What do you think?
Rate this book
Power at Sea #2
Power at Sea, Volume 2: The Breaking Storm, 1919-1945
After 1921, the clouds of suspicion and resentment left by the Great War gradually obscured the strenuous efforts of negotiating statesmen and led to ever greater appetites for power at sea. By the midthirties, worried admiralties around the world were bracing themselves for a new and deadlier round of global violence. In this monumental study, Lisle A. Rose revisits the strategies, battles, ships, planes, weapons, and people of the most destructive war in history to show the decisive influence of sea power upon its outcome.
During the years preceding World War II, Britain’s once dominant Royal Navy, beset by national economic decline and steadily eroding morale within the fleet, pleaded for the appeasement of dictators in Europe and the Far East in an attempt to avoid a three-front maritime war that would surely doom the British Empire. Desperately hoping for time to build a formidable fleet, Hitler’s admirals feverishly tried to rebuild German naval weaponry upon a technological foundation not much improved since 1918. In the end, it was Japan and the United States, facing each other across the broad Pacific, that moved naval history into a new phase by fashioning ultramodern navies based on the integration of sea, air, and amphibious forces.
Rose relates how the strengths and weaknesses of seafaring nations came into play within the crucible of a six-year war during which naval encounters were every bit as critical and frequent as land-based fighting. He recounts the well-known naval battles and operations of World War II from a novel perspective, placing them in the context of daring gambles open to both the Axis and the Allies that were either seized upon or ignored. Once Britain’s survival was assured, and the Allies held on in the North Atlantic and the Pacific, however, the superior industrial culture of the United States doomed the Axis. After 1943, America threw into the deadly battles against the German U-boats and the Japanese fleet more and better ships, more and better citizen sailors, better intelligence, and better strategies than did its antagonists or allies.
Two years later, the United States had not only defeated the Axis, it had also won control of the world’s oceans from its exhausted British ally. In the process, it had begun a revolutionary transition in which power at sea became power from the sea. Whether recounting the heart-stopping action of naval encounters or analyzing the technologies that made victory possible, Rose traces in vigorous, memorable prose the dramatic emergence of a new naval power that would leave all others in its wake.
During the years preceding World War II, Britain’s once dominant Royal Navy, beset by national economic decline and steadily eroding morale within the fleet, pleaded for the appeasement of dictators in Europe and the Far East in an attempt to avoid a three-front maritime war that would surely doom the British Empire. Desperately hoping for time to build a formidable fleet, Hitler’s admirals feverishly tried to rebuild German naval weaponry upon a technological foundation not much improved since 1918. In the end, it was Japan and the United States, facing each other across the broad Pacific, that moved naval history into a new phase by fashioning ultramodern navies based on the integration of sea, air, and amphibious forces.
Rose relates how the strengths and weaknesses of seafaring nations came into play within the crucible of a six-year war during which naval encounters were every bit as critical and frequent as land-based fighting. He recounts the well-known naval battles and operations of World War II from a novel perspective, placing them in the context of daring gambles open to both the Axis and the Allies that were either seized upon or ignored. Once Britain’s survival was assured, and the Allies held on in the North Atlantic and the Pacific, however, the superior industrial culture of the United States doomed the Axis. After 1943, America threw into the deadly battles against the German U-boats and the Japanese fleet more and better ships, more and better citizen sailors, better intelligence, and better strategies than did its antagonists or allies.
Two years later, the United States had not only defeated the Axis, it had also won control of the world’s oceans from its exhausted British ally. In the process, it had begun a revolutionary transition in which power at sea became power from the sea. Whether recounting the heart-stopping action of naval encounters or analyzing the technologies that made victory possible, Rose traces in vigorous, memorable prose the dramatic emergence of a new naval power that would leave all others in its wake.
536 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
1 person is currently reading
49 people want to read
About the author
Lisle A. Rose
17 books3 followersLisle A. Rose grew up in Champaign, Illinois where his father was on the faculty of the University of Illinois. Rose enlisted in the U.S. Navy in July 1954 and served on three ships making cruises to the Far East, Latin America, and the polar regions. Aboard the icebreaker Staten Island he participated in Operation Deepfreeze II to Antarctica between November 1956 and April 1957. He was honorably discharged from the service in September of that year and obtained a BA in history from Illinois in 1961 and a PHd in American History from the University of California-Berkeley in 1966. Following teaching at various universities between 1966-72, Rose joined the U.S. Department of State's Historical Office from 1972-78 where he was one of a team of professional historians editing the ongoing official series Foreign Relations of the United States. Transferring to the Bureau of Oceans and International Environment and Scientific Affairs, Rose was Polar Affairs Officer from 1978 to 1982 where he prepared an Arctic policy statement, negotiated the annual U.S. scientific program in Greenland with the Government of Denmark, and helped form an Interagency Arctic Policy Group to formulate official U.S. policy on that region. In 1980, he was a member of the United States Delegation to the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. In 1982 Rose transferred to the Office of Advanced Technology Affairs where he specialized in the international aspects of the U.S. Landsat earth remote sensing satellite program and was part of a two person negotiating team that with representatives from the Soviet Union, France, and Canada completed the COSPAS-SARSAT intenational search and rescue sattelite system. Rose retired from the Department of State in 1989 in order to resume an active writing career in Cold War, naval, and polar history.
Rose currently resides in Edmonds, Washington with his wife, historian Harriet Dashiell Schwar, and is Library Coordinator and member of the Board of Governors of the Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society. Rose's professional memberships include the American Polar Society, North American Society of Oceanic Historians, U.S. Naval Institute, other organizations.
Rose currently resides in Edmonds, Washington with his wife, historian Harriet Dashiell Schwar, and is Library Coordinator and member of the Board of Governors of the Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society. Rose's professional memberships include the American Polar Society, North American Society of Oceanic Historians, U.S. Naval Institute, other organizations.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 10, 2022
Would like to give this 3.5. It's a good overall summary of the world navies between 1919 and 1945 however it has its flaws. Firstly its structure is mostly chronological, but jumps around a bit oddly, and not even geographically which can be a bit confusing, but also, and especially towards the end, becomes very American focused and the author shows a strong American bias to the point of raising some eyebrows. To be fair by 1945 the main navy of the world was the American one, but I would want to hear more about others, and while some of the actors may have made suboptimal choices, I find it hard to believe that they were just stupid or foolish as the author calls them. It's still a good read, but there are better books on WWII at sea, though not sure if a good interwar naval history offhand.
March 7, 2021
Excellent book I hope to get a real review written for posting soon.
August 3, 2007
The second part of the Power at Sea trilogy, this book looks at the interwar period and World War Two. Its main focus is ont he rise of Japanese and American naval power, the decay of the British Navy as part of long-term trend of declining British naval power and, of course, the changes in strategy and operational concepts before and during World War Two.
While battles are presented in enough detail so the reader knows what is going on, this book, like the entire series, is focused more on aspects of changing naval technology, the change (or lack of change) with the cultures of the navies, the use of naval force in the cause of national power and the fluctuating nature of mass society's view of the individual navies.
One comes away with a greater appreciation for the power and professionalism of the US Navy - without the crippling classism of the Royal Navy and the IJN. One also can see how the cultures of the various combatant navies and how they were viewed by their respective governments, greatly influenced - and in the case of the Axis powers, crippled any real chance at victory on the world ocean - how the navies were employed.
A great, thoughtful read.
While battles are presented in enough detail so the reader knows what is going on, this book, like the entire series, is focused more on aspects of changing naval technology, the change (or lack of change) with the cultures of the navies, the use of naval force in the cause of national power and the fluctuating nature of mass society's view of the individual navies.
One comes away with a greater appreciation for the power and professionalism of the US Navy - without the crippling classism of the Royal Navy and the IJN. One also can see how the cultures of the various combatant navies and how they were viewed by their respective governments, greatly influenced - and in the case of the Axis powers, crippled any real chance at victory on the world ocean - how the navies were employed.
A great, thoughtful read.
August 27, 2016
Changes in Great Power naval technology, strategy and culture from the end of WWI to the end of WWII.
Rose is an old US Navy man who doesn't read non-English languages. These two points clearly direct his thought processes, his focus and his conclusions. And those conclusions are that the US Navy is, was amd always will be the best thing since sliced bread (a couple of admirals aside).
I'm not saying he is necessarily wrong, mind you, but he presents a shallow case that is not informed by the evidence from opposing points of view, which makes this a subjective piece of historical research.
That said, this is a reasonably good primer for the history of the US Navy in the period under discussion.
Rated G. 2/5
Rose is an old US Navy man who doesn't read non-English languages. These two points clearly direct his thought processes, his focus and his conclusions. And those conclusions are that the US Navy is, was amd always will be the best thing since sliced bread (a couple of admirals aside).
I'm not saying he is necessarily wrong, mind you, but he presents a shallow case that is not informed by the evidence from opposing points of view, which makes this a subjective piece of historical research.
That said, this is a reasonably good primer for the history of the US Navy in the period under discussion.
Rated G. 2/5
Want to read
November 1, 2009Military - General
September 6, 2018
Absolutely fabulous series that dispelled my notions that naval history was relatively mundane. Rose's series is, in my opinion, an absolute must read and the most authoritative work on this period. Thank you for sparking my interest in this topic.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews