"New to WWII naval gaming" Topic

Over the last few years, I've become much more interested in the WWII Pacific Theater--initially in the ground and air combat operations, and now, gradually, in the naval fighting. I played my first game of General Quarters the other day (River Plate-I was the Graf, and I couldn't roll for very well) and am now looking into various rules sets and lines of minis. For space reasons, I think I'll go 1/6000.

Anyway, my post here to ask your opinions on some good historical readings on the subject. My knowledge of WWII naval warfare is quite limited.

Any readings suggestions on WWII naval combat generally, and on the war at sea in the Pacific specifically, would be appreciated. I enjoy general "popular" histories, first hand accounts, and scholarly histories about equally.

One book I do have on my list is Kaigun by Evans and Peattie.

Samuel Elliot Morrison wrote the official History of United States Naval Operations In World War II in 15 volumes. It's very good, the definitive account. Voluminous, but it's a pretty big subject. It was condensed into a single, very thick, volume as The Two Ocean War, highly recommended if you have not quite so much time or patience. The 26-episode documentary Victory At Sea is available in inexpensive DVD editions. It's well worth watching.

Also "A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy 1941-1945" by Paul S. Dull.

I read Craig Symonds' "Midway" recently and really enjoyed it.
They are currently running "WWII in the Pacific" on the AHC channel if you happen to get that. I believe that it's a 4-5 hour series.

Welcome to the fold!

Can't help much on Pacific Theatre as my main interests are The Med and the Arctic, but I can certainly vouch for 1:6000 – the scale gives a really good impression of distance. Also worth looking at is 1:4800 – there was a superb post a while back showcasing what can be done in that scale:

TMP link

Some nice eye candy and plenty of US/IJN.

Best wishes,

Nick

Shattered Sword by Jonathon Parshall and Anthony Tully is an excellent source on the Battle of Midway. I'd also recommend The Shame of Savo by Adm. Bruce Loxton for a look at the Battle of Savo Island that you don't normally get.

Grignotage, here is a link to a USN chronological history
of WWII (at sea). I have found it very useful and
informative, since you'll find entries for things that
you won't find anywhere else.

Granted, the information is very limited, but it can
serve as a starting point.

A couple books I'd recommend are Tin Can Sailors, about
destroyers and DE's and The Silent Service, a really
good history of the submarine service.

If you can find a copy of The First Team, it is a superb
work covering the first 6 months of the Naval Aviation's
service in the war, ending after the Midway battle.
It has excellent information on the OB's of CAG's, task
forces, doctrine, etc.

Also recommend "Neptune's Inferno" about the battles of the Guadalcanal campaign by Hornfischer, author of "Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors." a VERY good book about the battle off Samar.

Kaigun is a history of the IJN up from its founding up to the outbreak of the war so it does not cover the war per se. It does however talk a lot about the development of the doctrine and warship design of the IJN in the 20s and 30s so it goes a long way to explain why the IJN was the force it was in WW2 so I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in the pacific war

Would second the book by Dull as well. It covers every naval battle of the war from a Japanese perspective, which is interesting and useful in looking at how and why the battles panned out as they did.

"Japanese Destroyer Captain" is a great read for the destroyer skirmishes in the Solomons.

THE AGE OF STEAM, Volume's 1 and 2 by Southworth is a very good overview. It's not going to provide any depth of detail.
IIRC It cover both WW1 and 2… which is useful, as WW1 was the beginning of a lot of what was done for WW2.

Jack Coggins wrote two fine little books with lots of diagrams and maps, one on the invasion of North Africa and the other on Guadalcanal. Both provide a lot of good background information if you can find them affordably. Nothing will provide all you want to know, or need to know; I've been digging into it for many years.

Grignotage here's the link I forgot to leave earlier:

link

Get these books –
"The Naval Night Battles in the Solomons", C W Kilpatrick.
"The Battle of Cape Esperance", Capt Charles Cook.
"The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal", James W Grace.
"The Battle of Tassafaronga", Capt Russell Crenshaw.
"South Pacific Destroyer", Capt Russell Crenshaw.

B

Outstanding! Thanks everybody.

Firstly, I would suggest providing yourself with basic technical information on the ships and aircraft used. The best single-volume reference I own is OOP, but is available used. It has the added bonus of good profile drawings of most major and many minor warships: link

Vincent O'Hara's "The U.S. Navy Against The Axis" is an excellent compilation of original research and ideas from other books, leavened with his own unique insights. It especially lends itself to miniatures wargaming, IMHO, due to its standardized treatment of a succession of individual battles.

The multi-volume Morison series is a standard (but expensive) reference, with the added advantage of being very enjoyable to read. It suffers from a few minor flaws, including being dated, and some degree of cronyism WRT some of the USN admirals (for example, he cuts Turner all sorts of slack, but does the opposite for Fletcher).

One of the Lundstrom books will give you a good perspective on USN carrier operations during the first year of the war. These often substantially update Morison. For example, "Black Shoe Carrier Admiral", "The First Team", and "The First Team in the Guadalcanal Campaign".

I like Blutarski's suggestions, with the added comment that you MUST own at least one of the Crenshaw books he mentions. This is because they give a unique degree of insight into the USN's surface combat technical limitations.

Mark H.

You might also be interested in this Youtube item – a 44 minute after action report of 1:1 scale naval "wargaming" 1943 style.

YouTube link

B

Go to the Avalanche Press website and check out their Daily Content section OUTSTANDING.

I second Mallen. Great articles