Naval history

For the periodical, see Naval History (magazine).

The epic Battle of Salamis between Greek and Persian naval forces.

Naval history is the area of military history concerning war at sea and the subject is also a sub-discipline of the broad field of maritime history.

Traditionally, the focus has been on direct combat between ships at sea, rather than the use of ships to transport armies or military supplies, although frequently naval strategy hinges on the need to protect transport shipping. Recent writing in naval history has expanded the scope of the subject to include the full range of issues associated with navies, including matters of technology, finance, bureaucracy, social history, shipbuilding, supply, and logistics.

See also

• Naval history of nations and empires
• Bibliography of early American naval history
• Bibliography of 18th-19th century Royal Naval history
• List of naval battles
• Maritime timeline
• History of ship transport
• Category:Naval historians, list of naval historians

Further reading

• Holmes, Richard, et al., eds. The Oxford companion to military history (Oxford University Press, 2001), global.
• Potter, E.B. Sea power: A naval history (Naval Institute Press, 2014), global perspective.
• Rodger, Nicholas A.M. The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815. Vol. 2. (WW Norton & Company, 2005).
• Sondhaus, Lawrence. Naval Warfare, 1815-1914 (2001).
• Tucker, Spencer, ed. Naval Warfare: An International Encyclopedia (3 vol. Cambridge UP, 2002); 1231pp; 1500 articles by many experts cover 2500 years of world naval history, esp. battles, commanders, technology, strategies and tactics,
• Tucker, Spencer. Handbook of 19th century naval warfare (Naval Inst Press, 2000).

Warships

• George, James L. History of warships: From ancient times to the twenty-first century (Naval Inst Press, 1998).
• Ireland, Bernard, and Eric Grove. Jane's War at Sea 1897-1997: 100 Years of Jane's Fighting Ships (1997) covers all important ships of all major countries.
• Peebles, Hugh B. Warshipbuilding on the Clyde: Naval orders and the prosperity of the Clyde shipbuilding industry, 1889-1939 (John Donald, 1987)
• Van der Vat, Dan. Stealth at sea: the history of the submarine (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1995).

First World War

Main article: Bibliography of World War I § Naval war

• Bennett, Geoffrey. Naval Battles of the First World War (Pen and Sword, 2014)
• Halpern, Paul. A naval history of World War I (Naval Institute Press, 2012).
• Hough, Richard. The Great War at Sea, 1914-1918 (Oxford UP, 1987)
• Marder, Arthur Jacob. From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow (4 vol. 1961-70), covers Britain's Royal Navy 1904-1919
• Sondhaus, Lawrence The Great War at Sea: A Naval History of the First World War (2014). online review

Second World War

• Barnett, Correlli. Engage the Enemy More Closely: The Royal Navy in the Second World War (1991).
• Campbell, John. Naval Weapons of World War Two (Naval Institute Press, 1985).
• Morison, Samuel Eliot. The Two-Ocean War: A Short History of the United States Navy in the Second World War (1963) short version of his 13 volume history.
• O'Hara, Vincent. The German Fleet at War, 1939-1945 (Naval Institute Press, 2013).
• Roskill, S.K. White Ensign: The British Navy at War, 1939-1945 (United States Naval Institute, 1960); British Royal Navy; abridged version of his Roskill, Stephen Wentworth. The war at sea, 1939-1945 (3 vol. 1960).
• Van der Vat, Dan. The Pacific Campaign: The Second World War, the US-Japanese Naval War (1941-1945) (2001).

Historiography

• Harding, Richard ed., Modern Naval History: Debates and Prospects (London: Bloomsbury, 2015)
• Higham, John, ed. A Guide to the Sources of British Military History (2015) 654 pages excerpt
• Messenger, Charles. Reader's Guide to Military History. Routledge, 2013) comprehensive guide to historical books on global military & naval history.

External links

• Naval History & Heritage Command
• Naval Historical Foundation
• National Museum of the U.S. Navy
• Hampton Roads Naval Museum
• Naval History Research Center - Sorbonne University (France, Paris) Template:Fr
• Great Lakes Naval Museum
• National Naval Aviation Museum
• Naval Museum of Armament and Technology
• Naval Undersea Museum
• Naval War College Museum
• Puget Sound Navy Museum
• Patuxent River Naval Air Museum
• U.S. Navy Seabee Museum
• Submarine Force Library & Museum
• U.S. Naval Academy Museum
• U.S. Navy Supply Corps Museum
• Navy Art Collection
• USS Constitution "Old Ironsides"
• Royal Navy History, extensive source of Royal Naval History.
• International Journal of Naval History, A Global Forum for Naval Historical Scholarship, an e-journal.
• Naval-History.Net, Naval History of the 20th Century, World Wars 1, 2, post-war and Falklands War - navies, ships, ship losses, casualties.
• Ottoman Naval History, extensive source of Turkish Naval History.