The Civil War at Sea

The Civil War at Sea
Author: Craig L. Symonds
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2012
Genre: History
ISBN: 0199931682

Continuing in the vein of the Lincoln-prize winning Lincoln and His Admirals, acclaimed naval historian Craig L. Symonds presents an operational history of the Civil War navies - both Union and Confederate - in this concise volume. Illuminating how various aspects of the naval engagement influenced the trajectory of the war as a whole, The Civil War at Sea adds to our understanding of America's great national conflict. Both the North and the South developed and deployed hundreds of warships between 1861 and 1865. Because the Civil War coincided with a revolution in naval techonology, the development and character of warfare at sea from 1861-1865 was dramatic and unprecedented. Rather than a simple chronology of the war at sea, Symonds addresses the story of the naval war topically, from the dramatic transformation wrought by changes in technology to the establishment, management, and impact of blockade. He also offers critical assessments of principal figures in the naval war, from the opposing secretaries of the navy to leading operational commanders such as David Glasgow Farragut and Raphael Semmes. Symonds brings his expertise and knowledge of military and technological history to bear in this essential exploration of American naval engagement throughout the Civil War.

War on the Waters

War on the Waters
Author: James M. McPherson
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2012-09-17
Genre: History
ISBN: 0807837326

Although previously undervalued for their strategic impact because they represented only a small percentage of total forces, the Union and Confederate navies were crucial to the outcome of the Civil War. In War on the Waters, James M. McPherson has crafted an enlightening, at times harrowing, and ultimately thrilling account of the war's naval campaigns and their military leaders. McPherson recounts how the Union navy's blockade of the Confederate coast, leaky as a sieve in the war's early months, became increasingly effective as it choked off vital imports and exports. Meanwhile, the Confederate navy, dwarfed by its giant adversary, demonstrated daring and military innovation. Commerce raiders sank Union ships and drove the American merchant marine from the high seas. Southern ironclads sent several Union warships to the bottom, naval mines sank many more, and the Confederates deployed the world's first submarine to sink an enemy vessel. But in the end, it was the Union navy that won some of the war's most important strategic victories--as an essential partner to the army on the ground at Fort Donelson, Vicksburg, Port Hudson, Mobile Bay, and Fort Fisher, and all by itself at Port Royal, Fort Henry, New Orleans, and Memphis.

The Civil War at Sea

The Civil War at Sea
Author: Dale Anderson
Publisher: Gareth Stevens
Total Pages: 52
Release: 2004
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9780836855852

The Civil War was largely a land war, but control of trade over the seas was vital for both sides. The Union navy was out of date and unprepared at the war's beginning, and the Confederate navy was nonexistent. This book charts the rapid progress the North and South made to fight naval war that included blockades, blockade-runners, river fighting, and the coordinated work of army and navy. It also tells the story of the new kinds of ships and naval weapons developed and tested during the Civil War. Book jacket.

A Short History of the Civil War at Sea

A Short History of the Civil War at Sea
Author: Spencer Tucker
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2002
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780842028684

In A Short History of the Civil War at Sea, Spencer C. Tucker, eminent naval and military historian, provides a concise and lively overview of the blue water Civil War, or fighting on the seas and attacks directed from the sea. This volume covers the drama of significant naval battles, like the first clash of ironclads at Hampton Roads, the Union capture of New Orleans, fierce action in the Charleston Harbor, and the Battle of Mobile Bay. A Short History of the Civil War at Sea also discusses important themes, like the technological revolution in naval warfare; the Confederate use of torpedoes, submarines, and commerce raiders; and the Union's successful strategy of blockade. The struggle at sea might not have been as bloody as the fighting on land, but it was every bit as interesting and included a colorful cast of characters, like David G. Farragut, the North's highest ranking and most accomplished naval officer, and Confederate naval officer, commerce raider, and Rebel Seadog Raphael Semmes. And the advances of naval technology during the Civil War are fascinating - from the use of new Dahlgren guns to the design and redesign of the ironclads to the extensive use of mines an

Decision at Sea

Decision at Sea
Author: Craig L. Symonds
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 585
Release: 2006-10-23
Genre: History
ISBN: 0199754888

From thunderous broadsides traded between wooden sailing ships on Lake Erie, to the carrier battles of World War II, to the devastating high-tech action in the Persian Gulf, here is a gripping history of five key battles that defined the evolution of naval warfare--and the course of the American nation. Acclaimed military historian Craig Symonds offers spellbinding narratives of crucial engagements, showing how each battle reveals the transformation of technology and weaponry from one war to the next; how these in turn transformed naval combat; and how each event marked a milestone in American history. - Oliver Hazard Perry's heroic victory at Lake Erie, one of the last great battles of the Age of Sail, which secured the Northwestern frontier for the United States - The brutal Civil War duel between the ironclads Monitor and Virginia, which sounded the death knell for wooden-hulled warships and doomed the Confederacy's hope of besting the Union navy - Commodore Dewey's stunning triumph at Manila Bay in 1898, where the U.S. displayed its "new navy" of steel-hulled ships firing explosive shells and wrested an empire from a fading European power - The hairsbreadth American victory at Midway, where aircraft carriers launched planes against enemies 200 miles away--and where the tide of World War II turned in the space of a few furious minutes - Operation Praying Mantis in the Persian Gulf, where computers, ship-fired missiles, and "smart bombs" not only changed the nature of warfare at sea, but also marked a new era, and a new responsibility, for the United States. Symonds records these encounters in detail so vivid that readers can hear the wind in the rigging and feel the pounding of the guns. Yet he places every battle in a wide perspective, revealing their significance to America's development as it grew from a new Republic on the edge of a threatening frontier to a global superpower. Decision at Sea is a powerful and illuminating look at pivotal moments in the history of the Navy and of the United States. It is also a compelling study of the unchanging demands of leadership at sea, where commanders must make rapid decisions in the heat of battle with lives--and the fate of nations--hanging in the balance.

A Country of Our Own

A Country of Our Own
Author: David Poyer
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2003
Genre: Historical fiction
ISBN: 9780684871349

Reaching the agonizing decision to join the Confederate States Navy, abolitionist Lieutenant Ker Claiborne works to destroy a ship in order to undermine Union finances and experiences confrontations with fellow officers.

Blue & Gray Navies

Blue & Gray Navies
Author: Spencer C Tucker
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Total Pages: 476
Release: 2013-05-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 161251359X

A longtime military history professor at Virginia Military Institute and prolific author, Spencer Tucker examines the important roles played by the Union and Confederate navies during the Civil War. His book makes use of recent scholarship as well as official records and the memoirs of participants to provide a complete perspective for the general reader and enough detail to hold the interest of the specialist. Tucker opens with an overview of the U.S. Navy's history to 1861 and then closely examines the two navies at the beginning of the war, looking at the senior leadership, officers and personnel, organization, recruitment practices, training, facilities, and manufacturing resources. He discusses the acquisition of ships and the design and construction of new types, as well as ship armament and the development of naval ordnance, and North and South naval strategies. The book then takes a close look at the war itself, including the Union blockade of the Confederate Atlantic and Gulf coasts, riverine warfare in the Western theater, Confederate blockade running and commerce raiders, and the Union campaigns against New Orleans, Charleston, Vicksburg, and on the Red River. Tucker covers the major battles and technological innovations, and he evaluates the significance of the Union blockade and the demands it placed on Union resources. Fourteen maps and a glossary of terms help readers follow the text. Extensive endnotes provide additional material.

The Spanish Civil War at Sea

The Spanish Civil War at Sea
Author: Michael Alpert
Publisher: Pen and Sword Maritime
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2021-09-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1526764377

The Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939 underlined the importance of the sea as the supply route to both General Franco's insurgents and the Spanish Republic. There were attempted blockades by Franco as well as attacks by his Italian and German allies against legitimate neutral, largely British, merchant shipping bound for Spanish Republican ports and challenges to the Royal Navy, which was obliged to maintain a heavy presence in the area. The conflict provoked splits in British public opinion. Events at sea both created and reflected the international tensions of the latter 1930s, when the policy of appeasement of Germany and Italy dissuaded Britain from taking action against those countries’ activities in Spain, except to participate in a largely ineffective naval patrol to try to prevent the supply of war material to both sides. The book is based on original documentary sources in both Britain and Spain and is intended for the general reader as well as students and academics interested in the history of the 1930s, in naval matters and in the Spanish Civil War.

The Civil War at Sea

The Civil War at Sea
Author: George Sullivan
Publisher: Twenty-First Century Books
Total Pages: 88
Release: 2001-01-01
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9780761315537

The history of the Civil War as fought on water is brought to life with text and rare photographs.