News, Articles and Comment

BRE. The latest book review is now available. It considers the concluding volume in a four-book series providing an account of the Guadalcanal-Solomons Campaign of the Second World War.

Ed. The author compares the Dardanelles campaign of 1915-1916 and the current situation in the Strait of Hormuz with respect to the use of force. A 5 minute read.

BRE. The latest book review is now available. It considers a book providing a detailed case study of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, exploring the rationale for the raid and its execution.

BRE. The latest book review is now available. It considers a new book providing an account of, and examining the circumstances around PQ17.

Ed. When the 1980s Iran-Iraq War bled into the maritime sphere, the US Navy raced to halt depredations to oil shipments; the mine-warfare factor weighed heavily in the operation and offers lessons for today. Originally published in the USNI’s Proceedings, June 2025. A 15 minute read.

Ed. With Operation HIGHMAST complete, the author, Commander UK Carrier Strike Group (COMUKCSG), provides a retrospective on the deployment, demonstrating the range of defence engagement, diplomacy and deterrence embodying the flagship mission. A 10 minute read.

BRE. The latest book review is now available. It considers a new biography of Admiral Raymond Spruance, whose “achievement is not merely to reconstruct Admiral Raymond A. Spruance’s operational record, but to illuminate a deeper and more unsettling truth: that victory in industrial war may depend less on boldness than on restraint, less on charisma than on intellect, and less on the commander as hero than on the commander as thinker.”

Ed. The author provides an overview of the Armada campaign of 1588, arguing that the fundamental flexibility of mission command can be seen in England’s early modern fleet leadership. A 10 minute read.

Ed. The author provides an overview of the Russo-Japanese War as a watershed for the naval history of the 20^th century. A 10 minute read.