| ID | Description | Categories | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 162 | SPAIGHT, James M. Blockade by Air: The Campaign against Axis Shipping. 159p., illus., index. London: Bles, 1942.
Uses the events of 1941 to illustrate the thesis that air power can win the war. That, rather than the navy, can impose an economic blockade on the Axis powers, in narrow and coastal waters, which will lead to an unbreakable stranglehold. |
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| 163 | WHEELER, Harold B. War with the Sea Wolves. 251p., illus. London: Nelson, 1940.
An early and breezy view of the sea war; it follows official British accounts. Reprinted in 1941. |
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| 164 | KORGANOFF, Alexandre. The Phantom of Scapa Flow. 235p., illus. London: Ian Allan, 1974. ISBN: 0711005044.
A detailed review of Prien’s attack on Scapa Flow in October 1939. Prien claimed to have sunk a second capital ship as well as Royal Oak. The author suggests that this was probably Iron Duke. |
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| 165 | McKEE, Alexander. Black Saturday: The Tragedy of the Royal Oak. 220p., illus. London: Souvenir, 1959; New York: Holt Rinehart, 1960.
Describes what happened on board the Royal Oak during the sinking, and how the survivors fared in the water. A final section attempts to cast doubt on Prien’s part in the affair. |
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| 166 | PRIEN, Gunther. I Sank the Royal Oak. 196p., illus. London: Grays Inn, 1954.
Originally published in Germany in 1940, this is an important, if partial, source. Reprinted by Wingate-Baker in 1969. |
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| 167 | SARKAR, Dilip. Hearts of Oak: the Human Tragedy of HMS Royal Oak. 155p., bibliog., illus., index. Stroud: Amberley, 2010. ISBN: 9781848689442.
Concentrates on the human side, relying heavily on the memories of three boy sailors and family memories of some who did not survive. |
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| 168 | SNYDER, Gerald S. The Royal Oak Disaster. 240p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Kimber, 1976; San Rafael, Calif.: Presidio, 1978. ISBN: 0891410635.
An American "with no axe to grind" attempts to tell the story of the sinking using evidence gathered from survivors and documents no longer concealed by the Official Secrets Act. A straightforward description of what happened, without the speculation that mars other accounts. |
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| 169 | TURNER, David. The Ultimate Sacrifice: The World War II Battleship. 80p., illus. Ely: Melrose, 2004. ISBN: 0954848012. Dedicated to the author’s uncle, Commander Woodrow-Clark, who did not survive the sinking. The book is a disorganised ragbag of press reports, ancient myths and survivor’s stories of the sinking with some small reference to the loss of other capital ships and the tale of his personal pilgrimage to Scapa. Republished as a larger volume in 2008 by Argyll Publishing as Last Dawn: The Royal Oak Tragedy at Scapa Flow, ISBN: 1906134138. Further editions of this title were published in 2009 - for the seventieth anniversary of the sinking (ISBN: 9781906134389) - and again in 2011 (ISBN: 9781906134761).
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| 170 | WEAVER, H. J. Nightmare at Scapa Flow: The Truth about the Sinking of HMS Royal Oak. 194p., bibliog., illus. Henley-on-Thames: Cressrelles, 1980. ISBN: 0859560252.
An excellent attempt to review the evidence from scratch and to bring new evidence to light. |
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| 171 | BENNETT, Geoffrey. Battle of the River Plate (Sea Battles in Close-Up, 4). 96p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Ian Allan; Annapolis: NIP, 1972. ISBN: 0711002800.
A detailed and comprehensive review of the action. |
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| 172 | CAMPBELL, A. B. The Battle of the Plate. 256p., illus., index. London: Jenkins, 1940.
An instant account of the battle with a decidedly patriotic view. Also covers the release of the prisoners from "the jackal Altmark." |
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| 173 | DIVINE, A. D. The Wake of the Raiders: The Exploits and the Failure of the Pocket Battleships and a Consecutive Account of Events at Sea. viii, 153, [2]p., illus. London: John Murray, 1940.
Clearly shows the effects both of censorship and the fog of war. About half is an account of the Graf Spee and Altmark incidents. |
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| 174 | DOVE, Patrick. I Was Graf Spee’s Prisoner. 143p. London: Withy Grove, 1940.
Dove was captain of the Africa Shell, which was captured by the Graf Spee on 15 November 1939. He was held prisoner until the Spee was chased into Montevideo, although according to his story for at least some of that time he was treated as a guest. The book was republished in paperback in 1957. |
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| 175 | FOLEY, Thomas. I was an Altmark Prisoner: The First Authentic Account of the Graf Spee’s Activities, Life Aboard the Raider and Life Aboard the Hell Ship Altmark by One of Her Prisoners. 127p. London: Aldor, 1940.
The author was an able seaman on the Doric Star, sunk by the raider on 2 December 1939. |
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| 176 | FRISCHAUER, Willi, & JACKSON, Robert. The Navy's Here!: The Altmark Affair. 255p., illus. London: Gollancz; New York: Macmillan, 1955.
The story of Altmark and Graf Spee from the beginning of the war until the dramatic rescue of the prisoners when Cossack trapped Altmark in Jossing Fjord. US title: The Altmark Affair. |
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| 177 | The River Plate Battle. Supplement to the London Gazette of Thursday, 19 June 1947, Number 37989, pp.2759–2766. Submitted by Admiral Harwood and concentrating on the action itself. Includes a track chart. Reprinted in 2014 in the compilation by Martin Mace and John Grehan, Capital Ships at War 1939-1945 (ISBN 1783462043). |
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| 178 | GREAT BRITAIN. Admiralty. Correspondence between His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom and the Norwegian Government respecting the German Steamer "Altmark". Cmd. 8012. (Norway No.1 1950). 15p. London: H.M.S.O., 1950.
A formal record of correspondence and discussions between Lord Halifax and the Norwegian Minister in London over the invasion of Norwegian territorial waters. |
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| 179 | GROVE, Eric J. The Price of Disobedience: The Battle of the River Plate Reconsidered. viii, 182p., bibliog., illus., index. Stroud: Sutton, 2000. ISBN: 0750909277.
An excellent modern reappraisal of the battle drawing on many previously unused sources. |
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| 180 | LANDSBOROUGH, Gordon. The Battle of the River Plate. 160p., illus. London: Kimber, 1956.
A straightforward British account of all the events surrounding the last cruise of the Graf Spee. |
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| 181 | MILLINGTON-DRAKE, Eugen. The Drama of the Graf Spee and the Battle of the Plate: A Documentary Anthology 1914-1964. xxvi, 510p., illus., index. London: Davies, 1965.
The British Minister at Montevideo at the time of the battle presents an anthology which examines briefly Admiral Von Spee at Coronel and the Falklands, before giving full contemporary accounts of the Graf Spee's last cruise and the Battle of the River Plate from survivors and commentators. Various items of memorabilia are also included. |
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