Название: Amphibious Warfare in World War II: The History and Legacy of the War's Most Important Landing Operations
Автор: Charles River Editors
Издательство: Charles River Editors
Год: December 28, 2017
Страниц: 92
Язык: английский
Формат: epub
Размер: 10.0 MB

A swift, sudden attack from the ocean, putting soldiers ashore on a hostile coast at some point weakly defended by the enemy, has been a powerful tactical and strategic tool since the late Bronze Age. Utilized by the Sea Peoples against New Kingdom Egypt and the Greek city-states in their internecine wars, amphibious warfare combined high mobility with a strong chance of complete surprise.

Ultimately, amphibious operations at places like Okinawa, Iwo Jima, and various parts of Europe determined the course of the war, and Amphibious Warfare in World War II: The History and Legacy of the War’s Most Important Landing Operations examines these crucial events. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about World War II’s amphibious warfare like never before.

Soviet amphibious warfare theory and doctrine stretched back to the later 1930s, well before the start of World War II. Though quite detailed and in some ways as sophisticated as the doctrine of any other major military power, a serious disconnect existed between theory and practice. While leading Soviet naval thinkers developed detailed strategies and tactics for using landing craft, no Russian-made landing craft actually existed. In essence, the amphibious warfare branch existed as a head without a body.

Even when the deadly demands of actual invasion of Soviet territory forced the Soviet fleet to bring their ideas into reality, at least in some form, to counter the hard-driving offensives of the Wehrmacht, the situation had changed little. Soviet leaders found themselves trying to shoehorn more or less sound tactical plans into the extreme practical constraints of the equipment available to them – small boats, motorized rafts, even oar-propelled barges. For this reason, among others, some Soviet amphibious operations yielded surprising levels of success, but many others came to grief in spectacular fashion. Nevertheless, the Soviet marines and naval infantry would win the grudgingly respectful nickname of “Striped Death” from the Germans – referring both to their striped naval shirts and to their aggressive fighting spirit.

- Includes pictures
- Includes accounts of the fighting
- Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading
- Includes a table of contents