Section 207: Sea Battles "In Close Up" Series 1970 - 1996
It was compiled by a carefully selected cadre of authors, many of whom have since developed reputations as naval historians of international standing. The original 16 volumes have been uniformly praised for their accuracy and detail; certainly their relatively small physical size wholly belies their value and importance to scholars and historians alike.
Two further volumes were published in 1988 and 1993 to critical acclaim in both Britain and overseas, taking the original books as the starting point. They looked at the various engagements, analysing and re-evaluating them in the light of new material that had emerged in the period since the original.publications.
The first compendium volume (1988) collects eight of the original sixteen volumes, and adds two new engagements - Barents Sea and Midway. The second volume (1993) collects the remaining volumes. In this new edition, the original accounts are considerably revised and updated in the light of fresh evidence. These are the final two books presented here before 'The Age of Nelson' and 'Catamarans.'
The gallery image is a scene from the Battle of The Java Sea. The sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse was a naval engagement in World War II, as part of the war in the Pacific, that took place on 10 December 1941 in the South China Sea off the east coast of the British colonies of Malaya (present-day Malaysia) and the Straits Settlements (present-day Singapore and its coastal towns), 70 miles (61 nautical miles; 110 kilometres) east of Kuantan, Pahang. The Royal Navy battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Repulse were sunk by land-based bombers and torpedo bombers of the Imperial Japanese Navy. In Japanese, the engagement was referred to as the Naval Battle of Malaya (マレー沖海戦, Marē-oki kaisen).
The objective of Force Z, which consisted of one battleship, one battlecruiser and four destroyers, was to intercept the Japanese invasion fleet in the South China Sea north of Malaya. The task force sailed without air support. Although the British had a close encounter with Japanese heavy surface units, the force failed to find and destroy the main convoy. On their return to Singapore they were attacked in open waters and sunk by long-range torpedo bombers. The commander of Force Z, Admiral Sir Tom Phillips, elected to maintain radio silence and an alert was only sent (by the Repulse) one hour after the first Japanese attack.
With the attack on Pearl Harbor only three days earlier, the Malayan engagement illustrated the effectiveness of aerial attacks against even the heaviest of naval assets if they were without air cover. This added to the importance for the Allies of the three USN aircraft carriers in the Pacific: USS Enterprise, Lexington, and Saratoga.[N 1] The sinking of the two ships severely weakened the British Eastern Fleet in Singapore, and the Japanese fleet was only engaged by submarines until the Battle off Endau on 27 January 1942.
Singapore itself would fall to the Japanese just a month later on 15 February, leading to the largest surrender in British history.
Initial research by Andy Hill.
1970 Sea Battles In Close Up 1 -Loss of The Scharnhorst.
1970 Sea Battles In Close Up 1 -Loss of The Scharnhorst. Published: June 1970. Author: A. J. Watts. Code: 1023 DXX 670. Pages: 84. Price: £1.25/ 25s. ISBN(10): 0711001 41 3. ISBN(13): 978 07110 01411. Keynotes: 4.50" x 7.00" navy blue board hardback with dustjacket. Reprinted in February 1972 Code: 10259 BM 272.Price £1.50.
1972 Sea Battles In Close Up 2 -Night Action Off Cape Matapan.
1972 Sea Battles In Close Up 2 -Night Action Off Cape Matapan. Published: February 1972. Author: S.W.C. Pack. Code: 10165 DM 272. Pages: 146. Price: £?. ISBN(10): 0711002 57 6. ISBN(13): 978 07110 02579. Keynotes: 4.50" x 7.00" black board hardback with dustjacket.
1972 Sea Battles In Close Up 3 -Loss of The Bismark.
1972 Sea Battles In Close Up 3 -Loss of The Bismark. Published: February 1972. Author: Vice-Admiral B.B. Schofield. Code: 10191 EM 272 . Pages: 96. Price: £ 1.50. ISBN(10): 0711002 65 7. ISBN(13): 978 07110 02654. Keynotes: 4.50" x 7.00" orange board hardback with dustjacket.
1972 Sea Battles In Close Up 4 -Battle of The River Plate.
1972 Sea Battles In Close Up 4 -Battle of The River Plate. Published: March 1972. Author: Geoffrey Bennett. Code: 10198 EM 372 . Pages: 96. Price: £ 1.60. ISBN(10): 0711002 80 0. ISBN(13): 978 07110 02807. Keynotes: 4.50" x 7.00" mid blue board hardback with dustjacket.
1973 Sea Battles In Close Up 5 - The Battle For Crete.
1973 Sea Battles In Close Up 5 - The Battle For Crete. Published: February 1973. Author: S.W.C. Pack. Code: 10399 EM 273. Pages: 144. Price: £ 2.10. ISBN(10): 0711004 10 2. ISBN(13): 978 07110 04108. Keynotes: 4.50" x 7.00" red board hardback with dustjacket.
1973 Sea Battles In Close Up 6 - The Attack On Taranto.
1972 Sea Battles In Close Up 6 - The Attack On Taranto. Published: March 1973. Author: Vice-Admiral B.B. Schofield. Code: 10442 CEC 373. Pages: 94. Price: £. ISBN(10): 0711004 21 8. ISBN(13): 978 07110 04214. Keynotes: 4.50" x 7.00" tan board hardback with dustjacket.
1973 Sea Battles In Close Up 7 - The Loss of Prince of Wales & Repulse.
1973 Sea Battles In Close Up 7 - The Loss of Prince of Wales & Repulse. Published: March 1973. Author: Geoffrey Bennett. Code: 1516 CEC 373. Pages: 95. Price: £ 1.95. ISBN(10): 0711004 35 8. ISBN(13): 978 07110 04351. Keynotes: 4.50" x 7.00" red board hardback with dustjacket. The sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse was a naval engagement in World War II, as part of the war in the Pacific, that took place on 10 December 1941 in the South China Sea off the east coast of the British colonies of Malaya (present-day Malaysia) and the Straits Settlements (present-day Singapore and its coastal towns), 70 miles (61 nautical miles; 110 kilometres) east of Kuantan, Pahang. The Royal Navy battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Repulse were sunk by land-based bombers and torpedo bombers of the Imperial Japanese Navy. In Japanese, the engagement was referred to as the Naval Battle of Malaya (マレー沖海戦, Marē-oki kaisen). The objective of Force Z, which consisted of one battleship, one battlecruiser and four destroyers, was to intercept the Japanese invasion fleet in the South China Sea north of Malaya. The task force sailed without air support. Although the British had a close encounter with Japanese heavy surface units, the force failed to find and destroy the main convoy. On their return to Singapore they were attacked in open waters and sunk by long-range torpedo bombers. The commander of Force Z, Admiral Sir Tom Phillips, elected to maintain radio silence and an alert was only sent (by the Repulse) one hour after the first Japanese attack. With the attack on Pearl Harbor only three days earlier, the Malayan engagement illustrated the effectiveness of aerial attacks against even the heaviest of naval assets if they were without air cover. This added to the importance for the Allies of the three USN aircraft carriers in the Pacific: USS Enterprise, Lexington, and Saratoga.[N 1] The sinking of the two ships severely weakened the British Eastern Fleet in Singapore, and the Japanese fleet was only engaged by submarines until the Battle off Endau on 27 January 1942. Singapore itself would fall to the Japanese just a month later on 15 February, leading to the largest surrender in British history.
1973 Sea Battles In Close Up 8 - The Attacks on The Tirpitz.
1973 Sea Battles In Close Up 8 - The Attacks on The Tirpitz. Published: October 1973. Author: Gervis Frere-Cook. Code: 1681 EM 1073 . Pages: 112. Price: £ 2.10. ISBN(10): 0711004 90 0. ISBN(13): 978 07110 04900. Keynotes: 4.50" x 7.00" gray board hardback with dustjacket.
1974 Sea Battles In Close Up 9 - Narvik - Battles In The Fjords.
1974 Sea Battles In Close Up 9 - Narvik - Battles In The Fjords. Published: December 1973. Author: Captain Peter Dickens. Code: 1701 EM 1273. Pages: 184. Price: £ ?. ISBN(10): 0711000 48 6. ISBN(13): 978 07110 00489. Keynotes: 4.50" x 7.00" blue (green USA edition) board hardback with dustjacket. A USA edition was also printed in UK by Ian Allan Printing Ltd. It was published and distributed by the Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland 21402. It was outwardly the same except for the publisher's name at the base of the spine. The only reference to Ian Allan was on the rear dustjacket flap. ISBN (10) : 0870218 52 2. ISBN(13): 978 08702 18521. Library of Congress Catalogue Card No 73-90040.
1974 Sea Battles In Close Up 10 - Operation Neptune.
1974 Sea Battles In Close Up 10 - Operation Neptune. Published: February 1974. Author: Captain Peter Dickens. Code: CEC 274. Pages: 168. Price: £. ISBN(10): 0711005 03 6. ISBN(13): 978 07110 05037. Keynotes: 4.50" x 7.00" black board hardback with dustjacket.
1974 Sea Battles In Close Up 11 - The Battles of The Malta Striking Forces.
1974 Sea Battles In Close Up 11 - The Battles of The Malta Striking Forces. Published: June 1974. Authors: Peter C. Smith & Edwin Walker. Code: 247 CEC 674. Pages: 120. Price: £ 2.60. ISBN(10): 0711005 28 1. ISBN(13): 978 07110 05280. Keynotes: 4.50" x 7.00" red board hardback with dustjacket.
1974 Sea Battles In Close Up 12 - The Battle of The Coral Sea.
1974 Sea Battles In Close Up 12 - The Battle of The Coral Sea. Published: July 1974. Author: Bernard Millet. Code: 258 CEC 774. Pages: 166. Price: £ 2.95. ISBN(10): 0711005 40 0. ISBN(13): 978 07110 05402. Keynotes: 4.50" x 7.00" gray board hardback with dustjacket.
1975 Sea Battles In Close Up 13 - The Battle of The Philippine Sea.
1975 Sea Battles In Close Up 13 - The Battle of The Philippine Sea. Published: December 1974. Author: W.D. Dickson. Code: CEC 1274. Pages: 256. Price: £4.50 IA sticker overlay on top of £3.50. ISBN(10): 0711005 17 6. ISBN(13): 978 07110 05174. Keynotes: 4.50" x 7.00" black Board hardback with dustjacket. A USA edition was also printed in UK by Ian Allan Printing Ltd. It was published and distributed by the Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland 21402.
1975 Sea Battles In Close Up 14 - The Escape of The Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.
1975 Sea Battles In Close Up 14 - The Escape of The Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Published: 1975. Author: Peter Kemp. Code: No code. Pages: 96. Price: £ 2.50 IA sticker overlay. ISBN(10): 0711005 87 7. ISBN(13): 978 07110 05877. Keynotes: 4.50" x 7.00" charcoal gray board hardback with dustjacket. A USA edition was also printed in UK by Ian Allan Printing Ltd. It was published and distributed by the Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland 21402.
1975 Sea Battles In Close Up 15 - The Battle for Sirte.
1975 Sea Battles In Close Up 15 - The Battle for Sirte. Published: 1975. Author: S.W.C. Pack. Code: No code. Pages: 144. Price: £ 2.50 IA over sticker. ISBN(10): 0711005 96 6. ISBN(13): 978 07110 05969. Keynotes: 4.50" x 7.00" black board hardback with dustjacket. A USA edition was also printed in UK by Ian Allan Printing Ltd. It was published and distributed by the Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland 21402. It was outwardly the same except for the publisher's name at the base of the spine. The only reference to Ian Allan was on the rear dustjacket flap. ISBN (10) : 0870218 13 1. ISBN(13): 978 08702 18132. Library of Congress Catalogue Card No 74-31677.
1975 Sea Battles In Close Up 16 - The Battle of The Java Sea.
1975 Sea Battles In Close Up 16 - The Battle of The Java Sea. Published: 1975. Author: F.C. Van Oosten. Code: . Pages: 128. Price: £. ISBN(10): 0711006 15 6. ISBN(13): 978 07110 06157. Keynotes: 4.50" x 7.00" black board (USA edition) hardback with dustjacket. A USA edition was also printed in UK by Ian Allan Printing Ltd. It was published and distributed by the Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland 21402. It was outwardly the same except for the publisher's name at the base of the spine. The only reference to Ian Allan was on the rear dustjacket flap. ISBN (10) : 0870219 11 1. ISBN(13): 978 08702 19115. Library of Congress Catalogue Card No 76-24052.
1988 Sea Battles In Close Up Volume 1 (17)- World War II.
1988 Sea Battles In Close Up Volume 1 (17)- World War II. Published: 1988. Author: Martin Stephen Edited by Eric Grove. Code: No code . Pages: 224. Price: £ 14.95 (IA Sticker - cut flap). ISBN(10): 0711015 96 1. ISBN(13): 978 07110 15968. Keynotes: 4.50" x 7.00" black board hardback with dustjacket. This first compendium looked at the various engagements, analysing and re-evaluating them in the light of new material that had emerged in the period since the original.publications. The first compendium volume (1988) collects eight of the original sixteen volumes, and adds two new engagements - Barents Sea and Midway. The second volume (1993) collects the remaining volumes. Reprinted in 1996 - no code - price not shown.
1993 Sea Battles In Close Up Volume 2 - World War 2.
1993 Sea Battles In Close Up Volume 2 - World War 2. Published: 1993. Author: Eric Grove. Code: No code. Pages: 224. Price: £19.99. ISBN(10): 0711021 18 X. ISBN(13): 978 07110 21181. Keynotes: 4.50" x 7.00" red board hardback with dustjacket. The two later compendiums looked at the various engagements, analysing and re-evaluating them in the light of new material that had emerged in the period since the original.publications. The first compendium volume (1988) collects eight of the original sixteen volumes, and adds two new engagements - Barents Sea and Midway. This second volume (1993) collects the remaining volumes.
1996 Sea Battles In Close Up- The Age of Nelson.
1996 Sea Battles In Close Up- The Age of Nelson. Published: 1996. Author: David Lyon. Code: No code. Pages: 192. Price: £ 19.99. ISBN(10): 0711022 83 6. ISBN(13): 978 07110 22836. Keynotes: 4.50" x 7.00" black board hardback with dustjacket.
1996 Sea Battles In Close Up- The Age of Nelson.
1996 Sea Battles In Close Up- The Age of Nelson. DJ Back. Gallery Image.
A Scene From The Battle of The Java Sea.
A Scene From The Battle of The Java Sea. The sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse was a naval engagement in World War II, as part of the war in the Pacific, that took place on 10 December 1941 in the South China Sea off the east coast of the British colonies of Malaya (present-day Malaysia) and the Straits Settlements (present-day Singapore and its coastal towns), 70 miles (61 nautical miles; 110 kilometres) east of Kuantan, Pahang. The Royal Navy battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Repulse were sunk by land-based bombers and torpedo bombers of the Imperial Japanese Navy. In Japanese, the engagement was referred to as the Naval Battle of Malaya (マレー沖海戦, Marē-oki kaisen). The objective of Force Z, which consisted of one battleship, one battlecruiser and four destroyers, was to intercept the Japanese invasion fleet in the South China Sea north of Malaya. The task force sailed without air support. Although the British had a close encounter with Japanese heavy surface units, the force failed to find and destroy the main convoy. On their return to Singapore they were attacked in open waters and sunk by long-range torpedo bombers. The commander of Force Z, Admiral Sir Tom Phillips, elected to maintain radio silence and an alert was only sent (by the Repulse) one hour after the first Japanese attack. With the attack on Pearl Harbor only three days earlier, the Malayan engagement illustrated the effectiveness of aerial attacks against even the heaviest of naval assets if they were without air cover. This added to the importance for the Allies of the three USN aircraft carriers in the Pacific: USS Enterprise, Lexington, and Saratoga.[N 1] The sinking of the two ships severely weakened the British Eastern Fleet in Singapore, and the Japanese fleet was only engaged by submarines until the Battle off Endau on 27 January 1942. Singapore itself would fall to the Japanese just a month later on 15 February, leading to the largest surrender in British history.
1972 Catamarans In Close Up. Published: October 1972. Author: Patrick Boyd. Code: 10327 DM 1072 . Pages: 160. Price: £ ?. ISBN(10): 0711003 78 5. ISBN(13): 978 07110 03781. Keynotes: 8.25" x 10.75" sky blue board hardback with dustjacket. The only non military title ...... but certainly "in close up"!. This is the only reason for its inclusion . It can also be found in the miscellaneous Section 206 gallery.