Struggle for the Middle Sea: The Great Navies at War in the Mediterranean Theater, 1940-1945The Mediterranean is the maritime crossroads where Europe, Asia, and Africa meet. More major naval actions were fought there than in the Atlantic or Pacific yet remarkably little has been written about the subject. Th is fresh study of the Mediterranean’s naval war analyzes the actions and performances of the five major navies—British, Italian, French, German, and American—during the entire five-year campaign and examines the national imperatives that drove each nation’s maritime strategy. Struggle for the Middle Sea provides a history of the entire campaign from all perspectives and covers Germany’s largely unknown—and remarkably successful—struggle to employ sea power in the Mediterranean after the Italian armistice. Defense & Foreign Affairs Strategic Policy (August 2009) has called it “a new and stunningly important view of World War II” and “a fabulously readable and important book.” |
Contents
Attack on Espero 28 June 1940 18332200 | |
Battle of Cape Spada 19 July 06170930 | |
Battle of Dakar 2325 September 1940 | |
1 Messina Convoy 2 June 1943 01340315 | |
4 Fate of Italian Units after the Armistice | |
2 Action South of Rhodes 23 September 1943 0100 | |
7 Large German Warships Commissioned in the Adriatic | |
11 Major Allied Warships Deployed for Operation Anvil 15 August 1944 | |
2 Impact of the Mediterranean Strategy British Imports and Tonnage Lost | |
June 1940 | |
The Defeat of France | |
Action in the Strait of Otranto 12 November 1940 01250155 | |
Encounter in the Sicilian Narrows 2728 November 1940 23340127 | |
Castelorizzo Harbor 27 February 1941 02000215 | |
Battle of Cape Matapan 2829 March 1941 22280403 | |
Attack on Convoy BN7 and Battle of Harmil Island 2021 October 1940 | |
Action off SfaX 16 April 1941 02200400 | |
Lupo Convoy Action 2122 May 1941 22300030 | |
Engagement off Sidon 9 June 1941 13351445 | |
Beta Convoy Battle 9 November 1941 00570140 | |
Battle of Cape Ben 13 December 1941 03230328 | |
Battle of Pantelleria 15 June 1942 05421420 | |
First Battle of Oran 8 November 1942 03150755 | |
2 Second Battle of Oran 9 November 1942 10001120 | |
6 DAnnuzio Action 16 January 1943 03210350 | |
Other editions - View all
Struggle for the Middle Sea: The Great Navies at War in the Mediterranean ... Vincent P. O'Hara No preview available - 2015 |
Common terms and phrases
action Admiralty Aegean Africa air attacks aircraft Alexandria Allied Aurora Axis Azioni Navali Battle battleships bombardment Britain British destroyers British Intelligence British ships Campioni Cape Captain commander convoy’s Crete Cunningham Papers damaged Darlan Destroyer Flotilla Destroyer Squadron destroyers Division east enemy enemy’s engaged escort Fioravanzo fleet Force H freighters German Germany’s Gibraltar gunfire guns heavy cruisers hundred yards Iachino Italian Navy Italian ships Italy Italy’s July June knots Kriegsmarine launched light cruisers Malta Convoys Marina Militare Mediterranean Fleet merchant ships miles minesweepers navy’s night November opened fire operation ordered patrol port Pridham-Wippell range Rear Admiral Regia Marina reported rounds Royal Navy S-boats sailed salvos sank September shells Sicilian Channel sighted smoke Somerville sortied speed starboard submarines Supermarina surface Taranto target thousand yards tons torpedo boats Trento troops turned vessels Vian Vice Admiral Vittorio Veneto warships Warspite Zara