WARNING
Please note that I generally read naval books looking for specialist information for this website.  A book that is a "good read" might have little interest for me while one that is full of tables and numbers might have an attraction to me that another reviewer would feel is all out of proportion to its contents.  You have been warned!

No, I do not loan out my books.

No Stars = Recently obtained, not yet read
* = So-so
** = Good
*** = Recommended
**** = Highly Recommended
 

NON-FICTION

Adams, Jack
 - The Doomed Expedition:  The Campaign in Norway 1940 **

Allen, Francis J.
 - The Concrete Battleship:  Fort Drum, El Fraile Island, Manila Bay **

Allen, Ian [Warships of World War II Series
 - [British] Warships of World War II by H.T. Lenton ****
 - German Warships of World War I by J.C. Taylor ***
 - German Warships of World War II by J.C. Taylor ***
 - Italian Warships of World War II by Aldo Fraccaroli ***
 - Japanese Warships of World War II by A.J. Watts ***
 - US Warships of World War II by Paul Silverstone ***

Apps, Michael, Lt. Cmdr. RN
 - Send her Victorious ***

Baldwin, Ralph B.
 - The Deadly Fuze:  Secret Weapon of World War II ****

Ballard, Robert
 - Return to Midway  **
 - The Discovery of the Bismarck ***
 - The Lost Ships of Guadalcanal **

Banasco, Erminio and Grossman, Mark
 - Regia Marina, Italian Battleships of World War II ***

Bassett, Ronald
 - HMS Sheffield **

Bekkar, Cajus
 - Defeat at Sea *
 - Verdammte See (Published in English as "Hitler's Naval War") **

Bennett, Geoffrey
 - The Battle of Jutland

Bredemeier, Heinrich
 - Schlachtschiff Scharnhorst **

Brennecke, Jochen
 - Schlachtschiff Bismarck **
 - Schlachtschiff Tirpitz **

Breyer, Siegfreid
 - Battleships and Battlecruisers 1907-1970 **
 - Battleships of the World 1907-1970 * (essentially a B/W picture book)

Brown, David
 - Kamikaze ***

Brown, D. K.
 - The Design and Construction of British Warships 1939-1945 Vol.1 - Major Surface Warships ***
 - Warrior to Dreadnought:  Warship Development 1860-1905 **
 - The Grand Fleet:  Warship Design and Development 1906-1922 ** (see my review at Amazon - comments are applicable to the other books in this series)
 - Nelson to Vanguard:  Warship Design and Development 1922-1945  **

Browner, Jack
 - Anatomy of the Ship:  The Battleship Bismarck ***

Buchheim, Lothar-Gunther
 - Das Boot (Published in English as "The Boat") ***

Bureau of Naval Personnel
 - Naval Ordnance and Gunnery (1952 edition) ***

Bureau of Ordnance Publications
 - 5-inch Gun Mounts - Mark 30 and Mark 30 Modifications - Ordnance Pamphlet No. 735 ****

Burr, Lawrence
 - British Battlecruisers 1914-18 *

Buxton, Ian
 - Big Gun Monitors:  The History of the Design, Construction and Operation of the Royal Navy's Monitors ****

Campbell, John
 - Jutland:  An Analysis of the Battle ****
 - Naval Weapons of World War Two **** (see my review at Amazon)

Careless, Ronald
 - Battleship Nelson:  The Story of HMS Nelson ***

Carlisle, Rodney
 - Powder and Propellants:  Energetic Materials at Indian Head, Maryland, 1890-2001 ***

Chesneau, Roger
 - Aircraft Carriers of the World, 1914 to the Present:  An Illustrated Encyclopedia ***

Collins, Vice-Admiral Sir John
 - HMAS Sydney **

Cook, Charles, Captain USN (Ret)
 - The Battle of Cape Esperance:  Encounter at Guadalcanal **

Costello, John
 - Days of Infamy *

Critchley, Mike
 - British Warships since 1945:  Part 3 - Destroyers **

Department of the Army
    - TM 9-1252 Ordnance Maintenance:  40-MM Automatic Gun M1 and Mountings **

Departments of the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy
 - Technical Manual for Machine Guns, Caliber .50, Heavy Barrel *

Department of the Navy
 - U.S. Explosive Ordnance:  Ordnance Pamphlet 1665 ****

Devereux, James (B. Gen. USMC)
 - The Story of Wake Island **

Divine, A.D.
 - Firedrake:  The Destroyer that Wouldn't Give Up *

Dohm, Arno
 - Skagerrak (Written in "old style" German, I would be lying if I said I could read this book.  A few nice pictures.)

Dull, Paul S.
 - A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy 1941-1945 **

Duncan, Robert C., Ph.D.
 - America's Use of Sea Mines ***

Edwards, Bernard
 - Beware Raiders!  German Surface Raiders in the Second World War ***

English, John
 - The Hunts ***

Enright, Joesph F., Capt. (USN)
 - Shinano! **

Evans, David C. and Peattie, Mark R.
 - Kaigun:  Strategy, Tactics and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy 1887 - 1941

Frank, Wolfgang and Rogge, Bernhard, Capt. (KM)
 - The German Raider Atlantis **

Fleming, Peter
 - Operation Sea Lion *

Friedman, Norman
 - Battleship:  Design and Development, 1905-1945 **
 - British Carrier Aviation:  The Evolution of the Ships and their Aircraft ***
 - Naval Firepower:  Battleship Guns and Gunnery in the Dreadnought Era ***  (see my review at Amazon)
 - The Naval Institute Guide to World Naval Weapon Systems 1991/92 ***
 - The Naval Institute Guide to World Naval Weapon Systems 1994 Update **
 - Naval Radar ***
 - The Postwar Naval Revolution ***
 - US Aircraft Carriers:  An Illustrated Design History ***
 - US Battleships:  An Illustrated Design History ***
 - US Cruisers:  An Illustrated Design History ***
 - US Destroyers:  An Illustrated Design History ***
 - US Submarines through 1945:  An Illustrated Design History ***
 - US Naval Weapons:  Every gun, missile, mine and torpedo used by the US Navy from 1883 to the present day *** (actually missing a few)

Friedman, Norman, Thomas C. Hone, Mark David Mandeles
 - American & British Aircraft Carrier Development, 1919-1941 ***

Fuchida, Mitsuo and Okumiya, Masatake
 - Midway, the Battle that Doomed Japan **

Fukui, Shizuo
 - Japanese Naval Vessels at the End of World War II ***

Galantin, I.J., Adm. (USN)
 - Take Her Deep **

Gannon, Michael
 - Black May **

Garzke, William and Dulin, Robert
 - Battleships:  Allied Battleships in World War II ***
 - Battleships:  Axis and Neutral Battleships in World War II (Revised Edition) ***
 - Battleships:  United States Battleships 1935-1992 (Revised edition) ***

Gay, Franco and Gay, Valerio
 - Anatomy of the Ship:  The Cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni ***

Generous, William Thomas
 - Sweet Pea at War:  A History of USS Portland **

Gillcrist, Paul T., Adm. (USN)
 - Feet Wet *

Goldrick, James
 - The King's Ships Were at Sea:  The War in the North Sea August 1914 - February 1915 ***

Gordon, Andrew
 - Rules of the Game:  Jutland and British Naval Command **

Grace, James W.
 - The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal:  Night Action, 13 November 1942 ***

Grider, George, Capt. (USN)
 - War Fish **

Groner, Erich
 - German Warships, 1815-1945 Volume I ***
 - German Warships, 1815-1945 Volume II ***

Grove, Eric J.
 - The Price of Disobedience:  The Battle of the River Plate Reconsidered *
 - Vanguard to Trident:  British Naval Policy since World War II ***

Haines, Gregory
 - Destroyers at War **

Halpern, Paul G.
 - The Battle of the Otranto Straits:  Controlling the Gateway to the Adriatic in WWI **

Hamer, David J.
 - Bombers versus Battleships ***

Hammel, Eric
 - Carrier Strike:  The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, October 1942 ***
 - Guadalcanal:  Decision at Sea ***

Hara, Tameichi, Capt. (IJN)
 - Japanese Destroyer Captain ***

Helm, Thomas
 - Ordeal by Sea:  The Tragedy of the USS Indianapolis ***

Hodges, Peter
 - The Big Gun:  Battleship Main Armament, 1860-1945 ****

Hodges, Peter and Friedman, Norman
 - Destoyer Weapons of World War 2 (Hodges **** Friedman **)

Hoehling, A.A. and Hoehling, Mary
 - The Last Voyage of the Lusitania *

Hore, Peter
 - Battleships of World War I *

Hornfischer, James D.
 - Ship of Ghosts:  The Story of the USS Houston, FDR's Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of her Survivors **

Hough, Richard
 - The Big Battleship **

Howse, Derek
 - Radar at Sea ***

Hoyt, Edwin P.
 - The Lonely Ships ***
 - The Germans who Never Lost **
 - U-Boats Offshore **

Infield, Glen
 - Disaster at Bari **

Inoguchi, Rikihei, Nakajima, Tadashi and Pineau, Roger
 - The Divine Wind ***

Jackson, Robert
 - The German Navy in World War II **

Jane's
 - Jane's Pocket Book 9:  Naval Armament (edited by Denis Archer) **
 - Jane's Ammunition Handbook:  Ninth Edition, 2000-2001 (edited by Terry J. Gander and Charles Q. Cutshaw) ***
 - Jane's Fighting Ships 1998-99 (edited by Captain Richard Sharpe, RN) **

Johnston, Stanley
 - Queen of the Flat-tops *

Jones, Ken and Kelley, Hubert
 - 31-Knot Burke (Biography of Adm. Arleigh Burke, USN CNO) *

Kähler, Wolfgang
 - Schlachtschiff Gneisenau **

Kemp, Paul
 - The Admiralty Regrets:  British Warship Losses of the 20th Century ***

Kennedy, Ludovic
 - Pursuit ****
 - Death of the Tirpitz **

Koku-Fan
 - The Japanese Warships of the Pacific War ***

Konstam, Angus
 - British Battlecruisers 1939-1945 *

Krug, Hans-Joachim; Hirama, Yoichi; Sander-Nagashima, Berthold, J. and Niestle, Axel
 - Reluctant Allies:  German-Japanese Naval Relations in World War II **

Lacroix, Eric and Wells II, Linton
 - Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War ****

Lambert, Nicholas A.
 - Sir John Fisher's Naval Revolution * (RUN, don't walk, away from this book)

Layman, R.D.
 - Naval Aviation in the First World War:  Its Impact and Influence **

Layman, R.D. and McLaughlin, Stephen
 - The Hybrid Warship:  The Amalgamation of Big Guns and Aircraft **

Lenton, H.T.
 - Navies of the Second World War:  Royal Netherlands Navy ***

Lewis, Emanuel Raymond
 - Seacoast Fortifications of the United States:  An Introductory History ***

Lord, Walter
 - Day of Infamy ***
 - Incredible Victory ***
 - The Coast Watchers **

Lyon, David
 - The First Destroyers **

Maas, Peter
 - The Terrible Hours ***

McCollum, Kenneth G. [Editor]
 - Dahlgren **

McGaugh, Scott
 - Midway Magic:  An Oral History of America's Legendary Aircraft Carrier **

McKee, Alexander
 - Black Saturday:  The Tragedy of the Royal Oak **

Mearns, David and White, Rob
 - Hood and Bismarck:  The Deep-Sea Discovery of an Epic Battle **

Messimer, Dwight R.
 - Find and Destroy:  Antisubmarine Warfare in World War I *** (see my review at Amazon)

Middlebrook, Martin and Mahoney, Patrick
 - Battleship:  The Sinking of the Prince of Wales and the Repulse ***

Miller, Edward S.
 - War Plan Orange:  The U.S. Strategy to Defeat Japan, 1897 - 1945 **

Monsarrat, Nicholas
 - Three Corvettes ***

Morris, Douglas
 - Cruisers of the Royal and Commonwealth Navies **

Morris, Eric
 - Corregidor:  The End of the Line ***

Muir, Malcom
 - The Iowa Class Battleships ***

Müller, Werner
 - German 20mm FLAK in World War II *

Musicant, Ivan
 - Battleship at War ***
 - U.S. Armored Cruisers:  A Design and Operational History ****

Naval Historical Center
 - The Battles of Cape Esperance and Santa Cruz Islands **

Newcomb, Richard F.
 - Savo **

Newhart, Max R.
 - American Battleships **

Okumiya, Masatake and Horikoshi, Jiro
 - Zero!  The story of Japan's Air War in the Pacific 1941-45 **

O'Leary, Michael
 - United States Naval Fighters of World War II in Action **

O'Hara, Vincent P.
 - The U.S. Navy against the Axis:  Surface Combat 1941 - 1945

Parks, Oscar
 - British Battleships 1860-1950 (Revised 1973 edition) ****

Parshall, Jonathan and Tully, Anthony
 - Shattered Sword:  The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway ****

Pearce, Frank
 - Last Call for HMS Edinburg:  A Story of the Russian Convoys **

Peck, Taylor
 - Round-shot to Rockets:  A History of the Washington Navy Yard and the United States Naval Gun Factory ***

Pitt, Barrie
 - Revenge at Sea:  Two Great Naval Battles of World War I **

Poolman, Kenneth
 - The Winning Edge:  Naval Technology in Action, 1939-1945 **

Pope, Dudley
 - 73 North:  The Battle of the Barents Sea **

Prange, Robert
 - God's Samurai **
 - At Dawn We Slept **

Preston, Antony
 - Aircraft Carriers *
 - Battleships *
 - Cruisers *
 - Destroyers *
 - Submarines *

Preston, Antony [Editor]
 - Warship Special 2:  Super Destroyers ***

Raven, Alan and Roberts, John
 - British Battleships of World War Two ****
 - British Cruisers of World War Two ****

Reilly, John C., Jr. [Editor, Naval Historical Center]
 - Operational Experience of Fast Battleships:  World War II, Korea, Vietnam ***

Rife, James P. and Carlisle, Rodney P.
 - The Sound of Freedom:  Naval Weapons Technology at Dahlgren, Virginia 1918-2006

Rausa, Rosario (Lt. Cmdr USN)
 - Skyraider ***

Roberts, John
 - Anatomy of the Ship:  Battlecruiser Hood ***
 - Battlecruisers ****

Robinson, C. Snelling
 - 200,000 Miles aboard the Destroyer Cotten *

Rogers, Anthony
 - Churchill's Folly:  Leros and the Aegean, The Last Great British Defeat of World War Two **

Roscoe, Theodore,
 - United States Destroyer Operations in World War II **

Rose, Lisle A.
 - The Ship that Held the Line:  The USS Hornet and the First Year of the Pacific War **

Roskill, S.W., Capt. (RN)
 - HMS Warspite ***
 - White Ensign:  The Royal Navy at War 1939-1945 ***

Rowland, Buford, Lt. Cmdr., USNR, and Boyd, William B., Lt. USNR
 - U.S. Navy Bureau of Ordnance in World War II" ***

Ruhe, William J., Capt., USN (Ret.)
 - Slow Dance to Pearl Harbor:  A Tin Can Ensign in Prewar America *

Saki, Saburo, Ensign (IJN)
 - Samurai! **

Sanders, Michael, S.
 - The Yard:  Building a Destroyer at the Bath Iron Works ***

Sauer, Howard
 - The Last Big-Gun Naval Battle:  An Eyewitness Account aboard USS Maryland *

Skulski, Janusz
 - Anatomy of the Ship:  The Battleship Yamato ***
 - Anatomy of the Ship:  The Heavy Cruiser Takao ***

Schmalenbach, Paul
 - Die Geschichte der deutschen Schiffsartillerie ***

Snyder, Gerald S.
 - The Royal Oak Disaster **

Spector, Ronald, H.
 - At War at Sea:  Sailors and Naval Combat in the Twentieth Century **

Spurr, Russell
 - A Glorious Way to Die ***

Staff, Gary
 - German Battlecruisers 1914-18 ***

Stafford, Edward P., Cmdr. (USN)
 - The Big E:  The Story of the USS Enterprise **
 - Little Ship, Big War:  The Saga of DE-343 **

Stanton, Doug
 - In Harm's Way:  The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of its Survivors **

Sterling, Forest J.
 - Wake of the Wahoo **

Stillwell, Paul
 - Battleship Arizona:  An Illustrated History ***
 - Battleship New Jersey:  An Illustrated History ***
 - Battleships ***

Sumrall, Robert
 - Iowa Class Battleships ****

Tarrant, V.E.
 - King George V Class Battleships ****

Taylor, Theodore
 - HMS Hood vs. Bismarck:  The Battleship Battle **

Thomas, David A.
 - Crete 1941:  The Battle at Sea ****

Tillman, Barrett
 - Clash of the Carriers:  The True Story of the Marianas Turkey Shoot of World War II

Toland, John
 - Infamy:  Pearl Harbor and its Aftermath **

van der Vat, Dan
 - The Ship that Changed the World:  The Escape of the Goeben to the Dardanelles in 1914 ***

von Müllenheim-Rechberg, Burkard, Lt. Cmdr. (KM)
 - Battleship Bismarck:  A Survivor's Story (Revised Edition) ***

Watton, Ross
 - Anatomy of the Ship:  The Cruiser HMS Belfast **

Weapons Division in Fleet School C.F.B. Halifax (1970)
 - Drill for 3 Inch Twin Mark 6 A.A. Mounting ***

Wels, Susan
 - Pearl Harbor:  America's Darkest Day **

Whitehouse, Arch
 - Subs and Submarines **

Whitley, M.J.
 - German Capital Ships of World War Two ***
 - German Cruisers of World War Two ***
 - German Destroyers of World War Two ***
 - Battleships of World War Two - An Encyclopedia **
 - Cruisers of World War Two - An Encyclopedia ***
 - Destroyers of World War Two - An Encyclopedia ***

Williams, Anthony G.
 - Rapid Fire:  The development of automatic cannon, heavy machine guns and their ammunition for armies, navies and air forces ***

Winton, John
 - Air Power at Sea:  1939-45 **
 - Carrier Glorious:  The Life and Death of an Aircraft Carrier ***

Wiper, Steve
 - Warship Pictorial #17: Myoko Class Heavy Cruisers ***
 - Warship Pictorial #21: Kriegsmarine Prinz Eugen ***
 - Warship Pictorial #23: Italian Heavy Cruisers of World War II ***

Worth, Richard
 - Fleets of World War II ***

Yates, Keith
 - Graf Spee's Raiders:  Challenge to the Royal Navy, 1914-1915 ***
 

OTHER

1967-1975 Issues of "Alnavco Log" Magazine

Various Issues of "Warship International (INRO)" Magazine

Bound Volumes I through X of "Warship" Magazine (Issues 1 through 40)

Warship 1990

Warship 2007

Seapower (World War II Naval Wargame that includes a fairly good data book)
 

FICTION

I have many works of fiction dealing with Naval subjects.  I normally wouldn't bother to list this category, but the following book is just too good not to be included in any kind of Naval Book listing.  Highly recommended.

Monsarrat, Nicholas
 - The Cruel Sea

The following fictional story contains a good deal of technical information about the composition of British and German naval forces during the summer of 1940.

Macksey, Kenneth
 - Invasion:  The German Invasion of England, July 1940

The following fictional story contains personal reminisces of Vice-Admiral William P. Mack, Gunnery Officer aboard USS John D. Ford (DD-228) during Battle of Java Sea

Mack, William P., Vice-Admiral USN (Rtd.) and Mack, William P., Jr.
    - South to Java:  A Novel