Naval aircraft books - Great Britain - RNAS and FAA

A Century of British Naval Aviation 1909-2009

The history of the first century of British Naval aviation, with personal accounts adding colour to the achievements both in technology, such as angled flight decks, mirror deck landing systems, helicopter assault and vertical take-off, and in operations, including the sinking of the Konigsberg and the daring attack on the Italian fleet at Taranto, convoy protection, operations with the United States Navy in the Pacific, then, post-war, Suez, and later the recovery of the Falklands from Argentine invasion.

The Royal Navy was in the forefront of aviation from a very early stage. As the author reveals officers such as the legendary Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher quickly recognised the strategic and tactical importance of air power. Winston Churchill, as First Lord of the Admiralty, volunteered the Navy for the air defence of the UK in WW1 but with the formation of the RAF in 1918 the Navy had a fierce fight to retain its own air arms and this is a struggle that has continued up to the present day. Not only are there many thrilling accounts of operations but this fascinating book also includes a chronology of major events.

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Coastal Patrol : Royal Navy Airship Operations During the Great War 1914-1918

In the summer of 1915 the Royal Naval Air Service found itself engaged in an unexpected war at sea, the fight to prevent the German submarine fleet from disrupting the flow of vital supplies to the British Isles, necessary for the conduct of the war.
It was a war that had to be won because by the spring of 1917 the U-boat campaign against Allied merchant shipping was close to bringing the British war effort to the point of collapse. Airships of the RNAS played a vital part in this new war at sea.

This book tells the story of the young men who ventured out over the often hostile waters around the British Isles in airships, who were expected to hunt down the German submarines and to attack them with the hopelessly inadequate weapons at their disposal.
The story is told by those who took part in this new form of warfare, through pieces written by them or via interviews with veterans. It covers the entire experience of being an airship pilot, from initial training, through their numerous adventures while flying these frail craft over the coastal waters of the British Isles, to the final victory in 1918.
Profusely illustrated with many unpublished photographs.

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The British Fleet Air Arm in World War II (Osprey)

A concise history of the Royal Navy's air arm during World War II, from their Arctic convoys, to the battle of Malta, and the last raids on Japan. Amazingly, the Admiralty only had 406 operational pilots and eight carriers when war broke out, but a mere six years later there were over 3,000 operational pilots and 53 aircraft carriers patrolling the seas in every theatre of the war.

This book charts the rapid evolution of the Fleet Air Arm during the war as air power took over at the cutting edge of naval warfare. Mark Barber's account is highly illustrated with photographs and specially commissioned full-colour artwork and offers an overview of the British Fleet Air Arm, from recruitment and training through to combat accounts.

Contents: Origins of the air branch: World War I - The interwar years - Recruitment & training: Pilots - Observers - Telegraphist Air Gunners - Mechanics - Fighter direction officers - Deck landing control officers - Meteorologists - Women's Royal Naval Service - Command structure: Chain of command - Squadron composition - Embarked air groups - Mixed squadrons - Squadron numbering & markings - Campaigns: 1939: the Western Approaches - 1940: Norway - France & the Battle of Britain - the Mediterran - EAN: Force H - the Taranto raid - 1941: the Mediterranean - the Bismark - 1942: the 'Channel Dash' - the Malta convoys - Operation 'Torch' - 1943: Sicily & Italy - Victorious in the Far East - 1944: the Tirpitz raids - the Normandy landings - Operation 'Dragoon' - 1944-45: the British Pacific Fleet: the East Indies - Okinawa -Japan - Tactics: Torpedo-bombers - Dive-bombers - Fighters - Sources & select bibliography - Plate commentaries - Index.

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Taranto 1940 : The Fleet Air Arm's Precursor to Pearl Harbor (Osprey)

The Royal Navy's attack on Taranto in 1940 heralded a new age of warfare. It was the decisive moment in a struggle for dominance of the Mediterranean that had gone on for months, as the British and Italian navies both looked to secure maritime supply routes for their colonies.

With the enormous demands of a global war beginning to tell, the British capital ships were simply too thinly spread for a large fleet action against Taranto, where the bulk of the Italian fleet lay menacingly. How was the Royal Navy to eliminate the threat of the Regia Marina?

This is the story of one of World War II's most devastating raids, recounting how a handful of obsolete Fairey Swordfish biplanes swooped in and destroyed an Italian battleship and badly damaged two more.
With expert analysis, detailed colour illustrations and a gripping narrative, this book explains the origins of the attack, its planning and execution, and what happened in the aftermath.

Contents: Origins of the campaign - Chronology - Opposing commanders - Opposing armies - Orders of battle - Opposing plans - The operation - Aftermath - The battlefields today - Further reading - Index.

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