Марк Стилл — книжные серии

In the early hours of December 7, 1941, the Japanese First Air Fleet launched a massive air-strike against the American Pacific Fleet based at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Supported by a group of midget submarines, the attack gutted the American battleship fleet but, owing to a lack of intelligence, the American aircraft carriers they hoped to destroy were not present. In this new study of the raid, Mark Stille reexamines the political context of the attack and the intelligence operations of both sides, and gives a detailed analysis of all the major events during the battle. Backed with numerous photographs, diagrams, maps, and artwork, this book is a complete study of the Japanese attack that awoke 'the sleeping giant'.

Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku was the defining Japanese naval commander of World War II. Yamamoto's career in the Imperial Japanese Navy started in the early years of the 20th century and he saw service in the Russo-Japanese War, being wounded in the battle of Tsushima in 1904. He went on to study at Harvard University and serve as a naval attaché in the inter-war years, an experience that was to give him a unique insight into the American psyche. Despite the success of his daring pre-emptive strike on Pearl Harbor in 1941, that damaged the US Pacific Fleet and ushered in the Pacific War, Yamamoto's subsequent handling of the Japanese combined fleet can be called into question. The final campaign commanded by Yamamoto was that around Guadalcanal, where Yamamoto's myth of excellence will be totally laid bare. Despite a considerable numerical advantage over the Americans, Yamamoto never brought this advantage to bear. The result was a devastating defeat for the Imperial Japanese Navy and, eventually, the death of Yamamoto himself.

Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 was quickly followed by a rapid invasion of Malaya, a plan based entirely on the decisive use of its airpower. While the British was inadequately prepared, they likewise relied on the RAF to defend their colony. The campaign was a short match between Japanese airpower at its peak and an outgunned colonial air force, and its results were stunning.

The subsequent Dutch East Indies campaign was even more dependent on airpower, with Japan having to seize a string of island airfields to support their leapfrog advance. Facing the Japanese was a mixed bag of Allied air units, including the Dutch East Indies Air Squadron and the US Far East Air Force. The RAF fell back to airfields on Sumatra in the last stages of the Malaya campaign, and was involved in the last stages of the campaign to defend the Dutch colony.

For the first time, this study explores these campaigns from an airpower perspective, explaining how and why the Japanese were so devastatingly effective.

The campaign for Guadalcanal, which stretched from August 1942 until February 1943, centered on Henderson Field. The airfield was captured by the US on 8 August and placed into operation by 20 August. As long as the airfield was kept operational and stocked with sufficient striking power, the Japanese could not run convoys with heavy equipment and large amounts of supplies to the island. Instead, they were forced to rely on night runs by destroyers which could not carry enough men or supplies to shift the balance decisively against the American garrison on the island.
The American air contingent on the island, named the ‘Cactus Air Force', comprised Marine, Navy and Army Air Force units. It had the challenging mission of defending the airfield against constant Japanese attacks, and more importantly, of striking major Japanese attempts to reinforce the island. The mission of neutralizing Henderson Field fell primarily to the Imperial Navy's Air Force flying out of airfields in the Rabaul area. The units charged with this mission were among the most accomplished in the entire Imperial Navy with a high proportion of very experienced pilots and a superb air superiority fighter (the famous ‘Zero'). However, the distance from Rabaul to Guadalcanal handicapped Japanese operations and their primary bomber was terribly vulnerable to interception.

This book traces the air campaign from both sides and explores the factors behind the American victory and the Japanese defeat. The text is supported by full-colour illustrations and contemporary photography.

The Midway-class were the US Navy's biggest carriers built during World War II. Superbly illustrated, this explains how they became the backbone of the Cold War fleet.

Entering service in September 1945, the Midway-class aircraft carrier was the US Navy's ultimate World War II-era design, and these would be its frontline carriers as the Cold War dawned. A fine design and one big enough to accept significant modernizations over the decades, two of the ships saw combat in the Vietnam War, and Midway even launched the first carrier airstrikes of the Gulf War in 1990.

In this book, naval expert Mark Stille explains how the Midway class was the US Navy's attempt to build a much larger and more survivable version of the wartime Essex class; its extensive new protection system included the first armoured flight deck in the US Navy. He highlights how new weapons systems transformed the Midways during the jet age, from angled flight decks and catapults to CIWS, until Midway found her last home as a museum ship in San Diego, the only non-Essex-class American carrier to be preserved.

Illustrated with archive photos and superb original art, including profiles detailing how the ships were rebuilt throughout their careers, this book explores the heart of the US Navy's carrier fleet during the early Cold War.

An illustrated history of the long Cold War careers of the US Navy's last gun destroyers, from the modernized World War II-era Fletcher-class to the Forrest Sherman-class.

The finest American destroyers of World War II had surprisingly long careers into the Cold War and the missile age. The 175-strong Fletcher-class was the largest class of US Navy destroyers ever built, and most received some modernization after World War II. A handful were converted into ASW (Anti-Submarine Warfare) escorts and one was even converted into the US Navy's first guided missile destroyer. Many Sumner-class destroyers were also kept in service, with the last decommissioned in 1973.

The Gearing class was the classic US Navy wartime destroyer to have a second Cold War career, some being modified into picket ships and others into ASW escorts. Ninety-five were extensively modernized under the Fleet Modernization and Rehabilitation (FRAM) program which allowed them to serve until 1980. The majority of these ships then saw service with foreign navies.

However the story of Cold War gun destroyers is not just one of World War II relics. Commissioned in the 1950s, the 18 ships of the Forrest Sherman class were the US Navy's last all-gun destroyers, and were considered to be the pinnacle of US Navy gun-destroyer design. Later in their careers, most were modernized for ASW and antiair warfare. The virtually unknown Norfolk class was originally built as a destroyer leader and maximized for ASW but only two were modernized and the other three retired early. Many of these ships, such as USS Edson, Cassin Young, and Turner Joy, still survive as museum ships today.

Using battlescene artwork, detailed illustrations and photos, this book explores the careers, modernizations, and roles of all these unsung Cold War stalwarts, the last gun destroyers of the US Navy.

A study of the design, development and eventual fates of the uncompleted super-battleships intended to be built before and during World War II.


At the start of World War II the battleship was still king, and all the major powers were designing even mightier battleships to surpass their most modern and powerful classes. But when World War II broke out, aircraft carriers would dominate naval warfare, and none of these monster warships were completed.
In this book, naval expert Mark Stille uncovers these lost battleships as they are reconstructed with superb new full-colour artwork. The US Navy wanted five Montana-class ships, based on the Iowas but with a heavier main battery and improved protection, and the Royal Navy began work on three 16in-gun Lion-class fast battleships. The German Navy developed its H-class designs: initially an improved Bismack-class, they became more fantastical, culminating in the 141,500-ton, 20in-gun H-44. The Japanese A-150 was based on the Yamato-class but with 20.1in guns, while the 15 ships planned for the USSR's Sovetsky Soyuz-class would have rivalled the Montanas in size.

Explaining the design, intended roles and fate of these ships, this is the story of the last battleship designs in history.

A history of the enduring Essex-class ships, the US Navy's finest and most numerous fleet carrier during World War II, which were modernized repeatedly and served with distinction.

The Essex class was the USN's war-winning ship class of the Pacific War. Of the 24 ships completed, 14 saw action, making the Essex class the largest class of fleet aircraft carriers ever built. These ships had a fine balance of striking power, protection, and speed and were modernized during and after the war. There were five distinct programs carried out, adding not only angled flight decks for jet operations, but repeated upgrades to sensors, weapons, and equipment.

Essex-class carriers were used in a number of roles and provided the vast majority of US Navy air power in the Korean War, and a sizeable proportion of air power in the Vietnam conflict. However, as the "super carriers” began to enter service in the early 1960s, the Essex class was relegated to secondary roles- a single Essex carrier served until 1991 as the US Navy's training carrier. This book provides an in-depth portrait of this important and enduring class of ship, and looks at its development and modifications while considering the many and varied actions it took part in.

Though they were never the most glamorous of warships, found US Navy frigates were frequently found on the frontlines of the Cold War at sea. These warships were the descendants of World War II's destroyer escorts, designed primarily to escort convoys. They specialized in anti-submarine warfare, but were intended to be numerous, tough, versatile, and well-armed enough to show US naval power around the world, performing roles that varied from intercepting drug-smugglers to defending aircraft carriers.

When the Cold War turned hot, frigates were often there. It was a US Navy frigate, Harold E. Holt, that conducted the US Navy's first hostile boarding action since 1826 during the SS Mayaguez incident. Frigates were at the forefront of operations in the Persian Gulf during the Tanker War, with the frigate USS Stark suffering a notorious Exocet attack by Iraqi warplanes, and proving the Oliver Hazard Perry-class's legendary toughness.

This book explains how the technology and design of frigates changed during the Cold War, how the classes were modified to keep up to date, and explores the many varied missions they performed during the Cold War and since.

The Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marine or RM) began the Second World War with one of the largest fleets in the world. Included in this was a total of 59 fleet destroyers, and others were added during the war. These were a diverse collection of ships dating back to the First World War, large destroyers built to counter ships of similar size being introduced in the French Navy (the RM's historical enemy), and medium-sized ships which constituted the bulk of the destroyer force. RM destroyers were built for high speed, not endurance since they were only expected to operate inside the Mediterranean. They were also well-armed, but lacked radar.

During the war, RM destroyers fought well. With the exception of a small force based in Abyssinia which fought a series of battles in the Red Sea against the British, RM destroyers were active in the Mediterranean. The primary mission of the RM curing the war was to keep the supply lines to North Africa open. The Italians were largely successful in this effort, and destroyers were key in the effort. RM destroyers were present at every fleet action with the British Mediterranean Fleet.. The intensity of these actions were shown by the fact that the RM lost 51 destroyers during the war.