Destroyer Battles; Epics of Naval Close Combat

Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2008. Presumed First U.S. Edition, First printing. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Format is approximately 7 inches by 9.5 inches. 272 pages. Frontis Illustration. Notes on Unites of Measurement (and a Few Other Things). Illustrations. Appendix - Gun Calibres. Sources. Index. Robert C. Stern has published more than twenty books on military and naval subjects. His previous books were Destroyer Battles published in 2008, Fire from the Sky in 2010 and The US Navy and the War in Europe (2012). Mr. Stern, a retired software engineer and longtime naval history writer, is the author of nine books copublished by the Naval Institute Press Fast, maneuverable, and heavily armed, destroyers were the most aggressive surface warships of the twentieth century and fought in many battles. This book recounts the most significant and unusual actions in their history. From torpedo boat-destroyer actions by the Japanese against the Russian fleet in 1904 through the two world wars, to the Falkland Islands in 1982 and the attack in 2000 on USS Cole, the author paints a vivid picture of their hard-fought battles. With individual chapters devoted to each incident, the book may be read as a series of dramatic narratives, but, taken as a whole, it provides a sweeping history of destroyer warfare from an unusual angle.