The sea shaped the course and conduct of World War II, from the first moments of the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, to the Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945. The impact could be felt far beyond the shoreline, as the arms and armies carried across the oceans were ultimately destined to wage war ashore. Populations and industries depended on the raw materials and supplies in a war that increasingly became a contest of national will and economic might. Ultimately, it was the war at sea that linked numerous regional conflicts and theaters of operation into a global war.

As the war grew in complexity and covered an increasingly larger geographical area, the organization of the maritime effort and the impact it had on the formulation of national strategy also evolved. This volume illustrates the impact of naval operations on the Second World War by highlighting topics previously neglected in the scholarship. In doing so, it provides new insights into political, strategic, administrative, and operational aspects of the maritime dimension of the war.

Buying Time: British Sumbarine Capability in the Far East, 1919-1940
Naval Strategies in Collision: Britain, the USA, and Japan at the Beginning of the Pacific War
The Perils of Technological Transofrmation: A Case Study of the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor
The Dominions and British Maritime Power in the Second World War
Schnellboote, Strategy, and the Defense of Festung Europa, 1943–1944
The Development of Combined Operations Headquarters and the Admiralty during the Second World War: Personalities and Administration
To the Jungle Shore: Australia and Amphibious Warfare in the South West Pacific Area, 1941-1945
Naval Gunfire Support at Iwo Jima: The Perils of Doctrinal Myopia
Naval Power, Mao Zedong, and the War in China, 1926-1949
The Army-Navy Contest for Control of Land-Based Antisubmarine Aviation and the Military Unification Debate, 1942-1948