What Book Are You Reading at the moment?

[Hotschi]

Finished Iain Ballantyne's HMS Rodney - Slayer of the Bismarck and D-Day Saviour - a fascinating read, and I learned a lot of new things. What makes me chuckle is that HMS Rodney, in fine British Tradition, inherited all the battle honours of all the previous HMS Rodney's before her days. You just have to like the British for this! [;)] Interesting is also that the Nelson's had torpedo tubes installed below the waterline at each side of the bow, and Rodney used it's tubes in the sinking of the Bismarck. Most interesting is to learn that, in order to avoid "substantial damage" of the ship, Rodney was not allowed to fire a full broadside (i.e. all 9 guns simultaneously)... so the firing was alternating 5 guns (2 outer guns of turret A and Y, middle gun of turret B) salvos and 4 guns salvos (middle guns A and Y, 2 outer guns of turret B). I wonder if earlier USN battleships had to do likewise? And I wonder how the 4 gun turrets of the King George V's could fire... Interesting too is that Rodney, throughout its career, suffered from boiler tubes problems as well as steering problems. Good book, highly recommended.

Started Ballantyne's book about HMS Warspite, now reading the chapter about Jutland. Good stuff!

[fodder]

bump

[Hotschi]

Finished Ballantyne's Warspite - good book with lots of pictures about the ships's career, includes also a lot of info about her sister-ships, very recommended. Learned heaps of new stuff about this battlewagon.

Also read Dark Navy: The Italian Regia Marina and the Armistice of 8 September 1943 by Vincent P. O'Hara. A short book about the events leading to, during, and after the armistice. O'Hara argues that the Regia Marina in fact didn't surrender but instead "sailed into Allied controlled ports" as ordered by Supermarina. He points out that the Allies, notably the Royal Navy, never actually exercised control of the Italian warships, contrary to claims by RN personell, for example Admiral Cunningham. I regard this as a somewhat hair-splitting argument, but okay. The appendices is where this small book really shines - every, and I mean every, Italian warships's fate, be it captured/taken over (from the French for example), "original" Regia Marina, in repair or under construction, is listed. Also the postions of the ships at the time of the armistice is listed - for me, extremely valuable information.

Ballanytne has wetted my appetite for RN battleships, so currently I am reading HMS Royal Sovereign and Her Sister Ships by Peter C. Smith.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Hotschi

Also read Dark Navy: The Italian Regia Marina and the Armistice of 8 September 1943 by Vincent P. O'Hara. A short book about the events leading to, during, and after the armistice. O'Hara argues that the Regia Marina in fact didn't surrender but instead "sailed into Allied controlled ports" as ordered by Supermarina. He points out that the Allies, notably the Royal Navy, never actually exercised control of the Italian warships, contrary to claims by RN personell, for example Admiral Cunningham. I regard this as a somewhat hair-splitting argument, but okay. The appendices is where this small book really shines - every, and I mean every, Italian warships's fate, be it captured/taken over (from the French for example), "original" Regia Marina, in repair or under construction, is listed. Also the postions of the ships at the time of the armistice is listed - for me, extremely valuable information.

warspite1

This sounds interesting - my birthday is soon so I have just ordered this and a sister tome about the Italian Navy 1943-45.

[:)]

[Aurelian]

Stalin's Wars

[Ranger33]

I'm back on the Richard Sharpe train, now reading Sharpe's Prey which is great so far.

I love these books for their entertainment value, as well as being educational about the Napoleonic period in history (both the warfare and everyday life). However, I'm only on book five out of twenty something and the man has already performed more than a few acts of epic heroism, making him famous in the British military yet he still gets treated like dirt by every stereotypical snotty aristocratic he encounters. At this pace, I feel like by book fifteen or so the author will be seriously stretching my suspension of disbelief if Sharpe isn't more respected after he inevitably saves the day a dozen times over. It wouldn't stop me from reading them of course [:D]

[shape]

harrington series of novels.

[Hotschi]

ORIGINAL: warspite1


...and a sister tome about the Italian Navy 1943-45.

[:)]

Which is called Black Phoenix? [:D]

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Hotschi

ORIGINAL: warspite1


...and a sister tome about the Italian Navy 1943-45.

[:)]

Which is called Black Phoenix? [:D]

warspite1

Which is called Black Phoenix and, according to Amazon, both should turn up tomorrow rather than the Thursday they originally said - hussah!!

[Hotschi]

Thought so! Please tell me what you think about it when read.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Hotschi

Thought so! Please tell me what you think about it when read.

warspite1

Will do. Still on the second volume of Blair's U-boat war, but will flick through to get an impression and let you know the level of detail.

[tex_ka95]

Tears Before the Rain. First person accounts of the last days before the fall of Saigon. And I didn't even realize when I picked it up that the 40 year anniversary was right around the corner.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Hotschi

Also read Dark Navy: The Italian Regia Marina and the Armistice of 8 September 1943 by Vincent P. O'Hara. A short book about the events leading to, during, and after the armistice. O'Hara argues that the Regia Marina in fact didn't surrender but instead "sailed into Allied controlled ports" as ordered by Supermarina. He points out that the Allies, notably the Royal Navy, never actually exercised control of the Italian warships, contrary to claims by RN personell, for example Admiral Cunningham. I regard this as a somewhat hair-splitting argument, but okay. The appendices is where this small book really shines - every, and I mean every, Italian warships's fate, be it captured/taken over (from the French for example), "original" Regia Marina, in repair or under construction, is listed. Also the postions of the ships at the time of the armistice is listed - for me, extremely valuable information.

warspite1

This book came yesterday (Black Phoenix arriving today apparently). Bit disappointed in the size of the book for the money. Read it already.

Agree the detail re the entire fleet is the big win with this tome and am pleased I bought it for that reason alone.

I must confess I found myself reading the book and feeling I was inhabiting a parallel universe. I'm not quite sure who exactly the authors were rooting for here (for example Borghese and his efficient navy), but there were a couple of passages that just came over as bizarre.

To suggest that Admiral Cunningham was wrong to "engage in theatrics" by taking Admiral de Zara the long way around Valetta so that he could see what Axis aircraft had done to Malta..... that strikes me as a very understandable way for Cunningham to act, given what the tiny island had endured.

Given how different the Italians reaction could be toward the Germans - ranging from fiercely pro-German to fiercely anti-German with whole loads of grey in between, not sure the mis-trust of the Italian navy was exactly unreasonable...

The underlying tone was that Fascist Italy should be allowed to behave as she did - declaring war on the French and British as soon as she "knew" that the Allies were on their knees and the war as good as over. But then, when things were going badly, they should be allowed to duck out of the war on their terms and the Germans (who were not advised of this stab in the back) should be happy with the situation.

Funny old game eh?

[Hotschi]

I second your motions! O'Hara writes a lot of good books, granted, and he aims to erase the Regia Marina's reputation of having been "coward" or "avoiding battle" and "running away", even though it fulfilled its mission in the Mediterranean war, i.e. keeping open the supply route to North Africa (in Struggle for the Middle Sea), but in this book, he's overdoing it. If it wasn't for the appendices, this small book could be completely neglected.

[parusski]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Hotschi

Also read Dark Navy: The Italian Regia Marina and the Armistice of 8 September 1943 by Vincent P. O'Hara. A short book about the events leading to, during, and after the armistice. O'Hara argues that the Regia Marina in fact didn't surrender but instead "sailed into Allied controlled ports" as ordered by Supermarina. He points out that the Allies, notably the Royal Navy, never actually exercised control of the Italian warships, contrary to claims by RN personell, for example Admiral Cunningham. I regard this as a somewhat hair-splitting argument, but okay. The appendices is where this small book really shines - every, and I mean every, Italian warships's fate, be it captured/taken over (from the French for example), "original" Regia Marina, in repair or under construction, is listed. Also the postions of the ships at the time of the armistice is listed - for me, extremely valuable information.

warspite1

This book came yesterday (Black Phoenix arriving today apparently). Bit disappointed in the size of the book for the money. Read it already.

Agree the detail re the entire fleet is the big win with this tome and am pleased I bought it for that reason alone.

I must confess I found myself reading the book and feeling I was inhabiting a parallel universe. I'm not quite sure who exactly the authors were rooting for here (for example Borghese and his efficient navy), but there were a couple of passages that just came over as bizarre.

To suggest that Admiral Cunningham was wrong to "engage in theatrics" by taking Admiral de Zara the long way around Valetta so that he could see what Axis aircraft had done to Malta..... that strikes me as a very understandable way for Cunningham to act, given what the tiny island had endured.

Given how different the Italians reaction could be toward the Germans - ranging from fiercely pro-German to fiercely anti-German with whole loads of grey in between, not sure the mis-trust of the Italian navy was exactly unreasonable...

The underlying tone was that Fascist Italy should be allowed to behave as she did - declaring war on the French and British as soon as she "knew" that the Allies were on their knees and the war as good as over. But then, when things were going badly, they should be allowed to duck out of the war on their terms and the Germans (who were not advised of this stab in the back) should be happy with the situation.

Funny old game eh?

SALVATION: Climate Change Cured by BPB, Stephen Ambrose.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Hotschi

I second your motions! O'Hara writes a lot of good books, granted, and he aims to erase the Regia Marina's reputation of having been "coward" or "avoiding battle" and "running away", even though it fulfilled its mission in the Mediterranean war, i.e. keeping open the supply route to North Africa (in Struggle for the Middle Sea), but in this book, he's overdoing it. If it wasn't for the appendices, this small book could be completely neglected.

warspite1

Black Phoenix turned up today. I am pleased to say the book is bigger than Dark Navy, but frankly not by much, and in no way does the number of pages - 103 in total - justify the price.

There are a lot of pictures which greatly helps given the boats involved are small craft - and so really assists in understanding the text. Should be an interesting read as part of expanding my knowledge of Italian naval operations in WWII but it is not a book I will be interrupting the finish of Hitler's U-boat war for.

[ronweasley]

Re-reading the Talon of the Silve Hawk series by Raymond E. Feist [8D]

[warspite1]

Gallipoli turned up yesterday - will shelve volume II of Hitler's U-boat war for a few weeks to try and get this read. It has good reviews so lets hope it matches up to expectation.

[Hotschi]

Finished HMS Royal Sovereign and Her Sister Ships by Peter C. Smith, which is a very good book about those "coffin ships" (as Churchill said). Her whole career is covered up to and including her service in the Russian Fleet.

Now reading Churchill and the Admirals by Stephen Roskill, just finished the chapter about the Norwegian campaign. Churchill gets a lot of flak, but contrary to writers like Gordon Corrigan, Roskill actually backs up what he writes.

Which Gallipoli book are you reading, warspite1? I'm pondering getting "Churchill's Dilemma" by Graham Clews.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Hotschi

Finished HMS Royal Sovereign and Her Sister Ships by Peter C. Smith, which is a very good book about those "coffin ships" (as Churchill said). Her whole career is covered up to and including her service in the Russian Fleet.

Now reading Churchill and the Admirals by Stephen Roskill, just finished the chapter about the Norwegian campaign. Churchill gets a lot of flak, but contrary to writers like Gordon Corrigan, Roskill actually backs up what he writes.

Which Gallipoli book are you reading, warspite1? I'm pondering getting "Churchill's Dilemma" by Graham Clews.

warspite1

Gallipoli by L.A Carlyon.