New Vanguard 045 Union Monitor 1861 1865

On September 1, 1910, France became the last great naval power to lay down a dreadnought battleship, the Courbet. The ensuing Courbet and Bretagne-class dreadnoughts had a relatively quiet World War I, spending most of it at anchor off the entrance to the Adriatic, keeping watch over the Austro-Hungarian fleet. The constraints of the Washington Naval Treaty prevented new battleships being built until the 1930s, with the innovative Dunkerque-class and excellent Richelieu-class of battleships designed to counter new German designs.

The HMMWV, better known as the Humvee or Hummer, has set the world standard for army tactical vehicles since its introduction into the US Army in the 1980s. Designed to be the successor to the jeep of World War II with a greater load-bearing capacity, the Humvee has proven to be adaptable to a wide range of roles, including weapons carrier, missile launcher, command vehicle and other specialized types. This book traces the development and use of the Humvee and its variations, including the latest families of armored Humvees used in Iraq in 2003–05, and its adoption in a peacekeeping role the world over.

Determined to learn from the lessons of World War I, the US Army developed a new generation of field artillery weapons and tactics during the 1930s. Consequently, in World War II it was the clear leader in field artillery. Providing a thorough examination of the many critical innovations and doctrines, and the impact they had on performance, including the motorization of artillery, Fire Direction Centers, aerial observation, and radio communications. Exploring, in their entirety, the weapons that formed the backbone of the US artillery arsenal in World War II, this book reveals a wealth of detail not readily available elsewhere.

The US Army had a unique tactical doctrine during World War II, placing the emphasis for tank fighting on its Tank Destroyer Command whose main early-war vehicle was the M10 3-inch Gun Motor Carriage, based on the reliable M4A2 Sherman tank chassis. This durable and versatile vehicle saw combat service from the North Africa campaign in 1943. By 1944, its gun was not powerful enough and it was rearmed with the new 90 mm gun, becoming the M36 90mm Gun Motor Carriage. This book details one of the only US armoured vehicles capable of dealing with the Panther and Tiger during the Battle of the Bulge.

Elephants have been deployed as weapons for centuries, particularly in South and South-East Asia, where war elephants constituted the bulk of most armies in the region from antiquity right up to the 19th century. This book offers an insight into the incredible history of these 'living tanks,' focusing on the design of the equipment and armament that made them so terrifying. The author, Konstantin S Nossov, traces the history of war elephants, from their deployment against Alexander the Great's army at the battle of Gaugamela, through to their use in the 19th century by the armies of South-East Asia, analyzing the battle formation and tactics of war elephants in action and how these tactics developed.

The jeep was the most famous military vehicle of World War II, and its name has become synonymous with a whole class of military and civilian all-terrain vehicles. The jeep originated in a prewar US Army requirement for a simple, inexpensive, and robust vehicle for basic utility chores. Its simple design proved to be adaptable to a host of military tasks including use as a scout vehicle, battlefield ambulance, communications vehicle, and staff car. This book, covering "the savior of World War II", focuses on the design and development of this versatile vehicle used on nearly every front of World War II.

The Nimitz class aircraft carrier is the ultimate symbol of the United States superpower status. A true behemoth, this is an unsurpassed weapons platform that overshadows all of its nearest rivals. A history of the world's largest aircraft carriers, with runways over 300 meters long, this book looks at the development and deployment of the nuclear-powered Nimitz class aircraft carriers from 1975 when the USS Nimitz, the lead ship of the class, was commissioned, to the present day.

As was the case in World War II, one of the greatest threats to Britain during World War I was the German U-boat menace. This book traces the development of the U-boat threat from the Brandtaucher, designed by Wilhelm Bauer, the father of the German submarine arm, in 1850, through to the commissioning of Germany's first U-boat to go into service, the U-1, in 1906. It then covers the main types of World War I U-boat, detailing the operational history of the U-boat service in depth, with a particular focus on the campaigns in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, as well as the slow build up of anti-submarine measures by the allies.

By the end of the Civil War the US Navy was the most advanced in the world, but in subsequent years America's naval might dwindled. However, in the 1880s a 'New Navy' was born and at the forefront of its fleet were the mighty cruisers. Naval historian Lawrence Burr details how these cruisers allowed America to rebuild their navy, exploring the design and development of these ships. Placing these advances in context, through vivid accounts of how US cruisers performed in the Spanish-American War of 1898, notably at Manila Bay and Santiago, he investigates the emergence of the US Navy as a major power. Illustrated with early photographs and full-colour artwork, this is a concise history of the birth and development of a modern navy that was the precursor to the development of modern steel fleets around the world.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, destroyers have been all-purpose ships, indispensable in roles large and small — from delivering the mail at sea to screening other vessels and, where larger ships were not present, forming the front line in battle. This title details the 169 ships of ten classes introduced in the 1930s: early 1,500-tonners and 1,850-ton destroyer leaders designed to conform to the 1930 London Naval Treaty, plus the successor 1,570-ton Sims class and 1,620- and 1,630-ton Benson and Gleaves classes.