
November 11th, 1940, 2030 hours. HMS Illustrious, 170 nautical miles southeast of Taranto Harbor. Lieutenant Commander Kenneth Hooch Williamson stands on the flight deck, watching…

October 25, 1944. Dawn breaks over the Philippine Sea near Samurai Island. Vice Admiral Teo Karita stands on the bridge of the battleship Yumato, scanning…

The first thing they heard wasn’t a drill sergeant’s bark or a rifle’s bolt. It was the upbeat brassy swing of a Benny Goodman record.…

Camp Heraford, Texas. July 1944. Oberloitant Greta Schneider pressed her face against the dusty bus window as the transport vehicle carried her and 32 other…

March 1943. The North Atlantic in winter is not a place of mercy. The swells rise 20 feet, then 30. Gray green walls of water…

On November 21st, 1912, at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, a new super battleship was launched into the water. This was JN Hi, named after the…

At 8:20 on 31st December 1942, lookouts on HMS Objurat spotted three German destroyers closing on convoy J 51B from the west. Within seconds, the…

In the summer of 1943, German Naval Command believed the Atlantic was still under control. Uboats were still sailing. Orders were still being issued. Radio…

At 0230 hours on July 27th, 1942, Major David Sterling watched runway lights flicker on across Sidihan airfield. 18 jeeps, 58 men, 72 Vicar’s K…

The de Havlin mosquito should not have worked. In 1938, by normal military thinking, Jeffrey De Havlin’s idea sounded crazy. A bomber made almost all…




