Exciting stories of war waged on the high seas are the stock in trade of Naval History magazine, and the following accounts of the 21 greatest naval engagements of World War II fit neatly into that category.
Five years ago, the editors of the U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings conceived an idea for an occasional column to coincide with the 50th anniversaries of the war’s great naval battles and turned to U.S. Naval Academy History Professor and military historian Jack Sweetman to write it.
Even though much of the ground action involving U.S. Marines and gunfire from ships— especially in the Pacific—was decidedly naval in nature, Dr. Sweetman set out to tell the stories strictly from under, above, and upon the surface of the sea. He agreed to produce clear, concise accounts that entertain as well as enlighten but cover no more than two or three pages in the magazine. We launched a search for full color artwork by the best naval artists in the world and called the running series “50 Years Ago. . . The rest is—history.
In this issue, we present the body of Dr. Sweetman’s “50 Years Ago. . .” work, along with a number of new installments from the war’s early years, an assortment of detailed maps by long-time U.S. Naval Institute cartographer William Clipson, and a composite of some of the war’s most influential commanders.
Dr. Sweetman takes us from the first sea engagement at the mouth of the River Plate off the Atlantic coast of South America to the Sea of Japan with U.S. submarines, sneaking to the enemy’s front door, portending the end of the war.
To our knowledge, this 50th anniversary collector’s edition is the handiest, best-written, single reference to the Great Sea Battles of World War II available today. We hope you agree.
—The Editors
I am especially indebted to Fred H. Rainbow, who proposed this series; to Fred L. Schultz, who improved it with his astute editorial interventions; and to LeAnn Bauer and Dolores G. Matney, who skillfully supervised design and production. Helpful comments were provided by Lieutenant Commander Robert Becker, RNVR (Ret.), Vice Admiral David F. Emerson, USN (Ret.), John Lundstrom, Professor Emeritus E. B. Potter, Barrett Tillman, and Dr. H. P. Will- mott. Of course, my greatest debt is, as always, to Gisela, my wife.
—The Author