Naval Battles of the 20th Century

by Richard Hough

The major naval powers -- Britain, America, Russia, and Japan -- have all played a part in the theater of war at sea over the last one hundred years. Naval fighting has always been a rapidly developing affair, and in no century have changes been so swift and fundamental. This book is a detailed account of the bloody and tragic battles that took place and of the shifting pattern in the status of the naval powers, sometimes masking its effect on our history today. In 1905, when this book begins, the first major engagement between ironclad fleets -- the Battle of Tsu-Shima -- took place in the Far East and decided the outcome of the Russo-Japanese war in Japan's favor. What follows are the mighty sea battles of our century, graphically reconstructed for the reader. Victories, defeats, and mutinies at sea, from the battle with the Bismarck to the battles of Midway and Guadalcanal, are all recorded in sometimes horrific detail. This is a moving testament to battles the likes of which changed the world.

Genres: History, War, Military History, Military Fiction, World War I, Naval History, World War II

288 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 1999

About the author

Richard Alexander Hough was a British author and historian specializing in naval history. As a child, he was obsessed with making model warships and collecting information about navies around the world. In 1941, he joined the Royal Air Force and trained at a flying school near Los Angeles. He flew Hurricanes and Typhoons and was wounded in action.

After World War II, Hough worked as a part-time delivery driver for a wine shop, while looking for employment involving books. He finally joined the publishing house Bodley Head, and then Hamish Hamilton, where he eventually headed the children’s book division.

His work as a publisher inspired him to turn to writing himself in 1950, and he went on to write more than ninety books over a long and successful career. Best-known for his works of naval history and his biographies, he also wrote war novels and books for children (under the pseudonym Bruce Carter), all of which sold in huge numbers around the world. His works include The Longest Battle: The War at Sea 1939-45, Naval Battles of the Twentieth Century and best-selling biographies of Earl Mountbatten of Burma and Captain James Cook. Captain Bligh and Mr Christian, his 1972 account of the mutiny on the Bounty, was the basis of the 1984 film The Bounty, starring Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson.

Hough was the official historian of the Mountbatten family and a longtime student of Churchill. Winston Churchill figures prominently in nine of his books, including Former Naval Person: Churchill and the Wars at Sea. He won the Daily Express Best Book of the Sea Award in 1972.

Reviews

[Keith Taylor · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have read several books by Richard Hough and have always previously enjoyed them. But this Kindle book is a travesty. You have the impression that the written text was scanned by an Optical Character Recognition program, and the resulting stew was given to an office boy, for whom English was possibly not his first language, to write down what he thought it was meant to say? Typos, entire paragraphs that were incomprehensible and repetition were the order of the day. Admiral Lutjens of Bismarck fame was variously referred to as "Captain Lutjens", "Admiral Jurgens" and "Captain Jurgens". I'd have thought that publishing old titles as ebooks would be gravy for the publishing houses - no printing costs, no physical distribution costs and the ability to reach new customers wirelessly. So why do they put so little effort into getting it right? And we pay for the books, so they are by definition "professionals". Is it too much to expect professional standards of editing and production?

[MR J P SMITH · Rating 5 out of 5]

Succinct, little to detract from the narrative

Richard Hough gets into action quickly, after setting the background scene to the early 20th century naval and political landscape.

Hough takes the major actions in turn from Tsushima to The Philippines, examining the ships and characters taking part.

Hough perhaps had more knowledge or information relating to US actions than others as these seemed to have more description, but otherwise all were thoroughly covered. This is an authoritative work, and would sit well in any naval warfare fan's library.

[Richard Meyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Flawed Overview

The general overview of the battles is a good one; however there are numerous typos as well as some glaring factual errors that seriously detract from the quality of the book.

[Alan Carlson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A basic synopsis of war at sea from 1905 to 1944.

The chronology in the Cape Matapan chapter is a mess, and the omission of the naval actions in and near Norway in 1940 is odd.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay book. Would not have read if not being able to get it for a dime at a garage sale.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big gun battleships had a relatively short time as decisive weapons, from their introduction in the early 20th century to proving too vulnerable to air attack in the 1940s.

This book charts their rise and fall, looking at well-known engagements like Jutland, Midway and the hunt for the Bismarck as well as some lesser known ones.

It's well written but at times rather whizzes through events when I really wanted more detail.