. 54
What Had Happened?	p. 89
The Aftermath	p. 100
Jutland
The Fall of the Wooden Walls	p. 109
High Seas Fleet versus Royal Navy	p. 120
The War at Sea before Jutland	p. 128
The Ironclad World	p. 136
The Battle of Jutland	p. 140
The Experience of Action	p. 151
Battlecruisers versus battlecruisers	p. 152
Battleships versus battleships	p. 158
The smaller ships	p. 168
The Aftermath	p. 176
Midway
The Coming of the Aircraft Carrier	p. 183
The Two Navies	p. 190
The Pacific War before Midway	p. 205
The Midway Campaign	p. 214
The Battle of Midway	p. 224
The battle over Midway island	p. 229
The great carrier battle	p. 232
The retreat from Midway	p. 244
Counting the Cost	p. 247
The Battle of the Atlantic: Convoys SC122 and HX229
The Emergence of the Submarine	p. 251
Donitz and the U-boat Service	p. 260
The Battle of the Atlantic	p. 265
The Underwater War	p. 275
Convoy	p. 275
U-boats	p. 277
Escorts	p. 280
Anti-submarine weapons	p. 281
Aircraft	p. 284
Radio intelligence	p. 286
Decryption	p. 287
The Battle for Convoys HX229 and SC122	p. 289
HX229 and SC122	p. 289
The wolf-packs	p. 290
The encounter	p. 291
The massacre of HX229	p. 295
The ordeal of SC122	p. 303
The coming of the aircraft	p. 307
The Balance of the Battle	p. 310
Conclusion: An Empty Ocean	p. 317
Glossary	p. 329
Select Bibliography	p. 337
Index	p. 343
Table of Contents provided by Rittenhouse. All Rights Reserved.