Summary of U.S. naval operations from 1945-1991.

This useful reference provides a detailed chronological outline of Cold War developments and events as they relate to U.S. and Soviet naval forces and their allies.

A close-up, action-filled narrative about the crucial role the U.S. Navy played in the early years of the Cold War, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Fleet at Flood Tide “A lucid, fast-moving and fitting finale to [Hornfischer’s] career.”—The Wall Street Journal This landmark account of the U.S. Navy in the Cold War, Who Can Hold the Sea combines narrative history with scenes of stirring adventure on—and under—the high seas. In 1945, at the end of World War II, the victorious Navy sends its sailors home and decommissions most of its warships. But this peaceful interlude is short-lived, as Stalin, America’s former ally, makes aggressive moves in Europe and the Far East. Winston Churchill crystallizes the growing Communist threat by declaring the existence of “the Iron Curtain,” and the Truman Doctrine is set up to contain Communism by establishing U.S. military bases throughout the world. Set against this background of increasing Cold War hostility, Who Can Hold the Sea paints the dramatic rise of the Navy’s crucial postwar role in a series of exciting episodes that include the controversial tests of the A-bombs that were dropped on warships at Bikini Island; the invention of sonar and the developing science of undersea warfare; the Navy’s leading part in key battles of the Korean War; the dramatic sinking of the submarine USS Cochino in the Norwegian Sea; the invention of the nuclear submarine and the dangerous, first-ever cruise of the USS Nautilus under the North Pole; and the growth of the modern Navy with technological breakthroughs such as massive aircraft carriers, and cruisers fitted with surface-to-air missiles. As in all of Hornfischer’s works, the events unfold in riveting detail. The story of the Cold War at sea is ultimately the story of America’s victorious contest to protect the free world.

Mason provides concise coverage of the entire Cold War, paying particular attention to the Soviet-American dimension. This pamphlet: * Analyzes the origins of the conflict * Examines how the existence of nuclear weapons gives a unique character to the period * Discusses the involvement of other nations and regions, particularly China * Explains how and why the cold war ended * Draws on recent research of revisionist scholars.

The Cold War was only cold in that the major powers, the U.S. and the Soviet Union, did not engage in a nuclear war. But during that period (1945-1991) there were wars, spying, shoot downs of numerous reconnaissance aircraft, captures of U.S. military personnel, murders, defections, a space race with men put in orbit and an eventual moon landing. Dangerous Games: Faces, Incidents and Casualties of the Cold War is a return to that era. This book contains many unknown and long-since forgotten stories of that period. With the resurgence of Russia, and its aggressive handling of the Georgian situation, Eastern European countries have become increasingly alarmed that Russia is attempting to recreate a sphere of influence over satellite states of the former Soviet Union. To add to the mounting tension with the West, Russia in its attempt to become a world power once again, has already begun to show its flag in the Western Hemisphere. Considering that we may be facing a second Cold War, this book is a timely reminder of some notable incidents from the intense political period following the end of the Second World War.

curtain on the Mahanian age of sail. At the conclusion of World War II, naval leaders confronted a drastically redrawn world and, like the rest of the American people, found the adjustment to the bitter, suspicion-riddled years of the 1950s to be both challenging and unsettling. The Korean War, fought largely with World War II equipment, settled much of the debate over what new naval roles and capacities were to be, and emphasized the nature of Pax Americana, which

Submarines had a vital, if often unheralded, role in the superpower navies during the Cold War. Their crews carried out intelligence-collection operations, sought out and stood ready to destroy opposing submarines, and, from the early 1960s, threatened missile attacks on their adversary's homeland, providing in many respects the most survivable nuclear deterrent of the Cold War. For both East and West, the modern submarine originated in German U-boat designs obtained at the end of World War II. Although enjoying a similar technology base, by the 1990s the superpowers had created submarine fleets of radically different designs and capabilities. Written in collaboration with the former Soviet submarine design bureaus, Norman Polmar and K. J. Moore authoritatively demonstrate in this landmark study how differing submarine missions, antisubmarine priorities, levels of technical competence, and approaches to submarine design organizations and management caused the divergence.

This is the first book-length study of U.S. naval operations in the Mediterranean from 1945 to 1947, a period that is crucial for understanding the Cold War and its origins. Edward J. Sheehy shows how America assumed the traditionally British role of providing Western naval strength in the area, detailing how an American squadron grew from skeleton size in 1945 into a powerful armada by the end of 1947. His analysis of the cautious, but effective, use of naval power to counter the Soviet Union is intended for students of military and diplomatic history. Using extensive records of the U.S. Departments of Navy and State, Dr. Sheehy examines decisions to assign naval vessels to the Mediterranean, governmental communications, the rationale for the naval presence in the area, and the working relationships between diplomatic and naval officials. The history begins with a brief summary of Western naval activity in the Mediterranean including the final months of World War II. The region witnessed a continual increase in activity from a cruiser's visit to Greece in late 1945 to developments toward a Sixth Fleet at the end of 1947. The naval build-up is thoroughly chronicled with accounts of the battleship Missouri's journey to the area, numerous destroyer and carrier cruises, Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal's September 1946 announcement affirming America's permanent presence in the Mediterranean, and President Harry S. Truman's August 1947 directive regarding visits to Greece.

An operational history of amphibian warfare during the Cold War period. Illus.