Jutland: The Unfinished Battle

Jutland: The Unfinished BattleJutland: The Unfinished Battle: A Personal History of a Naval Controversy by Nick Jellicoe
ISBN: 1848323212
Published by US Naval Institute Press on May 15, 2016
Pages: 352

Written by the grandson of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, who commanded the British Grand Fleet at Jutland, this is a fresh examination of the battle and its aftermath, offering many new perspectives on both the British and German sides of the battle, and on the bitter controversies that have surrounded it since the moment the battered ships returned to harbor.

(Notes by Steve McLaughlin)

The Baltimore Sabotage Cell: German Agents, American Traitors, and the U-Boat Deutschland During World War I

The Baltimore Sabotage Cell: German Agents, American Traitors, and the U-Boat Deutschland During World War IThe Baltimore Sabotage Cell by Dwight Messimer
ISBN: 9781612518695
Published by Naval Institute Press on March 15, 2015
Genres: History, Military, Naval
Pages: 280

The book’s focus on U-Boat Deutschland makes it easy to understand the experimental vessel and keep track of the groups connected with it. Deutschland was one of two subs designed as underwater freighters to avoid the British blockade. The other, the Bremen, was lost at sea on its initial voyage.

Support of the U-Boat was only one of the activities of the Baltimore sabotage group; it also attempted to spread diseases to horses being sent to the Allies.

Deutschland made only two successful trips before it was re-commissioned as a standard submarine after America entered the war.

The Germans and Americans in the U.S. who acquired the trade goods for shipment to Germany were in peril once the U.S. entered the war; most escaped. While some people, civilian and military, toured and inspected the Deutschland while docked in Baltimore, it was not until after the war that interviews with the cell’s surviving participants revealed how extensive and successful the Baltimore group had been.

A well written and unexpectedly interesting case study of an unusual aspect of the war.

Reviewed by Anne Merritt

The American Foreign Legion: Black Soldiers of the 93d in World War I

The American Foreign Legion: Black Soldiers of the 93d in World War IThe American Foreign Legion: Black Soldiers of the 93d in World War I by Frank E. Roberts
ISBN: 1591147344
Published by US Naval Institute Press on June 15th 2004
Pages: 259

Len's Summary: The Harlem Hell Fighters of the 369th Regiment (15th New York National Guard) were part of this division, whose individual infantry regiments fought under French command.

From Imperial Splendor to Internment: The German Navy in the First World War

From Imperial Splendor to Internment: The German Navy in the First World WarFrom Imperial Splendor to Internment: The German Navy in the First World War by Nicholas Wolz
ISBN: 1591141745
Published by US Naval Institute Press on July 15th 2015
Pages: 320

Len's Summary: Years of relative inactivity for Germany’s battle fleet while submarines dominated the action.

The Great War at Sea: A Naval Atlas, 1914-1919

The Great War at Sea: A Naval Atlas, 1914-1919The Great War at Sea: A Naval Atlas, 1914-1919 by Marcus Faulkner, Andrew Lambert
ISBN: 1591141923
Published by US Naval Institute Press on October 15th 2015
Pages: 192

Len's Summary: Graphic depiction of the war at sea.

21st Century Sims: Innovation, Education, and Leadership for the Modern Era

21st Century Sims: Innovation, Education, and Leadership for the Modern Era21st Century Sims: Innovation, Education, and Leadership for the Modern Era by Benjamin Armstrong
ISBN: 1612518109
Published by US Naval Institute Press on February 15th 2015
Genres: Biography & Autobiography, Military, Naval
Pages: 176

Len's Summary: Admiral William S. Sims twice President of the US Naval War College, gunnery expert and commander of US Naval Forces in Europe during WWI was a true military intellectual.

Before Jutland: The Naval War in Northern European Waters, August 1914-February 1915

Before Jutland: The Naval War in Northern European Waters, August 1914-February 1915Before Jutland: The Naval War in Northern European Waters, August 1914-February 1915 by James Goldrick
ISBN: 1591143497
Published by US Naval Institute Press on May 15th 2015
Genres: Military, Naval
Pages: 400

Len's Summary: The German High Seas Fleet faces the British in the North Sea and the Russians in the Baltic.

A Shipyard at War: Unseen Photographs from John Brown’s Clydebank, 1914-1918

A Shipyard at War: Unseen Photographs from John Brown’s Clydebank, 1914-1918A Shipyard at War: Unseen Photographs from John Brown's Clydebank, 1914-1918 by Ian Johnston
ISBN: 9781591141891
Published by US Naval Institute Press on December 15th 2014
Genres: Military, Naval, Pictorial, Photography
Pages: 192

Len's Summary: Britain’s famed ship yards near Glasgow. During WWI John Brown’s, produced over two hundred thousand tons of warships -- mainly destroyers, but also including HMS Repulse and Prince of Wales -- and 1,700,000 tons of machinery for the Royal Navy during WWI. This is a companion volume to the author’s Clydebank Battlecruisers (USNI 2011).

Billy Mitchell’s War with the Navy: The Interwar Rivalry Over Air Power

Billy Mitchell’s War with the Navy: The Interwar Rivalry Over Air PowerBilly Mitchell's War with the Navy: The Interwar Rivalry Over Air Power by Thomas Wildenberg
ISBN: 0870210386
Published by US Naval Institute Press on October 15th 2013
Pages: 288

Torpedo: The Complete History of the World’s Most Revolutionary Naval Weapon

Torpedo:  The Complete History of the World’s Most Revolutionary Naval WeaponTorpedo: The Complete History of the World's Most Revolutionary Naval Weapon by Roger Branfill-Cook
ISBN: 1591141931
Published by US Naval Institute Press on August 15th 2014
Pages: 256

Len's Summary: The greatest single game-changer in naval warfare allowing small, inexpensive torpedo-firing ships to menace dreadnoughts.

The Zimmermann Telegram: Intelligence, Diplomacy, and America’s Entry into World War I

The Zimmermann Telegram: Intelligence, Diplomacy, and America’s Entry into World War IThe Zimmermann Telegram: Intelligence, Diplomacy, and America's Entry into World War I by Thomas Boghardt
ISBN: 1612511481
Published by US Naval Institute Press on October 15th 2012
Pages: 319

Len's Summary: The author contends that Zimmerman’s telegram was a spontaneous initiative, not part of an overall German strategy. In America, he asserts, it proved divisive, alienating isolationists, pacifists, and lawmakers.

The Battleship Builders: Constructing and Arming British Capital Ships

The Battleship Builders: Constructing and Arming British Capital ShipsThe Battleship Builders: Constructing and Arming British Capital Ships by Ian Johnston, Ian Buxton
ISBN: 9781591140276
Published by US Naval Institute Press on April 15th 2013
Genres: History, Military, Naval, Transportation, Ships & Shipbuilding
Pages: 352

Len's Summary: How the Royal Navy designed, built, armed and powered HMS Dreadnought and, in little more than a decade, 50 more of her type.

Float Planes and Flying Boats: The U.S. Coast Guard and Early Naval Aviation

Float Planes and Flying Boats: The U.S. Coast Guard and Early Naval AviationFloat Planes & Flying Boats: The U.S. Coast Guard and Early Naval Aviation by Robert B. Workman Jr.
ISBN: 1612511074
Published by US Naval Institute Press on July 15th 2012
Pages: 322

Len's Summary: Few remember that the U.S. Coast Guard air crew participated in the first-ever transatlantic flight (by Curtiss flying boats) in 1919.

A Naval History of World War I

A Naval History of World War INaval History of World War I by Paul G. Halpern
ISBN: 1557503524
Published by US Naval Institute Press on April 15th 2012
Genres: World War I, Naval, Battle History
Pages: 616

Len's Summary: A comprehensive one-volume treatment of the important war at sea.