Vedettes-torpilleurs - U.S. Navy : livres

US Navy Gunboats 1885-1945

For more than half a century, American gunboats were the ships often responsible for policing small crises and provided deterrence and fast-response capabilities around the world - showing the flag, landing armed parties, patrolling river and littoral areas, and protecting ex-pats. They were often the United States' most-visible and constant military presence in far-flung foreign lands, and were most closely associated with the Far East, particularly the Philippines and China. Most famous, of course, was the multinational Yangtze Patrol.

Many US gunboats were built, purchased, or reassembled overseas, where they usually served out their entire careers, never coming within 7,000 miles of the national homeland which they served. Numerous gunboats were captured from the Spanish during the 1898 war, many being raised from shallow graves, refurbished, and commissioned into USN service. The classic haunt of US gunboats was the Asiatic Station of China and the Philippines.

Gunboat service overseas was typically exotic and the sailors' lives were often exciting and unpredictable. The major operational theaters associated with the US gunboats were the pre-1898 cruises and patrols of the earliest steel gunboats, the Spanish-American War of 1898 (both the Philippines and the Caribbean), the guerilla wars of the early 20th century Philippines and Latin America, the Asiatic Fleet and Yangtze Patrol of the 1890s-1930s, and finally World War II, which largely entailed operations in China, the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, Alaska, and on convoy routes. It was Japan's sudden 1941-1942 "Centrifugal Offensive" that effectively spelled the beginning of the end not just of most American gunboats, but also the century-old world order in Asia that had provided US gunboats their primary mission.

American PT Boats in World War II

An illustrated study of the development, construction, tactics, and combat actions, of U.S. PT Boats in the Second World War.

American PT Boats in World War II (Volume 2)

This illustrated volume is the companion to Victor Chun's definitive history of American PT boats in the Second World War. Chun presents all new information gleaned since the previous book's publication and includes never before published drawings of PT 809, as well as details on the use of Elcoplane as used by Elco PT boats to increase running speed, described here for the first time.

PT Boats - The US Navy's Fast Attack Patrol Torpedo Boats in World War II (Legends of Warfare)

Patrol Torpedo-or PT boats-captured the public's imagination during WWII due to the daring exploits of their crews. Built not of plywood, as many believe, but rather of mahogany planks, and powered by a trio of Packard marine engines, these vessels operated in every theater, often facing opponents many times their size.
The use of PT boats to evacuate General Douglas MacArthur and his family from the Philippines, a story dramatized in the movie They Were Expendable, put the PT boats and their crews in the public forefront, as did John F. Kennedy's loss of PT-109 and the subsequent rescue of him and his crew.

This book looks at all the PT boat configurations used by the US Navy during WWII through rare archival photos, augmented by images of the few remaining vessels of the type. Part of the Legends of Warfare series.

Patrouillenschiffe der U.S. Navy - seit 1939

Die US-Marine ist heute unbestritten die größte und mächtigste der Welt, sie verfügt über beeindruckende Flugzeugträger und modernste Kreuzer und Zerstörer.
Doch in vielen Regionen ? und Kriegen ? waren die Kampfhandlungen in Küstennähe und Flüssen, wo die »Dicken Pötte« nicht eingesetzt werden konnten. Daher entwickelte die U.S. Navy eine Vielzahl verschiedenster Schnell-, Torpedo- und Patrouillenboote.

In diesem Buch stellen Lutz Kowalzick und Wilhelm M. Donko alle dieser Schiffe der U.S. Navy nach Typen und Klassen vor und beschreiben alle jemals als solche klassifizierten Einheiten, vom Zweiten Weltkrieg über den Koreakrieg bis in die Gegenwart.

US Patrol Torpedo Boats - World War II (Osprey)

Motor torpedo boat development began in the early 1900s, and the vessels first saw service during World War I. However, it was not until the late 1930s that the US Navy commenced the development of the Patrol Torpedo or PT boat.
The PT boat was designed for attacking larger warships with torpedoes using its 'stealth' ability, high-speed and small size to launch and survive these attacks - although they were employed in a wide variety of other missions, including rescuing General MacArthur and his entourage from the Philippines.

This book examines the design and development of these unique craft, very few of which survive today, and goes on to examine their role and combat deployment in World War II.

Contents: Introduction - Development - Design - Operational History - Memorialised PT Boats and Organizations - Glossary - Bibliography - Index.

Vietnam Riverine Craft 1962-75 (Osprey)

In 1965 the military situation in the Mekong River Delta of southern Vietnam had deteriorated to such a degree that the decision was made to commit a joint US Army and Navy Mobile Riverine Force to the area. This force was unique in its composition, mission, and the means by which it operated - riverine craft. Comprising the Army's 2d Brigade, 9th Infantry Division, and the Navy's River Assault Flotilla One, it used a variety of watercraft, including heavily modified landing craft, purpose-built patrol boats, and a whole host of auxiliary and support craft.

This book explores those craft, and also gives an account of Task Force Clearwater, a much smaller operation in the extreme northern part of South Vietnam.

Contents: Introduction - The Boats - Variants - The Riverine War - Surviving Riverine and Patrol Craft - Bibliography - Color plate commentary - Index.