Most Popular Books by Al Ross

The major contribution made by Coastal Forces to the Allied war effort has had surprisingly little coverage in the literature of the Second World War. Motor torpedo boats, PT boats, motor gunboats, launches and submarine chasers served with distinction throughout the War, and in every theatre. They performed invaluable service as patrol boats, convoy escorts, minelayers and minesweepers, harbour defence vessels, light landing craft, RAF rescue boats and transports for agents and clandestine missions.Allied Coastal Forces, now a recognised classic work and first published in 1990, remains the only publication to deal comprehensively in words, photographs and drawings with the technical detail of all these boats. Design, construction and subsequent development are all covered, and the builders, construction lists, fates and the technical data are given for each type. Separate sections cover armament and equipment, sea-going qualities and habitability.This first volume covers all the designs of the Fairmile Marine Company (including those craft built and equipped for Canada), together with the 72ft Harbour Defence Motor Launch and the US Navy 110ft subchaser.The authors, firmly established as the recognised authorities on small warships, unearthed a remarkable body of information now included in this major work, and their finely detailed drawings, redrawn form original builders plans, offer an unparalleled view of all these remarkable designs. The new editions of their work will be welcomed by naval enthusiasts and modellers alike.

The first volume in this series detailing all the designs for Motor Torpedo Boats, Motor Gun Boats and Motor Launches that served the Allied Forces in the period 1939-45. It covers all the designs of the British Fairmile Marine Company (including those craft built and equipped in Canada), together with the 72ft Admiralty harbor Defence Motor Launch designs and the US Navy''s 110ft submarine chaser. Separate sections deal with Coastal Forces armament and equipment in full, and appendices include further technical detail, production data, provisioning and typical service records.

The little-known campaign to save Latvian and Estonian independence: "Anyone interested in naval operations is likely to find some useful food for thought." — StrategyPage For most participants, the First World War ended on November 11, 1918. But Britain''s Royal Navy found itself, after four years of slaughter and war weariness, fighting a fierce and brutal battle in the Baltic Sea against Bolshevik Russia in an attempt to protect the fragile independence of the newly liberated states of Estonia and Latvia. This book describes the events of those two years when Royal Navy ships and men, under the command of Rear Admiral Walter Cowan, found themselves in a maelstrom of chaos and conflicting loyalties, and facing multiple opponents—the communist forces of the Red Army and Navy, led by Leon Trotsky; the gangs of freebooting German soldiers, the Freikorps, intent on keeping the Baltic states under German domination; and the White Russian forces, bent on retaking Petrograd and rebuilding the Russian Empire. During this hard-fought campaign there were successes on both sides. For example, the Royal Navy captured two destroyers that were given to the Estonians; but the submarine L-55 was sunk by Russian warships, lost with all hands. Seeking revenge in a daring sequence of attacks and using small coastal motor boats, the RN sank the cruiser Oleg and badly damaged two Russian battleships. Today few people are aware of this exhausting campaign and the sacrifices made by Royal Navy sailors, but this book retells their exciting but forgotten stories and, using much firsthand testimony, bring back to life the critical naval operations that prevented the retaking of the new Baltic countries that Churchill saw as an essential shield against the encroachment of the Bolsheviks into Europe—and resulted in an uneasy peace that would prevail until 1939.

The destroyer Campbeltown is not only famous for her part in the commando raid on the St. Nazaire dry dock in 1942, but is also representative of an important type. Built as the USS Buchanan (DD131), she was one of over 270 flush-decked destroyers put into service towards the end of World War I. Sent to Great Britain under the Lend-Lease program and renamed Campbeltown, she spent eighteen arduous months on convoy duty, before being selected for a hazardous mission to deny the Nazi warship Tirpitz the use of repair facilities at the French port of St. Nazaire. During the desperate but successful operation, the Campbeltown rammed the port''s lock gates. Eleven hours later, delayed action fuses set off four-tons of explosives that destroyed both the ship and the docks. Over 200 perspective and 3-view drawings accompany the in-depth description of this distinguished ship along with a large-scale plan on the jacket cover''s reverse that is new with this reprint.

Looking for a portable guide to the night sky? This pocket folding chart provides a detailed map of the stars and constellations from the horizon to zenith. It is perfect for stargazers of all levels and ages. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This ambitious study provides the technical details of these boats in words, photographs, and hundreds of finely detailed, keyed line drawings.