Dr Jon Robb-Webb's Books

The British Pacific Fleet Experience and Legacy, 1944–50

By: Dr Jon Robb-Webb

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The British Pacific Fleet Experience and Legacy, 1944–50

By: Dr Jon Robb-Webb

The British Pacific Fleet was formed in October 1944 and dispatched to fight alongside the USN in the Central Pacific under Admiral Nimitz. Deploying previously unpublished documents, this book reveals how relations between the UK and US forces developed from a starting point of barely repressed suspicion, to one where both navies came to understand each other and eventually find a remarkable bond. Born out of a shared experience of Kamikaze attacks, extended operations against bitterly hostile shores, the pooling of knowledge and experience, the two navies underpinned the diplomatic moves in both Washington and London. The book carries the legacy of this experience through to the next Anglo-American participation in war, Korea. It illustrates and explains how and why certain lessons were incorporated into the composition, behaviour and structure of the post-war Navy. It demonstrates the significance of what was learned from the USN by the RN and by USN from the RN. As well as examining the background to the largest fleet the Royal Navy ever put to sea, the book also charts its effects on Anglo-American relations, multinational operations, alliance building, and the ways naval forces are shaped by and in turn shape politics. It addresses a period of rapid technological development that witnessed profound changes in the international system, and which raised fundamental questions of what navies were for and how should they operate and organize themselves. In so doing the study illustrates how the experience of a few long months at the end of the war in the Pacific would cast a long shadow over these issues in the very different circumstances of the post-war world.

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Page Count

377

Publisher

Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1409473333

ISBN 13

9781409473336

Maritime Power in the Black Sea

By: Dr Deborah Sanders

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Maritime Power in the Black Sea

By: Dr Deborah Sanders

Maritime Power in the Black Sea provides the first comprehensive assessment and evaluation of the comparative maritime power of the six littoral states in the Black Sea - Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Romania and Bulgaria. This book examines the maritime capabilities and assets of each of the six littoral Black Sea states and also considers the implications of the distribution of maritime power on both regional and international security. As such it makes an important contribution to the debate about what constitutes maritime power in the twenty first century and provides a thematic comparative study of the ability of each of the littoral states of the Black Sea to project maritime power.

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Page Count

257

Publisher

Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1472405315

ISBN 13

9781472405319

Preparing for Blockade 1885-1914

Naval Contingency for Economic Warfare

By: Dr Stephen Cobb

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Preparing for Blockade 1885-1914

Naval Contingency for Economic Warfare

By: Dr Stephen Cobb

Today, the First World War is remembered chiefly for the carnage of the Western Front, but at the time the Royal Navy's blockade of Germany was a more frequent source of debate. For, even at a time of war, there were influential voices in Britain who baulked at a concept of economic warfare that hindered the free passage of goods on the high seas, and brought German society to the brink of famine. To further our understanding of these issues, this book looks at the background to the blockade, and the effects of its implementation in 1914. It argues that there was a widely shared, but largely unwritten, strategic culture within British naval circles which accepted that in a war with a major maritime power the British response would be to attack enemy trade. This is demonstrated by the fact that from at least the late 1880s the Royal Navy planned for the use of armed merchantmen to enforce an economic blockade of an enemy. This it did by entering into detailed arrangements with major British shipping companies for the design and subsidy of liners with the potential for use as merchant cruisers, and stockpiling their prospective armament. In line with the contemporary, Corbettian, view that seapower depends upon free communications, the book concludes by asserting that the primary role of the Grand Fleet in the First World War was to guarantee the ability of the merchant cruisers on the Northern Patrol to interdict German seaborne trade, rather than to engage in large set-piece battles.

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355

Publisher

Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1409473228

ISBN 13

9781409473220

Wisdom and War

The Royal Naval College Greenwich 1873–1998

By: Dr Harry Dickinson

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Wisdom and War

The Royal Naval College Greenwich 1873–1998

By: Dr Harry Dickinson

Opened in 1873, in buildings constructed by Charles II to house retired sailors, the Royal Naval College was founded with the aim of providing officers with 'the highest possible scientific instruction in all branches of study bearing upon their profession'. For more than 125 years it taught officers ranging in rank from Sub Lieutenants to Vice Admiral, providing the technical instruction that equipped a corps of naval architects to build some of the most advanced warships in the world and in later years, trained the Royal Navy's nuclear engineers. Despite the College's undoubted contribution, towards both the education of Royal Navy personnel, and technical research more broadly, this is the first book to address the history of the institution from its Victorian roots to its closure in the aftermath of the Cold War. Taking a chronological approach, the book traces the history of the College from its establishment in 1873, a period during which technical training for a steam-powered navy was increasingly vital. It then shows how, during the First World War, academic staff at the College made a vital contribution to the development of naval weapons systems, and its medical school initiated a vaccine production programme that later produced major improvements in the public health of the nation. During the Second World War, damaged by enemy action that set London's docklands ablaze, the College provided the first taste of naval life for more than 27,000 men and women called from civilian life to serve on shore and at sea. Later chapters conclude with an exploration of the College's post-war role, focusing particularly on the establishment in 1959 of the Department of Nuclear Science and Technology (DNST) which ran a nuclear reactor on site until the College was closed in 1998. Both as a history of the Royal Naval College itself, and as an exploration of the Navy's attitude toward research and education, this book provides a fascinating insight into what is arguably one of Britain's most significant educational establishments.

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Page Count

344

Publisher

Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1409483142

ISBN 13

9781409483144

From East of Suez to the Eastern Atlantic

British Naval Policy 1964-70

By: Dr Edward Hampshire

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From East of Suez to the Eastern Atlantic

British Naval Policy 1964-70

By: Dr Edward Hampshire

Exploring British naval policy during the first two governments of Harold Wilson (1964-70), this book analyses how the Navy Department of the Ministry of Defence and the Navy's professional leadership dealt with six years of defence reviews, retrenchment and strategic re-orientation. This period witnessed a dramatic blow to the service's self image and self confidence as a result of the cancellation of the large CVA-01 aircraft carrier, and a gradual process of realignment, reorientation and adaptation to the changed political environment, resulting in a recovery of self-confidence, a new strategy and the approval in principle of a class of small aircraft carriers. Taking advantage of the recently released official records, the study highlights for the first time just how in practice Mountbatten managed to dominate the Chiefs of Staff machinery, and how his power was undermined and diminished. It also demonstrates that, contrary to widespread historical opinion, Denis Healey was not necessarily set against carrier air power from his arrival in office and was willing to consider the procurement of a medium carrier for the navy. Furthermore, the work highlights the importance of the Mediterranean in the rehabilitation and renewal of self-confidence by the navy in the late 1960s. Although focusing primarily on policy and strategic matters, the book incorporates wider historical consideration, reviewing other factors that influenced policy-making such as foreign policy, financial resources, materiel, manpower and recruitment, in addition to the administrative machinery and the cultural environment of the time. In so doing, Dr Hampshire offers a vivid insight into the interactions of government and military at a critical juncture in the changing nature of Britain's global role.

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Page Count

279

Publisher

Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1409466140

ISBN 13

9781409466147

Land Based Air Power or Aircraft Carriers?

A Case Study of the British Debate about Maritime Air Power in the 1960s

By: Dr Gjert Lage Dyndal

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Land Based Air Power or Aircraft Carriers?

A Case Study of the British Debate about Maritime Air Power in the 1960s

By: Dr Gjert Lage Dyndal

During the 1960s - in the midst of its retreat from empire - the British government had to grapple with complex political and military problems in order to find a strategic defence policy that was both credible and affordable. Addressing what was perhaps the most contentious issue within those debates, this book charts the arguments that raged between supporters of a land based air power strategy, and those who favoured aircraft carriers. Drawing upon a wealth of previously classified documents, the book reveals how the Admiralty and Air Ministry became interlocked in a bitter political struggle over which of their military strategies could best meet Britain's future foreign policy challenges. Whilst the broad story of this inter-service rivalry is well known - the Air Force's proposal for a series of island based airfields, and the Navy championing of a small number of expensive but mobile aircraft carriers - the complexity and previous lack of archival sources means that it has, until now, only ever been partially researched and understood. Former studies have largely focused on the cancellation of the CVA-01 carrier programme, and offered little depth as regards the Royal Air Force perspectives. Given that this was a two-Service rivalry, which greatly influenced many aspects of British foreign and defence policy decisions of the period, this book presents an important and balanced overview of the complex issues involved. Through this historical study of the British debate about maritime air power and strategic alternatives in the 1960s, the detailed arguments used for and against both alternatives demonstrate clear relevance to both historical and contemporary conceptual debates on carrier forces and land-based air power. Both from military strategy and inter-service relationship perspectives, contemporary Britain and many other nations with maritime forces may learn much from this historical case.

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Page Count

366

Publisher

Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published Date

ISBN 10

140948310X

ISBN 13

9781409483106

Theorist of Maritime Strategy

Sir Julian Corbett and his Contribution to Military and Naval Thought

By: Dr J J Widen

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Theorist of Maritime Strategy

Sir Julian Corbett and his Contribution to Military and Naval Thought

By: Dr J J Widen

Since its publication in 1911, Sir Julian's Corbett's Some Principles of Maritime Strategy has remained a key document within naval strategic thinking. Yet despite his undoubted influence, Corbett's theories have not been subjected to scientific review and systematic comparison with other naval thinkers. In this assessment, Dr Widen has provided a fresh interpretation of Corbett's legacy and his continued relevance as a classic theorist of naval war. Divided into three parts, the book begins with a brief biographical overview of Corbett's life, highlighting in particular his bibliographic history and the influences on his thinking. The latter two sections then describe and assess Corbett's views on military and naval theory, respectively. Together these two parts represent his overall theory of maritime strategy, including his conception of limited war, his intellectual debt to Clausewitz, command of the sea, his critic of decisive battle, as well as the different methods of naval operations. By means of a thorough assessment of Corbett's theory of maritime strategy, Dr Widén highlights the continued relevance of his theories. Both the strengths and shortcomings of Corbett's thinking are discussed and reflections offered on their intellectual, practical and doctrinal value. In so doing, Dr Widen has written a book that deserves to be read by anyone with an interest in the past, present or future of maritime strategy.

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Page Count

200

Publisher

Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1409483010

ISBN 13

9781409483014

China's Naval Power

An Offensive Realist Approach

By: Dr Yves-Heng Lim

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China's Naval Power

An Offensive Realist Approach

By: Dr Yves-Heng Lim

The rapid modernization of the Chinese Navy is a well-documented reality of the post-Cold War world. In two decades, the People's Liberation Army Navy has evolved from a backward force composed of obsolete platforms into a reasonably modern fleet whose growth is significantly shaking the naval balance in East Asia. The rationale behind China's contemporary rise at sea remains, however, difficult to grasp and few people have tried to see how the current structure of the international system has shaped Chinese choices. This book makes sense of Chinese priorities in its naval modernization in a 'robust' offensive realist framework. Drawing on Barry Posen's works on sources of military doctrine, it argues that the orientation of Beijing's choices concerning its naval forces can essentially be explained by China's position as a potential regional hegemon. Yves-Heng Lim highlights how a rising state develops naval power to fulfil its security objectives, a theoretical perspective that goes farther than the sole Chinese case.

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Page Count

235

Publisher

Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1472402707

ISBN 13

9781472402707

Book's by Dr Jon Robb-Webb

The British Pacific Fleet Experience and Legacy, 1944–50

The British Pacific Fleet Experience and Legacy, 1944–50

Maritime Power in the Black Sea

Maritime Power in the Black Sea

Preparing for Blockade 1885-1914

Preparing for Blockade 1885-1914

Wisdom and War

Wisdom and War

From East of Suez to the Eastern Atlantic

From East of Suez to the Eastern Atlantic

Land Based Air Power or Aircraft Carriers?

Land Based Air Power or Aircraft Carriers?

Theorist of Maritime Strategy

Theorist of Maritime Strategy

China's Naval Power

China's Naval Power

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