Brian Lane Herder

D-Day Fleet 1944, American Sector by Brian Lane Herder is a fully illustrated study of how the US-led half of the Normandy invasion fleet was composed, commanded, and fought, from D-Day until the fall of Cherbourg. The D-Day landings and their aftermath were among the most complex and important naval operations in history. With the target beaches divided into two...

Explores the history of the US Navy's 11 new steel warships, built during the late 19th century to advance American naval supremacy. After the American Civil War, the powerful US Navy was allowed to decay into utter decrepitude and was becoming a security liability. In 1883, Congress approved four new steel-constructed vessels called the “ABCD” ships. The three protected cruisers...

An illustrated study of the organization, training, tactics, and operations of the US Navy during World War I, both before and after the US formally joined the Entente Powers. In 1914, the US Navy was the third-largest navy in the world. Although World War I brought no opportunity for the type of capital-ship fleet action for which it had been...

Manila Bay 1898 is an illustrated history of "the first Pacific War," which saw the United States transform itself into an outward-looking, expansionist great power. In April 1898, the United States and Spain declared war on each other. Led by Commodore George Dewey, the small US Asiatic Squadron departed China and attacked the Spanish naval squadron defending Manila Bay on...

A study of the history of the US Navy's gunboats and their role in building a worldwide American naval presence abroad and in combat, from the Yangtze era through to World War II. For more than half a century, American gunboats were the ships often responsible for policing small crises and provided deterrence and fast-response capabilities around the world –...