Forgetting the set backs of the American Revolutionary War; in 1793 the Royal Navy embarked on an almost unprecedented era of victories at sea; producing a considerable appetite for pictures of every incident; great or small. A thriving trade in prints and engravings grew up; supplemented by watercolors and oils by celebrated artists. Besidesthese ‘public’ works; many officers--and indeed members of the lower deck--kept personal journals and sketchbooks; illustrated with surprisingly accomplished drawings and watercolors; often depicting the everyday aspects of wartime life at sea that were ignored inthe more celebratory artistic media. These sources form a rich vein that have been barely touched in previous publications; but which this book uses to full effect.Despite numerous defeats; the French navy continued to dispute command of the sea in the period 1793-1797; and the early years of the war abound with fleet engagements; including dramatic victories against the Spanish at St. Vincent and the Dutch at Camperdown; betweenwhich the navy endured the shocking events of the Great Mutiny; potentially the most dangerous moment of the whole war.
#5776609 in Books 2007-07-19Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 .86 x 7.04 x 9.86l; 2.00 #File Name: 1844153460224 pages
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. An important addition to the library of RAF histories. ...By Bill FerrisAn important addition to the library of RAF histories. I have found it a bit heavy going and sometimes repetitive. However it covers the background of the efforts and politics involved in building what eventually became an effective force.4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. You shall go to the BallBy Andy HillThe Cinderella Service-RAF Coastal Command 1939-1945 by Andrew Hendrie. Published by Pen Sword 2006/10. ISBN 9781848842021It's with some shame that it has taken over 65yrs before a truly competent detailed publication has appeared about the exploits of RAF Coastal Command. It's more favoured kin of Fighter Bomber Commands; have been almost exhaustively mined over the intervening decades; yet bar for the odd book here there Coastal Commands efforts history have been sidelined to a few sentences or notations. Hendrie's book will remain the unofficial history of Coastal Command for many a year; and it will fly that flag with pride; for such is the quality of Hendrie's work.We see how Coastal Command grew from a motley collection of some 240 odd wholly unsuitable aircraft for the most part in 1939. To a large efficient machine of around 1000 modern aircraft; with many specialist features missions to boot. The book is broken down into 9 chapters; with the first two covering aircraft types weapons accordingly. We see how Coastal Command struggled to get the aircraft it required; especially in the face of determined opposition from Bomber Command and also to some extent Churchill himself. The early make do collection was gradually replaced by more usable types; able to perform the tasks asked of it. Weaponry; as in any war develops at a pace and that was no different here. The aerial depth charge being Coastal Commands prime weapon is discussed in some depth; along with torpedoes; rockets and guns. The author makes due note of the initiative shown by the men of 10 Sqn RAAF; who employed some 18 machine guns on some of there aircraft early in the war; before being reined in by the powers that be.After these 2 opening chapters we get into the meat of the book; the operational aspect. This is neatly sub-divided into Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW); covered in Chapters 3 4); with chapters 5 6 covering Anti-Shipping (Merchant) and Anti-Shipping (Naval). The ASW chapters covers the Air Gap in the Atlantic; the Bay of Biscay campaign; operations in the Meditterean Sea and finally the coastal campaigns along NW Europe/Norway in the latter yrs of the war. The Anti-Shipping chapters concentrates upon a more limited geographical area but equally as interesting and even more dangerous. We see the formation of Strike Wings that tore into Axis coastal shipping and the perilous task of attacking German surface vessels-off all sizes. Chapter 7 deals with the less glamorous and even less publicised areas of Air-Sea Rescue; Photo Recon and finally Meteorological services. All of these lesser facets helped square the circle of Coastal Commands place voice during the war.With the final 2 chapters covering a retrospective angle and a conclusion; we are left with a plethora of some 21 Appendices; which cover and detail out the various results consequences from the previous chapters. These alone are worth the book price alone in my opinion. The book is fully referenced noted; with some 59 B/W photographs illustrations; plus 3 maps to help the narrative along.If any official history is ever wrote about Coastal Command; the this book will be heavily referenced in it; its that good.5 stars5 of 6 people found the following review helpful. A disappointing bookBy CustomerI was disappointed in this book; which set's out to cover a much neglected part of the war effort. Although the author obviously has a encyclopedic knowledge of his topic; the book struggles to present this knowledge to a reader in a cogent way.The book tends to be extremely repetitive repeating the same facts and opinions over and over again; how marvelous the Hudson was; how important the 250kg depth charge was; how short of Liberators the service was etc etc. Each of these issues are important; but the author repeats them; and several other topics ad nausiem.The book style is confusing and tends to hop about in a 'stream of consciousness' type of style that makes it quite difficult to work out what is going on. For example the author discussed the SS Manela as a depot ship for Sunderland crews in Iceland. The author then notes that there was a second depot ship SS Dumana. In the middle of describing the capacities of these two ships the author switches to describe Sunderland's operating in From Northern Ireland as preferring Loch Erne to Loch Foyle. It's not discussed if the SS Dumana was supporting these operations in Northern Ireland; or was in Iceland; or somewhere else. Similarly we leap from year to year and it's often difficult to know if we are still in 1941; or have moved on to 1943 or 1945!.I think as a reference book this book will find considerable utility; where you just want to dip in and out to confirms some facts; it's fine. As a book that might give a reader an insight into the operations and development of Costal Command; and the men who fought there; it's messy writing style makes it too torturous to enjoy.
