Overview
Naval mines are pernicious weapons of debated legality and fearsome reputation. Since World War II over 18,400 of these ingenious devices have been deployed during 24 naval mining events, seriously damaging or sinking over 100 ships including 44 warships. Despite this sustained drumbeat of use both in attack and in defence, there were no modern books that examine this `Weapon That Waits'. Naval Minewarfare: Politics to Practicalities is a comprehensive guide to modern naval minewarfare. From explaining the basic tenets of both naval mining and naval mine countermeasures, then examining the modern history of naval mining, through to the legal, political and statecraft factors that should underpin any decisions to employ naval mines, this detailed analysis provides a contemporary view of how this weapon is used as part of a military or insurgent campaign. Focussing on both the psychological warhead in every mine as well as naval mining's lethal effects, it contains a wealth of invaluable information and explanation all carefully scripted to enlighten military historians and inform international strategists. The inclusion of an Annex of mitigations against mining specifically designed for use by civilian ships, their owners and also port authorities makes this an outstanding primary reference for politicians through to practitioners of both military and civilian elements of conflicts that involve naval mines.
Full Product Details
Author: Chris O'Flaherty
Publisher: The Choir Press
Imprint: The Choir Press
Dimensions:
Width: 19.10cm
, Height: 3.20cm
, Length: 23.50cm
Weight: 1.173kg
ISBN: 9781789630862
ISBN 10: 178963086
Pages: 414
Publication Date: 31 October 2019
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
Finally, a comprehensive treatment of naval mine warfare (MW) is published in the English language. Of extra value is the checklist for ship owners, port authorities and merchant captains of how to prepare and what to do when sailing through a mine threat area and when a mine actually strikes. Highly recommended. - The Naval Review
Author Information
Captain Chris O'Flaherty joined the Royal Navy in 1987. Deploying for much of his early career in the navy's smallest ships, he served as a diving and underwater bomb disposal officer in three different classes of minehunter and sweeper. After serving in Frigates and aircraft carriers in both the North Atlantic and the Middle East, and later commanding the Fleet Diving Squadron, in 2017 he was elected as the Royal Navy's Hudson Fellow at St Antony's College, University of Oxford. Having completing his fellowship studying `Naval Mines as an Instrument of Statecraft', he is presently serving as Captain of the Royal Navy's Maritime Warfare Centre.
