Category: Royal Navy: General Works

A broad, sweeping panoramic history and a good solid and workmanlike review of a century, which began and ended with trouble in the Balkans.

SHOWELL, Jak P. Mallmann. Dönitz, U-Boats, Convoys: The British Version of His Memoirs from the Admiralty's Secret Anti-Submarine Reports. xvi, 208p., illus., Barnsley: Frontline, 2013. ISBN: 1848327013.

Combines Dönitz’s memoirs in a parallel text with the Admiralty’s secret Monthly Anti-Submarine Reports to give a novel view of the U-Boat war.

REDFORD, Duncan. A History of the Royal Navy: World War II. 256p., bibliog., illus., index. London: I. B. Tauris, 2014. ISBN: 1780765460.

A well received general history.

WELLS, John. The Royal Navy: An Illustrated Social History 1870–1982. x, 306p., bibliog., illus., index. Stroud: Sutton, 1994. ISBN: 0750905247.

An excellent history which shows fully the RN’s change from a relatively small professional service to one capable of dealing with a mass global war.  

POOLMAN, Kenneth. Experiences of War: The British Sailor. vii, 180p., illus., index. London: Arms & Armour, 1989. ISBN: 085368992X.

Over seventy tales from diaries, letters and interviews are used to try and describe what it was like to be a common sailor. A huge range of material is deployed and linked with skill. Republished in paperback in 2000 by Cassell for Past Times and entitled Anchors Aweigh! Recollections of World War II Sailors (ISBN: 0304356328).

OWEN, Charles. Plain Yarns from the Fleet. x, 212p., bibliog., illus., index. Stroud: Sutton, 1997. ISBN: 0750907703.

A largely social history of the RN in the twentieth century, amplified by well-chosen tales from those who served. These are from a mix of published and archival sources.  Reprinted by Wrens Park in 1999.    

BONNETT, Stanley. The Price of Admiralty: An Indictment of the Royal Navy 1805–1966. 272p., bibliog., illus., index. Lon-don: Hale, 1968. ISBN: 0709104065.

A social history which views the treatment of the lower deck as consistently shameful. En route he savages Churchill, battleship design, Pound, and officers. Two chapters on WWII.

DAVIES, J. D. Britannia’s Dragon: A Naval History of Wales.288p., bibliog., illus., index. Stroud: History Press, 2013. ISBN: 9780752470139.

An account of a little explored area with good coverage of WW2 ranging from the defence of Wales to the service of Welshmen in the Royal Navy.

Attempts to capture the huge training, procurement and logistics challenges which faced the RN as it expanded throughout the war.

A very one-sided review.

CRITCHLEY, Mike. The Royal Navy in Focus 1940–49. 76p., illus., index. Liskeard: Maritime Books, [1984]. ISBN: 0907771114.

A companion volume to the work on 1930–39.

An adequate account of British successes in the first 18 months of the sea war, aimed at a junior market.

How the Navy is tackling the war.

Well-chosen extracts and photographs from the contemporary letters, diaries, and memories of participants save a pedestrian text.

A useful guide to the ships, battles, and battle honours of the Royal Navy, full of fascinating detail.

A good general history of the London Division with a small section on WW2, where they notably manned the C Class cruisers.

A dozen stirring tales of the war at sea, which concludes, a little oddly, with the sinking of the Lusitania.

How the navy is conducting the war, by a war reporter.

A chronologically arranged treasure trove of facts and dates, of which WWII is but a part. The second edition by Sainsbury is much expanded.

A much revised and expanded edition of the earlier work by Shrubb. A labour of love which is a standard reference work. Has a notably good bibliography. A third edition was published in 2005.

The Navy in Action: A Collection of Thrilling Photographs. 40p., illus. Glasgow: Navy League, 1946.

A fund-raising pamphlet with pictures mainly from the last two years of the war.

KONSTAM, Angus. Royal Navy Home Fleet 1939-1941: The Last Line of Defence at Scapa Flow. 80p., bibliog., illus., index. Oxford: Osprey, 2024. ISBN: 9781472861481.

Profusely illustrated with new artwork, 3D diagrams and maps, Konstam provides a detailed description of the Home Fleet during the first years of the war, covering many topics from the capabilities of the warships to logistics and intelligence-gathering, to how fleet organization and command.

RAVEN, Alan. Royal Navy Camouflage (Warship Perspectives). 3 vols., illus. Lynbrook, N.Y.: WR Press, 2000.

The volumes are arranged chronologically. A fourth supplementary volume was published in 2003.

HASTINGS, Max. Finest Years: Churchill as Warlord 1940-45. xxiii, 664p., bibliog., illus., index. London: HarperCollins, 2009. ISBN: 9780007263677.

Full of naval related material, Hastings paints a vivid picture of Churchill at war as seen by the outside world.

GRAINGER, John D. 13 Sharks: The Careers of a Series of Small Royal Navy Ships from the Glorious Revolution to D-Day. x, 233p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2016. ISBN: 1473877245.

Brief biographies of each of the thirteen ships of name. the submarine Shark served in northern waters in 1939-40 and was sunk in June of that year in the Skaggerak. A destroyer of the name was launched in 1943. Renamed Svenner she was transferred to the Royal Norwegian Navy and sunk off the French coast during Operation Neptune.

BURNS, K. V. Badges and Battle Honours of H.M. Ships. 208p., illus., index. Liskeard: Maritime Books, 1986. ISBN: 0907771262.

A heavily illustrated alphabetical list of all RN ships, showing each crest and any battle honours followed by a potted one paragraph description and biography of each vessel which bore the name.

SHAW, Frank H. Stirring Deeds of Britain's Naval Might. 255p., illus. London: Harrap, 1940.

A rapidly produced account of naval actions in the first six months of the war. Graf Spee, Rawalpindi, and the cutting out of the Altmark are the main events recorded.

SHAW, Frank H. Epic Naval Fights. 280p., illus. London: Laurie, 1955.

Some of the major wartime actions are recalled, the sinking of Rawalpindi and Jervis Bay, the Plate battle and its aftermath, the Altmark incident, destroyers at Narvik, MTBs in the Channel, X-craft raids, and Russian convoys.

OSBORN, Reg. Trust Me…I'm an Old Sailor, Volume One. 295p., illus. London: Banyan Books, 2006. ISBN: 095415651X.

A whole series of tales and personal reminiscences about the Royal Navy through the images and notably in WW2.

HORE, Peter. The Habit of Victory: the Story of the Royal Navy, 1545 to 1945.   vii, 450p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 2005. ISBN:   0283073128.

A good general history which briefly covers all the major actions and campaigns of WW2.

The official British account. An absolutely basic source and a model of its kind. The final volume was reprinted by the Imperial War Museum in 1996 with source notes.

The Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Roll of Honour 1939-1945. 224p. London: Wave Heritage Trust, 2001.

An alphabetical list of all the Empire volunteer reservists who gave their lives. Bare personal details are given including age, date of death. Compiled by  Paula Vokes of the Trust.

WRIGHT, Malcolm. British and Commonwealth Warship Camouflage of WWII. Volume III: Cruisers. 192p., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth; Annapolis: NIP, 2016. ISBN: 1848324200.

 A maritime artist lovingly recreates both official and unofficial schemes for cruisers, minelayers and Armed Merchant Cruisers. The final volume in the series.

WRIGHT, Malcolm. British and Commonwealth Warship Camouflage of WWII. Volume II: Battleships and Aircraft Carriers. 192p., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth; Annapolis: NIP, 2015. ISBN: 9781848322530.

A maritime artist lovingly recreates both official and unofficial schemes for capital ships. The second of a three volume series.

WRIGHT, Malcolm. British and Commonwealth Warship Camouflage of WWII. 144p., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth; Annapolis: NIP, 2014. ISBN: 9781848322059.

A maritime artist lovingly recreates both official and unofficial schemes for smaller craft from destroyers to coastal warfare craft. The first of a three volume series.

BROWN, Kevin. Fittest of the Fit: Health and Morale in the Royal Navy, 1939-1945. xi, 276p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth, 2019. ISBN: 9781526734273.

This very good history of the Medical Branch is focussed on public and occupational health issues rather than the treatment of casualties. Ships, and especially submarines, were unhealthy spaces and major concerns were then the treatment of illnesses as varied as tuberculosis, mental health and venereal disease. A fascinating study.

KONSTAM, Angus. The British Sailor of the Second World War. 56p., bibliog., illus., index. Oxford: Shire, 2013. ISBN: 9780747812371.

A heavily illustrated account of how personnel were recruited, trained and how they dealt with life at sea in different climates and environments.

TUTE, Warren. The True Glory: The Story of the Royal Navy over a Thousand Years.288p., bibliog., illus., index. ISBN: 0060152125.

A substantial popular history with a large section on WW2.

PHILLIPS, Lawrie. The Royal Navy Day by Day. 4th ed. xi, 853p., bibliog., illus., index. Stroud: Spellmount, 2011. ISBN: 970752461779.

A fourth edition of the indispensable reference work previously edited by Shrubb then Sainsbury (qv). A much revised fifth edition was published in 2018 (ISBN: 9780750982665).

KENT, Barrie. Signal! A History of Signalling in the Royal Navy. xi, 371p., bibliog., illus., index. Clanfield: Hyden House, 1993. ISBN: 1856230066.

A gently informative and ruminating history, much of it relating to the problems of expanding both numbers and technology in WWII. A second edition was published in 2004.     

A chronological account which is profusely illustrated. A highly selective and patriotic viewpoint of the war is given.

A well-presented history with notably good plans. The sections on the 1930s and the Second World War are by Geoffrey Till and Eric Grove. A good general introduction.

The centenary volume of the NRS is arranged chronologically and contains a wealth of twentieth-century material from the text of the 1922 Washington Treaty, to diary entries of convoy actions and reports on centralised messing. A good, varied selection of source documents.

A glossy basic guide with a heavily patriotic tone.

First drafted during the war and revised later as censorship began to disappear, this is a war history of the RN by a well-qualified author.

Lists and tabulates the losses and their causes as known at the date of publication.

A cyclostyled day-by-day table of events in highly patriotic vein.

A reprint of the two major reference works published in 1947 by the Admiralty: Ships of the Royal Navy - Statement of Losses during the Second World War; and British Merchant Vessels Lost or Damaged by Enemy Action during the Second World War. An important work of reference. A second revised edition was published in 1983.

Published just as war began, this book's interest lies in the way the Navy was presented to the British public late in 1939. A revised edition was published in 1941 and a third edition in 1945. Essentially a propaganda work.

One of the Official Naval Reporters, a sort of serving war correspondent, presents a range of inspiring naval deeds, rather wider than the subtitle suggests.

A brief presentation of the salient facts of the period.

The last quarter of the book is a racist polemic against the Germans and a complaint that the government consistently ignores his advice.

Fairly anodyne impressions of life in the wartime navy.

A noted historian at the height of his powers gives perhaps the best one volume account of the RN's war to date.

A guide to the Royal Navy, its ships, their classes, armament, function, and losses in the war; by a serving naval officer.

A series of essays by distinguished naval officers describing how the navy works. Profusely illustrated.

Three-quarters of the book is on WWII. Arthur again uses pieces of oral history to produce anecdotes that illuminate various aspects of the campaigns of the Merchant and Royal Navies.

A very low level, but well illustrated guide to the role and work of the Royal Navy.

This volume was first published by the Admiralty in 1943 and issued to all new ratings. It was and is a mine of information on everything.

How the Royal Navy functions - its men, its ships, its customs and its tasks - described for the layman.

A set of historical essays on famous ships. The later chapters are concerned with some RN ships of WWII.

A single volume history of the RN's war which fails to equal the quality of his three-volume official history. US title: White Ensign.

Stories of the war at sea as fought by the RN.

An account of the RN and Merchant Navy at war.

A so-called "people's history" which uses personal testimonies to try and capture the experience of everything from action to time on leave.

A collection of essays by a leading naval historian. Almost two–thirds of the book is concerned with two essays. The first describes Churchill at the Admiralty in 1939–40 and his role in strategy and operations. The second is an analysis of the attack on the French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir.

The author has scoured archives and libraries for memoirs which he uses to provide a memorable analysis of lower deck attitudes and habits. Oral histories are used tellingly to make his points.

A brief review of how the Navy works in wartime.

Has some anecdotes on WW2 cats.

A strategic and operational history of the Home Fleet. It examines the role of the home fleet in allied strategy and how well the home fleet carried out the missions assigned to it within the framework of that strategy.

A propaganda work on the tasks and successes of the RN.

The tale of the Engineering Branch of the Royal Navy and how revolutionaries have struggled to ensure the effectiveness of the fleet.

A very enjoyable account of how the naval officer corps was expanded sevenfold, rich in fact and anecdote.

An excellent guide to the organisation and working of the Navy.

Examines nine incidents in which the man on the spot followed Nelson's example at Copenhagen and acted independently in the interpretation of orders, or in ignoring them completely. The WWII cases studied are Cunningham's disarming of the French Fleet at Alexandria, Vian and the Bismarck hunt, Walker's tactics in the escort of convoy HG84, and the submarine Storm on a special mission to Sumatra.

A photobook in two sections covering loss and damage subarranged by ship type. Cheaply produced but a good selection of pictures, many from the IWM, and well-researched captions.

A well-illustrated but very basic history of the war at sea, based on secondary sources.

A sort of potted history of the Royal Navy in the twentieth century. Successful British actions of WWII are described in the second half of the work.

A centenary history with two dozen pages on WW2. Although well told, there is an inevitable compression and use of anecdotes and individual tales to illustrate trends and act as examples.

"Vignettes of naval activities interspersed with personal reminiscences and a few experiences of navy men of [the author's] wide acquaintance."