In the Author’s Note Craig Symonds says, “The Second World War was the single greatest cataclysm of violence in human history.” To fight that war the United States constructed the largest, most technologically advanced navy ever seen to that point in history. This book in part tells that story but the book is not just about America’s war at sea. The US also constructed the largest fleet of merchant shipping ever seen to support her allies and her own military in that terrible conflict. This book tells that story but it also addresses the Herculean ordeal of transporting critically needed supplies across thousands of miles of ocean to keep Britain, the Soviets, the Australians and New Zealanders, and China in the war. This book is also about the larger conflict. It attempts to examine all the important naval encounters of all the important belligerents and it succeeds.
Professor Symonds organizes the narrative chronologically, dovetailing the events that took place at the same time but separated by great distances. Most authors cover the war geographically, telling the story of war in the Atlantic separately from the war in the Pacific. That is done for organizational convenience and because most authors focus on the United States. Craig Symonds covers all the navies of the major belligerents with a descriptive command that clearly illustrates the historical flow to the reader. Several episodes of the war not usually covered appear here. The Norwegian Campaign and the naval confrontations in the Mediterranean are typically not well covered but the author corrects that in this book. I found the story of the attempts to relieve the garrison on Malta gripping; I had never heard of Operation Pedestal before. Another important event covered by the author that is usually missed by others: the monumental importance of Congressman Carl Vinson and the Two Ocean Navy Act he pushed through the House.
The author not only emphasizes the importance of merchant shipping to the war effort but focuses the reader on the significance of the amphibious ships and craft necessary to deliver the Allies to the beaches. In this discussion Symonds gets a chance to examine the competition for resources that resulted from attempting to quickly build not only the huge numbers of so many different types of vessels but also build airplanes, tanks, jeeps, trucks and artillery as well. This competition meant that one type of ship, the Landing Ship Tank, would be the limiting factor. The LST could not be replaced by any other vessel and Eisenhower very nearly did not have enough for the invasion of Northern Europe. The Allies had planned an invasion of Southern France, Operation Anvil, to be simultaneously launched with Overlord. The LST requirements for Anvil would limit the sealift for Overlord. Professor Symonds explains Eisenhower’s dilemma, “…while there would be enough LSTs for the first three tides, after that ‘we will have no repeat no LSTs reaching the beaches after the morning of D plus 1 until the morning of D plus 4.” (p 508) That is a long time to go without reinforcement or resupply. That is how critical the LST was. It did not help matters that the invasion of Saipan in the Pacific was planned to take place at nearly the same time as Overlord. The war in the Pacific accounted for the dearth of LSTs in Europe and the Mediterranean. The US did produce an overwhelming amount of war material. With plentiful natural resources, massive industrial and agricultural capacity the US still did experience critical shortages at critical times in the war. Anvil was postponed until August of 1944 and renamed Dragoon. The war in the Pacific continued unabated.
Craig L Symonds is an outstanding author. He can translate the history of a single battle or a grand sweeping survey of a six year global war into gripping and enthralling literature. Professor Symonds currently is the Ernest J. King Professor of Maritime History at the US Naval War College after a long distinguished career as a professor of naval history at the US Naval Academy. He has won many awards to include the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature for his book Neptune: The Allied Invasion of Europe and the D-Day Landings. So, besides being a gifted author Professor Symonds is also a highly respected naval historian. I first discovered him through his book on the Battle of Midway and when Neptune came out I had to get it. Both are just fabulous examples of how to tell an engaging story, explain technological details while maintaining the reader’s interest and pass on the history of that time and place, and of the people involved, in a way that flows like a novel. Since Neptune was published I have been keeping an eye out for his next work. When I saw the topic of his new effort I was stunned. Yes, that is what I want. I want a single volume history of World War II at sea and I want it written by Craig Symonds! I am completely satisfied with the result.
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From the Publisher
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Two German destroyers are moored next to the pier in Narvik Harbor in April 1940 prior to the attack by Warburton-Lee’s destroyers. Two German minesweepers are moored at right. By the time British forces arrived at Narvik, the Germans were already in possession of both the town and the harbor. Image courtesy of the Naval History and Heritage Command. |
The American carrier USS Wasp in her death throes after being hit by three torpedoes fired from the Japanese submarine I-19 on September 15, 1942. Torpedoes from the same salvo crippled the battleship North Carolina and sank the destroyer O’Brien. Image courtesy of the U.S. National Archives, no. 80-G-16331. |
Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill look over some papers during a photo session at the Casablanca Conference in January 1943. Behind FDR are Ernest J. King and George C. Marshall. To Marshall’s left is Admiral Dudley Pound. The vice admiral at right is Louis Mountbatten. Image courtesy of the U.S. National Archives, no. 80-G-35135. |
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American General Douglas MacArthur surveys the terrain on Los Negros Island in the Admiralty Islands in February 1944. MacArthur was a larger-than-life figure in the Pacific War who attracted both admirers and critics. The figure behind him is his aide Col. Lloyd Lehrabas. Image courtesy of the U.S. National Archives, no. SC 187355. |
British and American LSTs unload vehicles and cargo on Omaha Beach in June 1944. The absence of a working port, and storm damage to the artificial harbor or Mulberry, made the LSTs essential to the success of the invasion. The barrage balloons were to prevent enemy aircraft from strafing the beach. Image courtesy of the U.S. National Archives, no. 80-G-46817. |
The Japanese supercarrier Shinano was in commission for so short a time that few photographs of her exist. This sketch by Japanese artist Shizuo Fukui, was made after the war. Though the Archerfish sunk only one ship on her patrol, measured by total tonnage it was the most successful patrol of the entire war. Image courtesy of the Naval History and Heritage Command. |
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K E Smith
A Masterpiec of World War II Naval History
Reviewed in Australia on January 12, 2021