Amphibious Warfare

Amphibious operations have always been an important element of warfare, but they reached their climax during the Second World War when they were carried out on a large scale in every theater of the conflict.

Emergence of American Amphibious Warfare, 1898 - 1945 examines how the United States became a superpower through amphibious operations in order to project military power. While other major world powers pursued and embraced different weapons and technologies in order to create different means of waging war, the United States was one of the few countries that spent decades training, developing, and employing amphibious warfare to pursue its national interests.

From the warmer climate of the Mediterranean to the frozen wastes of Norway’s Arctic islands, the Combined Operations organization was a persistent thorn in the side of Hitler’s Third Reich. From mounting attacks against enemy-held coastlines with small teams of less than a dozen men, through to huge expeditions involving thousands of troops and other personnel, the headquarters of Combined Operations oversaw a wide variety of amphibious operations, all undertaken with the sole aim of tying down the Führer’s forces.