The original version of this book was first published in 1949, long before such monuments of scholarship as Samuel Eliot Morison's 15-volume History of United States Naval Operations in World War II had been completed. Captain Creswell, R.N., has accordingly revised his text to eliminate minor errors of fact, and in a few operations has altered some of his deductions. But the book remains substantially the same as it was, and it also remains as comprehensive an account of the maritime side of the Second World War as could be contained in one handy volume. Naval power was an essential aspect of that struggle, as it has been of any large-scale conflict in history. As always, the four-fold purposes of a navy--safe passage of one's armies overseas and prevention of the same for the enemy, destruction of the enemy's supply lines, and maintenance of one's own--were paramount. The principal innovations were: the replacement of heavy battleships by sea-going airports, the development of radar, and the manifold new amphibious techniques. Meanwhile the torpedo, whether airborne, surface-fired, or submarine, became the main destroyer of naval power. With new means of locomotion, long-distance operations were the rule. Captain Creswell writes a brisk, ship-shape book and gives all major encounters in every theater the attention they deserve. For a service market.