84 Results for : convoys

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    The Sinking of PT-109: The History of the Controversial Incident That Made John F. Kennedy a War Hero , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 103min
    There's nothing in the book about a situation like this. A lot of you have families, and some of you have children. What do you want to do? I have nothing to lose. (John F. Kennedy after the collision with a Japanese destroyer) On the night of August 1, 1943, and in the early morning hours of the next day, one of America's many patrol torpedo boats in the Pacific, PT-109, with her crew of 12 men, was performing its usual role in the Pacific Islands: a night patrol of the Blackett Strait in search of enemy convoys transporting large numbers of Japanese troops to Southern Guadalcanal and other strategic locations. However, on this dark, moonless night, PT-109, with its engines idling to avoid creating wake, was severed in two by a collision with a Japanese destroyer, the Amagiri. With only seconds to respond after sighting the destroyer, the crew was unable to get the boat out of the Japanese destroyer's path, and it's unclear whether the Japanese destroyer even knew the other boat was there. While the destroyer suffered minimal damage, two crew members on PT-109 were instantly killed, and the other 10 who initially survived would have to struggle for their lives. In many ways what happened following the collision is remembered better than the actual sinking, in part because the survivors' tale was so harrowing, and their survival was marked by their own bravery. Though the role and effectiveness of PT boats continues to be a topic of debate, the crew's survival is a story of undisputed valor and providence. Of course the story's association with a future president never hurts, and like so much of John F. Kennedy's life, the PT-109 incident is controversial. ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: R. Keith Miles. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/acx0/032949/bk_acx0_032949_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.
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    Cronkite's War: His World War II Letters Home , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 667min
    A giant in American journalism in the vanguard of "The Greatest Generation" reveals his World War II experiences in this National Geographic book. Walter Cronkite, an obscure 23-year-old United Press wire service reporter, married Betsy Maxwell on March 30, 1940, following a four-year courtship. She proved to be the love of his life, and their marriage lasted happily until her death, in 2005. But before Walter and Betsy Cronkite celebrated their second anniversary, he became a credentialed war correspondent, preparing to leave her behind to go overseas. The couple spent months apart in the summer and fall of 1942, as Cronkite sailed on convoys to England and North Africa across the submarine-infested waters of the North Atlantic. After a brief December leave in New York City spent with his young wife, Cronkite left again on assignment for England. This time, the two would not be reunited until the end of the war in Europe. Cronkite would console himself during their absence by writing her long, detailed letters - sometimes five in a week - describing his experiences as a war correspondent, his observations of life in wartime Europe, and his longing for her. Betsy Cronkite carefully saved the letters, copying many to circulate among family and friends. More than 100 of Cronkite's letters from 1943-45 (plus a few earlier letters) survive. They reveal surprising and little-known facts about this storied public figure in the vanguard of "The Greatest Generation". They chronicle both a great love story and a great war story, as told by the reporter who would go on to become anchorman for the CBS Evening News with a reputation as "the most trusted man in America". ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: Michael Prichard. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/tant/003028/bk_tant_003028_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.
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    Zero Footprint: The True Story of a Private Military Contractor's Covert Assignments in Syria, Libya, and the World's Most Dangerous Places , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 568min
    A dramatic insider account of the world of private military contracting. Armored cars, burner phones, top-notch weaponry, and top-secret missions - this is the life of today's private military contractor. Like author Simon Chase, many PMCs were once the world's top military operatives, and since retiring from outfits like US Navy SEAL TEAM Six and the UK's Special Boat Service, they have devoted their lives to executing missions too sensitive for the government to acknowledge. Chase reveals here for the first time the operations too hazardous and politically volatile to be officially sanctioned by his employers. Working on behalf of the CIA's Special Activities Division, the US Department of Defense, the US State Department, and British government entities, he takes on jobs that require zero footprint, with no trace of their actions left behind. Chase delivers firsthand accounts of tracking Bin Laden in Afghanistan and being one of the first responders after the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi. We see his teams defuse terrorist bombs, guard dignitaries, and protect convoys traveling through perilous territory - and then there are the really big jobs: top-secret "zero footprint" missions for the US government that include searching for high-value targets and setting up arms shipping networks. The missions in Zero Footprint will shock listeners, but so will the personal dangers. Chase and the men he works with operate without government backup or air rescue. If they die serving their country - they remain anonymous. There are no military honors or benefits. Contractors like Simon Chase are the unsung heroes in the war against terrorism, a strong but largely invisible force - until now. ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: Eric Brooks. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/hach/002393/bk_hach_002393_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.
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    The U-Boat War: A Global History 1939-45
    A unique perspective of the global history of U-boats during the entirety of the Second World War by Lawrence Paterson, one of the world's leading U-boat experts. The accepted historical narrative of the Second World War predominantly assigns U-boats to the so-called "Battle of the Atlantic," almost as if the struggle over convoys between the new world and the old can be viewed in isolation from simultaneous events on land and in the air. This has become an almost accepted error. The U-boats war did not exist solely between 1940 and 1943, nor did the Atlantic battle occur in seclusion from other theaters of action. The story of Germany's second U-boat war began on the first day of hostilities with Britain and France and ended with the final torpedo sinking on May 7, 1945. U-boats were active in nearly every theater of operation in which the Wehrmacht served, and within all but the Southern Ocean. Moreover, these deployments were not undertaken in isolation from one another; instead they were frequently interconnected in what became an increasingly inefficient German naval strategy. This fascinating new book places each theater of action in which U-boats were deployed into the broader context of the Second World War in its entirety while also studying the interdependence of the various geographic deployments. It illustrates the U-boats' often direct relationship with land, sea and aerial campaigns of both the Allied and Axis powers, dispels certain accepted mythologies, and reveals how the ultimate failure of the U-boats stemmed as much from chaotic German military and industrial mismanagement as it did from Allied advances in code-breaking and weaponry.
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    Submarine Warfare in World War II: The History of the Fighting Under the Waves in the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 179min
    Danger prowled under both the cold gray waters of the North Sea and the shimmering blue waves of the tropical Atlantic during World War II as Adolf Hitler's Third Reich attempted to strangle Allied shipping lanes with U-boat attacks. German and British submarines combed the vast oceanic battlefield for prey, while scientists developed new technologies and countermeasures. During World War I, German U-boats operated solo except on one occasion. Initially, the British and nations supplying England with food and materiel scattered vessels singly across the ocean, making them vulnerable to the lone submarines. However, widespread late war re-adoption of the convoy system tipped the odds in the surface ships' favor. However, even the wolf-pack proved insufficient to defeat the Atlantic convoys and stop Allied commerce - the precise opposite of the Pacific theater, where America's excellent submarine forces annihilated much of Japan's merchant marine and inflicted severe damage on the Imperial Japanese Navy. Submarines exercised a decisive impact on the outcome of the Pacific Theater in World War II. The US submarine fleet, largely though not exclusively under the overall command of Vice Admiral Charles Lockwood, strangled the supply lines and shipping traffic of the Empire of Japan. Their commerce raiding crippled both Japan's ability to keep its frontline units supplied and to manufacture the weapons, vessels, and vehicles needed to successfully carry on the struggle. The United States and Japan both produced excellent, high-tech submarines in the context of the World War II era. Japanese I-boats showed excellent seakeeping capabilities and offered the versatility created by their large size, including the ability to serve as motherships for midget submarines or aircraft carriers for scouting aircraft or even specialized bombers. The Type 93 Long Lance and Type 95 torpedoes they carrier packed enough punch to sink capital ships like ba ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: Dan Gallagher. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/acx0/073733/bk_acx0_073733_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.
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    The War in the West: Volume 2: A New History: The Allies Fight Back 1941-43 , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 1494min
    Random House presents the audiobook edition of The War in the West: A New History: Volume 2 by James Holland, read by Leighton Pugh. In the second volume of his acclaimed new history of the Second World War, James Holland examines the momentous turning points of 1941–1943: Hitler's invasion of Russia; America's entry into the conflict; the devastating Thousand Bomber Raids over Germany; the long struggle in the deserts of North Africa; and the defeat of the U-boats in the crucial Battle of the Atlantic. As in his first volume, Germany Ascendant, he interweaves his account of the well-known events of the period with the personal stories of individuals caught up in them - on all sides. Through interviews, letters, diaries and reports, he allows us to see the war not just from the perspective of politicians, military commanders and strategists, but also through the eyes of civilians bombed out of their homes, resistance members stranded in the frozen Norwegian winter, sailors risking their lives in the Atlantic convoys, German aces striving for supremacy in the air, and ordinary soldiers battling for survival in the scorching sands of Libya. He also looks behind the scenes at the all-important 'machinery' of war: the manufacturing, farming and vital supply lines that underpinned the entire conflict and ultimately determined its course. From the battlefronts on land, sea and air, to the streets, fields and factories of Britain, America and Germany, he paints a dramatic and compelling portrait of these pivotal years when the tide began to turn. Combining his own research with only recently accessible archive material, Holland looks afresh at this cataclysmic conflict, reassessing long-held views and challenging conventional assumptions. The result is ground-breaking history that redefines the war in the West and makes us think again about the events that shaped our modern world. ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: Leighton Pugh. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/rhuk/002724/bk_rhuk_002724_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.
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    Thunder Below!: The USS Barb Revolutionizes Submarine Warfare in World War II , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 927min
    The thunderous roar of exploding depth charges was a familiar and comforting sound to the crew members of the USS Barb, who frequently found themselves somewhere between enemy fire and Davy Jones's locker. Under the leadership of her fearless skipper, Captain Gene Fluckey, the Barb sank the greatest tonnage of any American sub in World War II. At the same time, the Barb did far more than merely sink ships-she changed forever the way submarines stalk and kill their prey. This is a gripping adventure chock-full of "you-are-there" moments. Fluckey has drawn on logs, reports, letters, interviews, and a recently discovered illegal diary kept by one of his torpedomen. And in a fascinating twist, he uses archival documents from the Japanese Navy to give its version of events. The unique story of the Barb begins with its men, who had the confidence to become unbeatable. Each team helped develop innovative ideas, new tactics, and new strategies. All strove for personal excellence, and success became contagious. Instead of lying in wait under the waves, the USS Barb pursued enemy ships on the surface, attacking in the swift and precise style of torpedo boats. She was the first sub to use rocket missiles and to creep up on enemy convoys at night, joining the flank escort line from astern, darting in and out as she sank ships up the column. Surface-cruising, diving only to escape, "Luckey Fluckey" relentlessly patrolled the Pacific, driving his boat and crew to their limits. There can be no greater contrast to modern warfare's long-distance, video game style of battle than the exploits of the captain and crew of the USS Barb, where the sub, out of ammunition, actually rammed an enemy ship until it sank. Thunder Below! is a first-rate, true-life, inspirational story of the courage and heroism of ordinary men under fire. ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: Corey Snow. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/tant/003227/bk_tant_003227_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.
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    Roosevelt's Centurions: FDR and the Commanders He Led to Victory in World War II , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 1478min
    “FDR’s centurions were my heroes and guides. Now Joe Persico has written the best account of those leaders I've ever read.” (Colin L. Powell)All American presidents are commanders in chief by law. Few perform as such in practice. In Roosevelt’s Centurions, distinguished historian Joseph E. Persico reveals how, during World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt seized the levers of wartime power like no president since Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. Declaring himself "Dr. Win-the-War", FDR assumed the role of strategist in chief, and, though surrounded by star-studded generals and admirals, he made clear who was running the war. FDR was a hands-on war leader, involving himself in everything from choosing bomber targets to planning naval convoys to the design of landing craft. Persico explores whether his strategic decisions, including his insistence on the Axis powers’ unconditional surrender, helped end or may have prolonged the war. Taking us inside the Allied war councils, the author reveals how the president brokered strategy with contentious allies, particularly the iron-willed Winston Churchill; rallied morale on the home front; and handpicked a team of proud, sometimes prickly warriors who, he believed, could fight a global war. Persico’s history offers indelible portraits of the outsize figures who roused the "sleeping giant" that defeated the Axis war machine: the dutiful yet independent-minded George C. Marshall, charged with rebuilding an army whose troops trained with broomsticks for rifles, eggs for hand grenades; Dwight Eisenhower, an unassuming Kansan elevated from obscurity to command of the greatest fighting force ever assembled; the vainglorious Douglas MacArthur; and the bizarre battlefield genius George S. Patton. Here, too, are less widely celebrated military leaders whose contributions were just as critical: the irascible, dictatorial navy chief, Ernest King; the acerbic army advisor in China, "Vinegar" Joe Stilwell ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: Dan Woren. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/rand/003540/bk_rand_003540_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.
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    Japan and World War I: The History of the Japanese Empire’s Participation in the Great War , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 115min
    World War I, also known in its time as the “Great War” or the “War to End all Wars”, was an unprecedented holocaust in terms of its sheer scale. It saw millions of soldiers do battle in brutal assaults of attrition which dragged on for months with little to no respite. It demonstrated man’s capacity to kill each other on a heretofore unprecedented scale, and as always, such a war brought about technological innovation at a rate that made the boom of the Industrial Revolution seem stagnant.The First World War came at an unfortunate time for those who would fight in it, and while the role of Japan in World War II is widely known, Japan’s important role in the First World War is mostly overlooked. The Japanese contribution to the defeat of Germany and the Central Powers was important enough for Japan to be included among the Big Five Allied delegations at the 1919 peace negotiations, along with the British, French, Italians, and Americans, but it also served as a precursor of sorts for what would transpire a generation later.In the Second World War, Japanese forces ranged over an immense portion of the globe, but during World War I, Japanese naval forces spanned an even larger portion of the globe. Japanese warships escorted troopships carrying Australian and New Zealand Army Corps troops to the Middle East, cruisers hunted German commerce raiders in the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal, and all over the Pacific, and destroyers plowed Mediterranean waters as they escorted British convoys from Egypt to Gibraltar and searched for German and Austrian submarines. Japanese troops besieged the German citadel of Qingdao in China, forcing that German colonial city and naval base to surrender, and through it all, Japanese naval forces stood guard off Mexico, Hawaii, and the American West Coast.All of this was accomplished with by far the fewest military losses of any of the major Allies. Indeed, the Japanese losses in World War I represented a small fract ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: Colin Fluxman. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/acx0/154985/bk_acx0_154985_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.
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    Our Vietnam Wars, Volume 2: As Told by More Veterans Who Served , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 948min
    Want to know what Vietnam was really like? From a Marine sniper in Hue, to a medevac dust-off pilot going into a hot LZ, Navy Corpsmen, A-6 pilots taking out bridges and SAM sites in North Vietnam, a nurse on the USS Repose, combat medics deep in the jungle, machine gunners in I-Corps, mechanics working on the rolling deck of a big carrier on Yankee Station, squad leaders on infantry sweeps in “the Arizona Territory”, truck convoys under fire, riverine patrol boats in the Delta, Coast Guard “Jolly Green” search and rescue helicopters pulling downed pilots from the jungle, tank platoons in an all-out armor assault, Loach pilots in hunter-killer teams, and many more - from the Delta to the DMZ, this book puts you in their boots. Some of us were drafted. Some enlisted. Some were true war heroes, but most were just trying to survive. As everyone “in-country” knew, Vietnam was all about luck, good or bad. If you were there, you understand. If you weren’t, grab a copy and start listening, anywhere in the book. The stories are like Doritos. Try a few and you won’t be able to stop. The Vietnam War was the seminal event of my generation and affected so many lives. Over 58,200 of us paid the ultimate price, but the war didn’t end when the last US helicopter lifted off from the roof of the US Embassy in Saigon. It continues to take its ugly toll on many who did come home. Instead of bands and parades, we got PTSD and Agent Orange, diabetes, ischemic heart disease, neuropathy, leukemia, Hodgkin’s Disease, and prostate cancer, and many more. As they say, “Vietnam is the gift that keeps on giving.” Unfortunately, what little our kids and grandkids know of the war comes from books that only focus on one soldier, one unit, and one year, or movies like Oliver Stone’s Platoon and Hamburger Hill, leaving people to think that all we did was crawl through the jungle on the Cambodian border smoking dope. But that wasn’t how most of us spent ou ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: Eddie Frierson. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/acx0/165798/bk_acx0_165798_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.
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