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| | | | Books from Naval-History.Net and Bertke Publications | | | | |  | | WORLD WAR II SEA WAR: Volume 1, The Nazis Strike First by Donald A Bertke, Don Kindell, Gordon Smith. Detailed record of world-wide naval actions and activities from August 1939 through March 1940. Based on the original researches of Don Kindell. Click for Book
or lower cost PDF download | | | | |  | | ROYAL NAVY ROLL of HONOUR, WORLD WAR 1, Part 1 - by Name by Don Kindell. Includes Dominion Navies, Royal Navy Division, Royal Marines; taken from Admiralty Death Ledgers, Admiralty Communiqués, other Official sources. Click for Book or lower cost PDF download | | | | |  | | ROYAL NAVY ROLL of HONOUR, WORLD WAR 1, Part 2 - by Date and Ship/Unit by Don Kindell. Part 1 is, in effect, the index to Part 2, which identifies ships sunk and damaged, land battles, how killed or died etc Click for Book or lower cost PDF download | | | | |  | | ROYAL NAVY ROLL of HONOUR, Between the Wars 1918-1939 - by Name, by Date/Ship by Don Kindell. All volumes with a Foreword by Capt Christopher Page RN Rtd, Head, Naval Historical Branch, MOD Click for Book or lower cost /PDF download | | | | | Review of "Roll of Honour" by Navy News, September 2009 - excerpts Of the already lengthy list of essential reference works charting the long, proud history of the Royal Navy, now add the first volumes of a monumental work listing casualties from 1914 to the present. Don Kindell's Royal Navy Roll of Honour intends to list, for the first time, every sailor or Royal Marine who died while in the Senior Service - in action, in accidents, as a result of illness. The author is a former US Navy sailor and police officer with a passion for the RN over four decades.
He's researched the details of 120,000 individuals whose records have been scattered around the archives - Kew, Whitehall, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and the Naval Historical Branch among others. The latter in particular has been heavily involved in what its head, Capt Christopher Page calls an "astonishing corpus of work".
And how right he is, Royal Navy Roll of Honour isn't a book you read as such, but it is one, serious naval, social and family historians will no doubt turn to time and again. The first three volumes (of a projected six to eight) deal with casualties of WW1 (two volumes, one by name and the other by date/ship) and the Inter-War period (by name and by date/ship). We've only caught sight of the 'Between the Wars' volume, but it give an excellent idea of the quality of the research and the incredible usefulness of Mr Kindell's labour of love.
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| | | | |  | | BATTLE ATLAS OF THE FALKLANDS WAR 1982, by Land, Sea and Air by Gordon Smith. Click for Book/PDF download and Latest review, in the International Journal of Naval History | | | | | | | |
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| | Books - new publications | | | | |  | | TIRPITZ: The Life and Death of Germany’s Last Super Battleship by Niklas Zetterling and Michael Tamelander, published by Casemate Publishing - www.casematepublishing.co.uk. Tirpitz investigates the history of the ship, its time in combat and presents a fascinating new interpretation of the final days of Tirpitz. | | | |
| | | | Dedications | | |  This site is partly dedicated to my father, Ordnance Artificer George Smith (left, at Gibraltar in 1942, before Malta convoy Operation 'Pedestal'), lost in the sinking of HMS Charybdis off the Brittany coast on 23rd October 1943. Few men survived and just a handful of bodies were washed ashore on Guernsey. When they were buried by the German authorities, thousand's of Channel Islander's attended, and ever since, Guernsey has commemorated the cruiser's loss, usually with a Royal Navy guardship present - an unusual honour given the thousands of British warships and auxiliaries sunk in two World Wars alone.
In 2003, Guernsey Post issued this stamp (©Guernsey Post Limited 2003) bearing a painting of HMS Charybdis as well as Hunt-class escort destroyer HMS Limbourne, torpedoed at the same time (by T-type small destroyers, not E-boats as often described). I am grateful to Guernsey Post for permission to reproduce this rather beautiful stamp. Naval-History.Net is also dedicated to my grandfather, Chief Yeoman of Signals George Smith DSM. He joined the Royal Navy in 1904, and was sunk twice in World War 1 - destroyer HMS Medusa and cruiser HMS Cassandra.  Post-war, he served with the North Russian Expeditionary Force 1919, cruised the Baltic in 1921, served on HMS Curlew on the America & West Indies Station 1922-25 and HMS Durban on the China Station in 1926-28. He joined the Royal Naval Shore Signal Service in 1928 and served as a Chief Officer through World War 2 and on to 1948. He was an early and avid photographer, and perhaps because of his experiences as a Signalman, a natural communicator. A lovely man, I am proud to make all his work available on the Internet. He would have appreciated and understood the value of the Web. | | | | | | Site information | | | If you use any material, please acknowledge www.naval-history.net Contact information copyright 1998-2010, updated January 2010 see also J B Phillips New Testament & Background by Gordon Smith | | |
| | | Background & Comments | | | | Naval-History.Net started in 1998 with books written by Gordon Smith: | | |  'an invaluable reference book on the war at sea (in World War 2) .... as well as an informative guide to naval strategy', Lloyds List | | |  'contributed tremendously to my knowledge of the war', Francois Heisbourg, Director, International Institute for Strategic Studies, London | | | 'excellent source for naval history of the First and Second World Wars, campaign summaries and more.' - Imperial War Museum (London) 'arguable the best military history site currently online .....' - BBC family history magazine Who Do You Think You Are, June 2008
Since its early days, Naval-History.Net has been considerably enlarged and enriched by the researches of Don Kindell from the United States, Lieutenant-Commander Geoff Mason RN (Rtd), and other contributors whose names will be found on the pages they helped make available. Over the last 30 or more years, Don and Geoff have produced an estimated total of 15,000 pages of work, most of which is now online. You can find out more in: Naval History and the Internet - the Story of One Site | | | | | | Notices | | | | Learn more about
Mesothelioma Cancer
from Asbestos News | | | Mesothelioma Cancer Center, international resource for Naval Veterans exposed to asbestos. Information on symptoms, diagnosis of asbestos related diseases, and Mesothelioma Treatment options. | | | | | Read online - support the Royal Navy  | | | | |
| | | Conway's "All the World's Fighting Ships"
1865-1905, 1906-21, 1922-46, 1947-95all highly recommended. My own copies
are falling apart through over-use. | | | |
| if any ads offend, please
contact me | | | | | | | | | 
from the Art of Joe Hinds | | | | | 
...... and Daniel Bechennec |
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Recent additions
SHIP - Ship History
Information Project
a joint project with the
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
World War 1
Battle of Heligoland Bight,
August 1914
Cameroons Campaign
1914
Carmania v Cap Trafalgar Action, September 1914
Battle of Coronel, November 1914
Sydney v Emden Action, November
1914
Battle of the Falklands, December 1914
British East Coast Raid,
December 1914
Battle of Dogger Bank, January 1915
Suez Canal 1915
Königsberg Action, July 1915
Despatch,
Casualties, Awards etc
British Vessels Lost
and
Damaged at Sea -
expanded and corrected update of the HMSO, "British
Vessels Lost at Sea 1914-1918"
Royal Navy Despatches, Gallantry Awards
and Honours
from the London Gazette - new series now being added
World War 2
Admiralty War Diary - Levant Command, Sept-Nov 1943 |
| | | NAVAL and MARINE
CORPS CASUALTY LISTS | | | | | | | | | | WORLD WAR 1, 1914-18 | | | BACKGROUND |
 | | ROAD TO WAR, Franco-Prussian War to Sarajevo, 1871-1914
EXPANSION and ORGANISATION of the IMPERIAL GERMAN NAVY 1897-1918 - A Note
World War 1 - A MARITIME WAR | | | | | MEN | 
| | CASUALTY LISTS Royal Navy and Dominion Navies, 1914-1918 by Don Kindell United States Navy,
Marine Corps & Coast Guard, 1917-18 French Navy - 25 Sailors commemorated in a New York Cemetery __________ Royal Navy - Warships and Auxiliary Crew Numbers Royal Navy - Badges of Rank for Officers, Men and Boys United States Navy - Badges of Rank for Officers and Enlisted Men Some of the Men who served: Louis Bechennec, Fireman/Stoker, French Navy, including Serbian Evacuation Thomas Crisp VC, DSC, Skipper RNR, HM Q-ship Nelson & the Hales Naval Family Samuel R Hitchin, First Mate, SS Highland Brae, POW on German Kronprinz Wilhelm John R Hunter, Lieutenant RNVR, Canadian Motor Launch skipper, photographic record William T G Jones, Seaman, lost with collier SS Mersario, 1 October 1917 George W Smith (upper left) DSM, Chief Yeomen of Signals, 1888-1977, his service record | | | | | SHIPS |  | | | | | TRIBUTE to BRITISH SHIPBUILDING and REPAIR INDUSTRIES 1914-18
including Royal Naval Dockyards and Research Establishments British Vessels Lost at Sea including Naval, Merchant Ships and Fishing Vessels, from "British Vessels Lost at Sea, 1914-18", HMSO Elco-built Motor Launches for the Royal Navy British Shipbreaking Industry
HMS Cheery, Admiralty drifter | | | | | | ROYAL NAVY | 
Victoria Cross fishing
smack HMS Nelson | | | | | | | OTHER NAVIES | 
| | Austro-Hungarian Navy French Navy Royal Hellenic or Greek Navy Imperial Japanese Navy Turkish or Ottoman Navy United States Navy, also Navy and Coast Guard Casualties Officers and Enlisted Ranks
Medal of Honor 1915-18 | | | | | | EVENTS
and .... |  | |
North Sea in outline
1914-18
Eastern Front
and Baltic Sea 1914-18
Mediterranean, including Turkish Waters & Black Sea, 1914-18 | | | | |
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.... NAVAL
BATTLES -
Despatches,
Casualties, Awards etc | | | |
Battle of Heligoland Bight,
August 1914
Cameroons Campaign
1914
Carmania v Cap Trafalgar Action, September 1914
Battle of Coronel, November 1914
Sydney v Emden Action, November
1914
Battle of the Falklands, December 1914
British East Coast Raid,
December 1914
Battle of Dogger Bank, January 1915
Suez Canal 1915
Königsberg Action, July 1915 | | | | | MEDALS |   | |
Victoria Cross at Sea, including RN Division 1914-19
Albert Medal at Sea, including Merchant Navy 1915-19
Medal of Honor,
US Navy and Marine Corps 1915-18
Pour le Merité, the "Blue Max", Imperial German Navy including naval aviation | | | | | | CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTS |  | | The Navy Everywhere, by Conrad Gato - the RN in Africa, E. Europe, Middle East On the Coast of France: United States Naval Forces in French Waters by Joseph Husband, Ensign, USNRF | | | | | | | | |
| INTER-WAR, 1918-39 | | WORLD WAR 2, 1939-45 | | | MEN | 
| | CASUALTY LISTS of the Royal Navy and Dominion Navies, 1939-1945 by Don Kindell Some of the Men who served:
Horace Carswell DSM, MM, BEM, Chief Steward, and Russian Convoy PQ.17
Sidney Kerslake RNR, Leading Seaman, 1920-99, Norway and Russian Convoys
Edward Palmer BEM, Coxswain, attack on HMS Foyle Bank July 1940
Harold Siddall, Stoker, 1916-97, from Scapa Flow to Crete, and on to a German Stalag
George Smith (left), Ordnance Artificer, 1916-43, HMS Charybdis Henry Sutton, Petty Officer, HMS Blackpool, and his Letter from Normandy, June 1944
Frank Taylor, Able Seaman, HMS Scarab, Mediterranean service 1943-44
Roderick Timms, Lt Cdr, RD*, RNR and Coastal Forces, 1941-45 (external site)
Maurice Whiteing, Leading Air Mechanic, HMS Indomitable, Far East, 1944-1945 Basil Woolf, MID, Petty Officer, the Battle for Walcheren, 1st November 1944 | | | | | SHIPS | 
| | Major BRITISH WARSHIP LOSSES with commanding officers, loss locations and casualties
- Capital ships, aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers & escort destroyers, submarines, including X-craft
British Naval Losses by Name, Date, Theatre, Type of ship, from "British Vessels Lost at Sea, 1939-45", HMSO HMS Indomitable in the Far East 1944-45, a photographic record HMS Charybdis: All in a Day's Work - Her Career by 'Rocky' Royle Her Loss and Commemoration, by the Charybdis Association Account of Her Loss from Captured German Archives Capture of British Yard Minesweeper BYMS-72, 1943 Aegean Campaign, by Cdr Bruhn USN HM Harbour Defence Motor Launch No.1001, RN and later career Thames Lighters at War, off the British & US Normandy beaches | | | | | ROYAL NAVY |  | | Naval Life and Customs by Lt-Cdr John Irving RN, a gem of a book
Ranks, Trades, Pay & Allowances, Badges of Rank 1942
Warrant Officers in the Royal Navy - a history
Officer/Rating Relationships in the Royal Navy 1941-1972
Pennant Numbers - with Addendum on the Pacific 1944-45, all by Lt Cdr G Mason
South African Naval
Nomenclature for Navy & Ships by Vice Adm Alan Grose RN (Rtd) | | | | | EVENTS | 
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Royal Navy, Royal Marine, Single-Ship Battle Honours 1939-45, with links to Campaigns Naval-related Code Names - Alphabetically - Chronologically Royal Navy Minelaying Operations both by Lt Cdr G Mason | | | | | CONVOYS | 
| | CONVOY ESCORT MOVEMENTS of ROYAL and DOMINON NAVY VESSELS by Don Kindell including Armed Merchant Cruisers, Canadian Corvettes THE SUPPLY OF MALTA 1940-1942, including the Malta Convoys ROUTE TO THE EAST - the WS (Winston’s Special) Convoys, both by the late Arnold Hague Russian Convoys including Russian Front Summary Maps Allied Convoy Codes, courtesy HyperWar Foundation | | | | | MEDALS |  
| | Victoria Cross at Sea, 1940-45 George Cross & Albert Medal at Sea, 1939-45 Medal of Honor at Sea, 1941-45 Imperial Japanese Navy and Order of the Golden Kite - A Note | | | | | | TECHNICAL |  | | Allied Anti-Submarine Weapons - A Note High Frequency Radio Direction Finding - HF/DF or Huff Duff New Zealand's Contribution to Radar Development Hydrographic Survey Work in the RN up to the 1980's, all by Lt Cdr G Mason The Early Days of Wireless at Sea by Louis C. Kleber | | | | | MAPS, etc | 
| | Campaign and Battle Maps, World Wars 1 & 2, Falklands War Posters of the Royal Navy in World War 2 Service Magazines of the World's Forces Victory Celebrations in London, June 1946 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| POST-WAR, 1945-present | | | MEN | 
| | CASUALTY LISTS of the Royal Navy 1945-present by Don Kindell David Hamilton, Commander [F}, RN, his seagoing and flying career, 1939-1968 James Summerlee, Lieutenant Commander, MID, RN (Rtd), FAA, Korea and Suez SAR | | | | | SHIPS | 
| | Royal Navy WARSHIP SERVICE Summaries Loch-class Frigates in the Dutch East Indies 1945-1946 Salvage Operations by RN Frigates 1950-1964 Modernisation of Town and Colony-class Light Cruisers, all by Lt Cdr G Mason Navy-Mad in the Nineteen Fifties by Gordon Smith | | | | | EVENTS | 
| | Royal Navy Chronology - 1946-1950 - 1951-1960 - 1961-1970 by Lt Cdr G Mason
Passing Through Ascension - Photographic record of Ascension Island during the War
Missiles in the Malouines/Falklands - the Art of Daniel Bechennec | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | SHIPS and SEAS | | | |
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