Commentary

Struggle for the Middle Sea:

The Great Navies at War in the Mediterranean Theater 1940-1945

(Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. June 2009)

"In essence, Mr. O'Hara has given us a straightforward account of the naval war in the Mediterranean and proved his point that the Italian navy functioned in a professional and courageous manner. It is a welcome and clarifying addition to the existing literature on the Mediterranean campaign." - Sol Schindler, The Washington Times

It was past time that English speaking scholars and enthusiasts of naval history could have at their disposala new, up-to-date work dedicated to aero-naval operations in the Mediterranean during the Second Wrold War. Thanks to Vincent O'Hara . . . this task has been accomplished in an admirable fashion. Erminio Bagnasco, STORIA Militare

“O’Hara, with access to previously little-seen archives, particularly from Italy, gives us a new and stunningly important view of World War II, replete with geography lessons which remain valid today. This is a fabulously readable and important book.” – Defense & Foreign Affairs Strategic Policy.

The Mediterranean Sea was the most intensely contested body of water in World War II. As the maritime crossroads where Europe, Asia, and Africa meet, more major naval actions were fought in the Mediterranean than in the Atlantic or Pacific. Despite its importance, remarkably little has been written about the subject, and what exists is largely one-sided and outdated. This fresh study of the naval war in the Mediterranean analyzes the actions and performances of the five major navies—British, Italian, French, German, and American—during the entire five-year campaign and objectively examines the national imperatives that drove each nation's maritime strategy. The book's perspective and depth of detail is unmatched by other works, and its fresh viewpoints, supported by extensive research in Italian and French sources, are certain to provoke controversy

A fresh and comprehensive examination of surface combat in the Mediterranean in Word War II, The Struggle for the Middle Sea offers detailed accounts of the actions of the five major navies including forgotten or neglected aspects such as the Royal Navy's costly Aegean campaign and German efforts in the Adriatic, Aegean, and off the coast of Italy following the Italian armistice. O'Hara's careful anaylsis also sheds new light on the successful maritime strategy and often credible perforrmance of the Italian Navy. An insightful and important contribution to our understanding of the naval war in the Mediterranean.

--Professor Barbara Brooks Tomblin, author of With Utmost Spirit: Allied Naval Operations in the Mediterranean, 1940-1945

O'Hara has been a serious chronicler of the surface engagements of World War II and has now added the Mediterranean to the saga. The numerous surface actions in World War II still offer lessons all of us in the 21st century. O'Hara’s goal of expanding our understanding with extensive research in four languages and being very readable has been achieved with the 3rd in his series in Struggle for the Middle Sea. -

-Jack Greene, co-author of Naval War in the Mediterranean, 1940-1943 and Rommel's North African Campaign

O'Hara steamrolls the chauvinism and "common knowledge" that have obscured what actually happened in the Mediterranean, and gives his readers what they have come to expect--both sides of a gritty story.

Many previous histories of the war in the Mediterranean have been coloured by an implicit acceptance of a well-established mythology. Vince O’Hara brings a fresh approach to the conflict in this theatre by exploring the strategic objectives and the performance of the major combatants in a balanced way. His extension of the account to include the French and the Americans is to be commended.

In a concise but comprehensive narrative, O'Hara deftly examines the strategies and expertly presents the campaigns each of the major naval powers waged in the Middle Sea between 1940 and 1945. With a fresh perspective, he illustrates just how frustrating a naval theatre the Mediterranean was for everyone, and yet how the respective navies largely met their objectives. As the author shows, littoral warfare in the Mediterranean was unexpectedly demanding, a lesson that still must be heeded today.

“In this magnificent and meticulous work packed with fresh information and original insight, Vincent O’Hara dethrones the conventional wisdom that mastery of amphibious, carrier, and submarine warfare explains the U.S. Navy’s triumph in World War II. He demonstrates with vividly rendered portraits of forty-nine encounters that U.S. surface combatants made at least an equal contribution. This is a must read on the Pacific War and the history of American naval operations.” —Richard B. Frank, author of Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle

“The U.S. Navy Against the Axis is the sort of book that can wear a rut into your shelf as you grab for it time and again—a broad scope supported by details as seen by both sides. O’Hara succeeds not simply because he delves past the well known into the episodes that most accounts gloss over, but because he fixes them all into context with the U.S. Navy’s total war effort.” —Richard Worth, author of Fleets of World War II

“Masterfully combining detailed research with a gripping narrative, O’Hara has produced an essential volume for naval history enthusiasts.” —Robert von Maier, editor, World War II Quarterly

“By meticulously examining every U. S. Navy surface action between 1942 and 1945, O’Hara calls attention to the relevant and vital contribution the surface force made to the final victory. His work is one of the most significant additions to the Navy’s World War II historiography since Morison.” —Karl Zingheim, director of history, USS Midway Museum

“O’Hara has written an indispensable, well-researched review of the surface navy’s bravery and decisive relevance, from the tragic martyring of the Asiatic Fleet to the climactic recapture of the Philippines.” —James D. Hornfischer, author of Ship of Ghosts and The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors

"I strongly recommend this volume to those souls pursuing studies in naval history. At the same time,the author offers a fascinating story of human hope, effort, and error that can be appreciated by the layman as well as the scholar." --Wade G. Dudley, East Carolina University in Nautical Research Journal, September 2008.

"Clear and balanced and mercifully free of the polemic which mars some accounts of the US Navy's actions. --John Jordan, editor Warship 2008. Complete review

"The U.S. Navy Against the Axis helps to fill a void in the history of the Second World War and will prove valuable to any student of naval history." The Journal of Military History, July 2008. Complete review

"A well-organized, well written and comprehensive naval history that deserves careful attention by all naval historians." -- Warship International Vol 43 No. 3

Author's Perspective. World War II Quarterly (4)1. May 2007. 56-59. A discussion of the rationale behind The U.S. Navy Against the Axis. Complete article

The German Fleet at War 1939-1945 (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2004)

The German Fleet at War is about how combat influences and illuminates a navy’s wartime activities. The German navy's surface fleet has received little attention and that focuses on famous ships like Bismarck or Graf Spee. The German Fleet at War relates the story of all sixty-nine surface naval action fought by the German navy's major warships against major warships of the British, French, American, Polish, Soviet, Norwegian and Greek navies. It emphasizes the operational details of these actions within a broad overview of the naval war. The presentation is objective and the pacing is rapid, filled with the flavor of naval combat as well as the facts. It is a unique overview of the German and Allied navies at war and it gives a new appreciation of their activities and accomplishments.

Sample Chapter

Reviews by Stone and Stone Books, Warship 2005, World War II History Magazine, (May 2005), Warship International (Vol. 41, No. 1), and STORIA Militare (Italian).

Available from Naval Institute Press Order Book

06/12/09