Big Fleet Actions: Tsushima, Jutland, Philippine Sea

by Eric J. Grove

By assessing three of the largest and most decisive major fleet actions - Tsushima, Jutland and the Philippine Sea - this text shows how this form of naval battle has evolved through eras which have brought new weaponry and firepower, enhanced communication and aerial support.

Genres: Naval History, Military History

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Eric John Grove (1948-2021) was a British naval historian and defence analyst.

Reviews

[Manuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book focus on three major naval battles that, being all-out efforts by the contenders, engaged naval resources extraordinary in number and power: the big fleets. Each battle is representative of one of three eras of naval combat technology: pre-dreadnought, dreadnought and aircraft carrier.
Before the chapters relative to the two latest battles, there is a small chapter describing the technological evolutions relevant to those battles. On the main chapters, there are sections describing the strategic background, and how it influenced the leaders to engage in battle, technological advantages and disadvantages, tactics, order of battle. Then follows a concise description of the action, focusing on the decisive decisions and events, and not loosing itself on irrelevant details. The chapters end with a brief description of the consequences of the clash.
This book is both instructive on 20th century naval history and good entertainment (for those who like the subject of military history, of course) After browsing through it, I decided to move it to number one on my "to read" list of military history books.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good, if dry, look at the three battles in question. It's a short book, mainly detailed descriptions of what occurred in each without much else. Good entry-level text for each battle but they've been covered in much greater and more useful detail elsewhere.

[Jesse Callaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read, adequate maps and interesting commentary linking each of the three battles.