British Royal Navy

The Father of the Royal Navy

By Eric Niderost

Samuel Pepys is best known for the diary he wrote from 1660 to 1669. Because it was never intended for publication, the diary is frank and even ribald. Read more

British Royal Navy

Twisting the Lion’s Tail: Dutch Raid up the Medway River

By Eric Niderost

Lieutenant-Admiral Michiel de Ruyter was a man of action, but he could be formidable even in repose On June 7, 1667, de Ruyter was sitting in the great cabin of the Dutch flagship Harderwijk listening stolidly while Cornelius de Witt finally revealed his plans for a raid on England to a group of assembled naval officers. Read more

British Royal Navy

North Sea Duel at Camperdown

By Michael E. Haskew

By the autumn of 1797, revolutionary France had been at war with the combined forces of the First Coalition for four long years. Read more

British Royal Navy

French Strategy in the American Revolution

By David Curtis Skaggs

When most Americans think of the triumphant ending of the Revolutionary War, they almost exclusively credit George Washington for the miraculous outcome, forgetting that the war was part of a much larger worldwide contest of which the revolution in the colonies was only a part. Read more

British Royal Navy

British Raid up the Potomac

By Gustav Person

In the summer of 1814, the residents of the District of Columbia and surrounding counties in Maryland and Virginia had considerable cause for concern. Read more

British Royal Navy

The Four Days’ Battle: A Dutch Triumph

By Eric Niderost

Admiral General George Monck, first Duke of Albemarle, walked into the great cabin of his flagship Royal Charles with a calm and determined air, tersely greeting his assembled captains before they all sat down at a large table. Read more

British Royal Navy

Commodore Thomas Macdonough During the First Barbary War

by Steven Ossad

In the harbor of Tripoli, the 38-gun frigate USS Philadelphia, pride of the Mediterranean Squadron, lay at anchor. Read more

British Royal Navy

The Nazi Aircraft Carrier Program: Erich Raeder vs. Hermann Göring

by Blaine Taylor

On June 6, 1944, as the massive Allied naval armada made its way from ports in England across the English Channel to launch the projected D-day invasion at Normandy, a German fleet sortie swept down from its home ports on the North Sea and from occupied Norway. Read more

British Royal Navy

A Sea Drama of Epic Proportions: The Altmark, Graf Spee & Cossack

By Eric Niderost

In the early months of World War II, Altmark, Graf Spee, and HMS Cossack all had important roles in a sea drama of epic proportions. Read more

British Royal Navy

Exercise Tiger: Deadly D-Day Rehearsal

by Robert Heege

It was spring 1944, and the morning sun was glinting off the face of the water as the Landing Ship, Tank (LST) transports chugged their way through the choppy surf and headed in close toward shore, their destination a gravel-strewn stretch of beach on the English Channel code named “U” for Utah. Read more

British Royal Navy

Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding & Hermann Goering

by Michael Haskew

By the summer of 1940, Hitler’s Nazi war machine had advanced from victory to victory, crushing Poland, overrunning France and the Low Countries, and ejecting Allied forces from the continent of Europe at Dunkirk. Read more

British Royal Navy

Russia in WWI’s Triple Entente

by Michael Haskew

By the time Imperial Russia and Great Britain concluded the Anglo-Russian Convention on August 31, 1907, effectively establishing the alliance known as the Triple Entente, the Russian Empire was in the midst of decades of upheaval. Read more

British Royal Navy

German Zeppelins: Terrorizing The British And RAF During WW1

By Eric Niderost

Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson was not a happy man, and his sour mood was made worse by the weather. Read more

British Royal Navy

German Kriegsmarine: Applying Deception To Harass Allied Shipping

by William H. Langenberg

Germany operated surface auxiliary cruisers, sometimes termed commerce raiders, in both world wars. The defeat of France in June 1940 opened Atlantic Ocean ports to the Germans for the first time, greatly facilitating access to the high seas by such raiders. Read more

British Royal Navy

The Sinking of Scharnhorst

By Robert Barr Smith

She was a beautiful ship, long and sleek and very fast. She was christened Scharnhorst,named for Prussian General Gerhard Scharnhorst,one of the revered founders of the Prussian Army. Read more

British Royal Navy

HMS Upholder Fought In Mediterranean To Defeat Rommel In North Africa

By Robert Barr Smith

She was a tiny vessel, not really designed for the dangers and hardships of war in far places and deep waters. Read more

British Royal Navy

“Bomber” Harris and His Royal Air Force Bomber Command

By Michael D. Hull

Racing his Bentley at breakneck speed between his High Wycombe headquarters and the Air Ministry during World War II, Air Marshal Arthur Travers Harris was the bane of motorcycle policemen on the London road. Read more

British Royal Navy

Trade of 50 American Destroyers for British Bases in World War II

By William H. Langenberg

In early September 1940, the world was in turmoil. The battle of Britain was nearing its climax, and elsewhere global tensions ran high. Read more

British Royal Navy

The HMS Illustrious & Other Armored British Carriers Left Their Mark

By Sam McGowan

When one thinks of carrier warfare in World War II, the Japanese and U.S. navies usually come to mind. Read more

British Royal Navy

Winston Churchill And Franklin Roosevelt’s Arcadia Conference

By Michael D. Hull

Still stunned by the sneak Japanese onslaught on the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, American families tried to summon up their Christmas spirit in December 1941. Read more