World War II at Sea: A Global History

793 Pages·2018·36.74 MB·English

by  Craig L. Symonds

W O R L D W A R I I
A T S E A

W O R L D WA R I I
AT S E A
A GLOBAL HISTORY
CRAIG L. SYMONDS
1
1
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© Craig L. Symonds
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Symonds, Craig L., author.
Title: World War II at sea : a global history / Craig L. Symonds.
Description: New York : Oxford University Press, [2018] |
Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017032532 | ISBN 9780190243678 (hardback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: World War, 1939–1945—Naval operations
Classification: LCC D770 .S87 2018 | DDC 940.54/5—dc23 LC record available at
https://lccn.loc.gov/2017032532
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America
For Marylou, again

CONTENTS
List of Charts and Graphs ix
Author’s Note xi
Prologue: London, 1930 xiii
PART I: THE EUROPEAN WAR 1
1. Unterseebooten 3
2. Panzerschiffen 18
3. Norway 39
4. France Falls 61
5. The Regia Marina 78
6. The War on Trade, I 103
7. The Bismarck 130
PART II: THE WAR WIDENS 153
8. The Rising Sun 155
9. A Two-Ocean Navy 173
10. Operation AI: The Attack on Pearl Harbor 195
11. Rampage 216
12. The War on Trade, II 240
PART III: WATERSHED 267
13. Stemming the Tide 269
14. Two Beleaguered Islands 294
viii Contents
15. A Two-Ocean War 322
16. The Tipping Point 348
17. The War on Trade, III 373
PART IV: ALLIED COUNTERATTACK 401
18. Airplanes and Convoys 403
19. Husky 421
20. Twilight of Two Navies 443
21. Breaking the Shield 469
22. Large Slow Target 497
PART V: RECKONING 517
23. D-Day 519
24. Seeking the Decisive Battle 538
25. Leyte Gulf 562
26. The Noose Tightens 589
27. Denouement 613
Epilogue: Tokyo Bay, 1945 637
Afterword 641
Acknowledgments 649
Abbreviations used in Notes 651
Notes 653
Bibliography 717
Index 743
CHARTS AND GRAPHS
Relative Sizes of Royal Navy Warships in the 1930s xvii
The Cruises of the Graf Spee and Deutschland,
August–December 1939 28
The Campaign in Norway, April 1940 44
The Mediterranean, 1940–41 80
The Pursuit of the Bismarck, May 18–27, 1941 136
Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor,
November 26–December 7, 1941 201
Japan Moves South, December 1941–March 1942 219
The Kidō Butai in the Indian Ocean, April 3–10, 1942 237
The Battle of the Coral Sea, May 7–8, 1942 277
Fleet Movements Prior to the Battle of Midway,
June 3–5, 1942 284
The Battle of Savo Island, August 8, 1942 305
Operation Pedestal, August 10–16, 1942 315
Operation Torch, November 8–11, 1942 350
Naval Battles off Morocco, November 8–10, 1942 357
ix