Publications

NF118 -USN/USCG/USMC Beech Expeditor JRB/SNB/C-45

Over 1,600 “Twin Beech” aircraft were given Bu No and operated by the Navy, Marines and Coast Guard. 8-versions were originally built. From the 8-versions, 21-different sub-versions were created which showed the versatility of this aircraft. It was used...

NF119 - Curtiss XF15-C "Stingaree"

NF120 - Kaman Synchropter HTK-1/TH-43E, HOK-1/OH-43D, HUK-1/UH-43C

In 1945, there were several aircraft companies involved in helicopter design, test and production in America. The smallest and least well financed one had just been incorporated by a 26 year old Charles Kaman to pursue a synchropter design and flight...

NF121 - Grumman FF/SF Goblin

The Grumman FF-1 and its derivatives, namely the SF-1 and G-23, represent a paradox in naval aircraft design. On one hand, it represented the end of the line for two-seat US Navy fighters in the biplane era. On the other hand, it incorporated relatively...

NF122 - USN/USMC/USCG/USAAC Loening Amphibian

The Loening Amphibians were a unique adaptation of design for a “shoehorn” fuselage bi-plane equiped with retractable landing gear. It could virtually operate from anywhere. First ordered by the Army in 1924, it was quickly ordered by the Navy/Marines...

NF123 - Grumman J4F-1/2 Widgeon/Gosling

Grummans success with its famous JRF/G-21 “Goose” was great that Grumman saw the need for a less costly, smaller version that targeted smaller companies, executives, celebrities and sportsmen. This became the G-44 “Widgeon”. It cost about $30,000, which...

NF124 - Boeing XPBB-1 Sea Ranger / Lone Ranger

In 1940 the Navy awarded Boeing a contact for the XPBB-1, a large 139.8 foot wing span twin-engine flying boat with performance far superior to the four-engine PB2Y Coronado and the twin-engined PBM Mariner. The airplane was named the "Sea Ranger" and...

NF125 - Chance Vought Regulus II

In a time when most fighters were subsonic and a handful were supersonic Chance Vought was contracted to build a Moch 2, submarine-launched, nu-clear-armed cruise missile. The result was an airframe so fast that the Navy’s fastest fighter (also built by...

NF303 - Electronic Aggressors: US Navy Electronic Threat Environment Squadrons - Part One 1949-1977

The first book in a two-book series, this volume covers Fleet Electronic Warfare Support Group’s (FEWSG’s) activities, vital to fleet training, but still unknown to many. Angelo Romano has done a superb job of writing the complete history of FEWSG, its...

NF304 - Electronic Aggressors: US Navy Electronic Threat Environment Squadrons - Part Two 1978-2000

This book is the second in a two-part series and describes the FEWSG structure and mission in detail. FEWSG provided threat training which stressed the US Navy’s ability to respond, from applying anti-jamming fixes, to understanding the weaknesses and...

NF305 - World Watchers: A Pictorial History of Electronic Countermeasures Squadron ONE (ECMRON-1) and Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron ONE (VQ-1)

The lineage of VQ-1’s "World Watchers" can be traced back to two PBY-5A Catalina "Black Cats" modified for electronic reconnaissance during World War II. In October 1951, the unit was formally established as the Special Electronic Search Project (SESP)...

NF306HB - World Class DIAMONDBACKS: A Pictorial History of Strike Fighter Squadron 102 (VFA-102) Hardcover

HARDCOVER EDITION Originally designated Fighter Squadron 102 (VF-102), the DIAMONDBACKS of Strike Fighter Squadron 102 (VFA-102) were established on 1 July 1955 in Jacksonville, Florida. The first aircraft to carry the distinctive DIAMONDBACK markings...

NF307 - Smokin' Tigers: A Pictorial History of Reconnaissance Attack Squadron One (RVAH-1)

On 1 Nov 1955, Heavy Attack Squadron ONE (HATRON ONE or VAH-1) was established and temporarily based at Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, Florida. On the same day, CDR P.F. Stevens assumed the command of the squadron. He was a highly decorated...

NVG005 - Tiger 1 Heavy Tank 1942–45

Probably the most famous tank of the World War II, the Tiger I was originally conceived in 1941 in response to the German Army's experience in fighting British tanks and anti-tank guns in Western Europe and the North African desert. Following the...

NVG007 - IS-2 Heavy Tank 1944-73

The Iosef Stalin tanks were the ultimate heavy tanks developed by the Soviet Union and were popularly called 'Victory tanks' due to their close association with the defeat of Germany in 1945. Yet in spite of their reputation, the Stalin tanks emerged...

NVG019 - Sturmgeschütz III Assault Gun 1940–42

The workhorse of the German Army that swept across Poland, France and Russia, the Sturmgeschütz III saw service in all theatres of World War II, both in an infantry support role and as a tank destroyer. Cheaper and quicker to produce than a tank, the...

NVG022 - Panther Variants 1942–45

The Panther Medium Tank was produced as a direct result of early experiences with the revolutionary Soviet T-34/76. Designers and military experts combined to produce a number of variations to provide armoured support for the many branches of the German...

NVG026 - German Light Panzers 1932–42

The light tanks of the Panzerwaffe make a fascinating subject for technical and historical study. Operation Barbarossa was the light tanks' swan song: thoroughly experienced and at the peak of self-confidence, the Panzergruppen brought Moscow to almost...

NVG027 - Panzerkampfwagen III Medium Tank 1936–44

During the glory years of blitzkrieg the PzKpfw III was the only weapon in the German tank arsenal that really counted. Like Napoleon's vieux moustaches, it did not merely witness history in the making – it made it, from the Channel to the Volga, and...

NVG031 - The M47 and M48 Patton Tanks

With Cold War fears mounting, the M47 and M48 were rushed into production – teething troubles were inevitable. In the decade that followed, however, these tanks proved to be the backbone of US armoured units. In its lifetime, the Patton has played vital...

NVG035 - M26/M46 Pershing Tank 1943–53

From the moment that the M4 Sherman had been matched against German Panther and Tiger tanks, the American tank crews had known that their vehicles were outclassed by the opposition. What was needed was a more powerful tank, more heavily armed and...

NVG039 - Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf.G, H and J 1942–45

The Panzerkampfwagen IV was one of the most numerous and successful German tanks of World War II. Despite the introduction of the Panther and Tiger tanks, the PzKpfw IV remained the backbone of the German armoured units until the end of the war. This...

NVG045 - Union Monitor 1861–65

The first seagoing ironclad was the USS Monitor, and its profile has made it one of the most easily recognised warships of all time. Following her inconclusive battle with the Confederate ironclad Virginia on March 9, 1862, the production of Union...

NVG051 - Kriegsmarine U-boats 1939–45 (1)

This, the first of two volumes on Germany's World War II U-boats, traces their development from the early U-boats of the Kaiser's Navy, the prohibition on Germany having U-boats following the Armistice in 1918 and the subsequent Treaty of Versailles, the...

NVG064 - Confederate Raider 1861–65

The Confederate states adopted radical solutions to counter the naval superiority of their opponents. One of the more successful solutions they adopted was the use of commerce raiders. This book describes the reasons which forced the Confederates to...

NVG069 - Medieval Siege Weapons (2): Byzantium, the Islamic World & India AD 476–1526

When it came to non-gunpowder machine development, the medieval period was one of the most inventive in military history. During this era, the pre-existing military-technological traditions from the ancient worlds were brought together. Three...

NVG072 - Austrian Napoleonic Artillery 1792–1815

The Austrian artillery of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars was a creation of the renowned Lichtenstein system of the early 1750s. This weight system produced a series of weapons of 3-, 6- and 12-pdr. calibre along with 7- and 10-pdr. howitzers. In...

NVG080 - Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965–2003

The concept of the Main Battle Tank emerged from the Centurion Universal tank that was developed at the end of World War II. Development of its successor began as early as 1951. The Chieftain incorporated significant innovations including a reclining...

NVG083 - Armored Unites of the Russian Civil War: White and Allied

One of the most important conflicts of the 20th century, the Russian Civil War was the struggle that led to the formation of the Soviet Union. Following the overthrow of the Russian Provisional Government on 7 November 1917, the All-Russian Congress of...

NVG084 - German Light Cruisers 1939–45

The German Navy of World War II was small in number, but contained some of the most technologically advanced capital ships in the world. This meant that although the Kriegsmarine never felt capable of encountering the might of the British Navy in a fleet...

NVG085 - M60 Main Battle Tank 1960–91

Entering service in the early 1960s, the M60 tank was in production for 23 years and formed the backbone of US Army and Marine armoured units during the Cold War. Over 15,000 were built in four basic models: the M60, M60A1, M60A2, and the M60A3. Although...

NVG088 - British Battlecruisers 1939–45

When war broke out in 1939, only three true battlecruisers remained in the Royal Navy including HMS 'Hood', the world's largest and fastest capital ship for much of her life, which would be destroyed in action against the German battleship 'Bismarck'...

NVG091 - German Destroyers 1939-45

The German destroyer fleet of World War II consisted of nine classes: the Diether Von Roeder Class, the Leberecht Maas Class and the wartime classes Z23, Z35, Z37, Z40, Z43, Z46 and Z52. These vessels, though fewer in number than the British destroyer...

NVG098 - British Anti-Tank Artillery 1939-45

The rapid development of the tank as an offensive weapon following its introduction in World War I gave artillery theorists cause for concern during the 1920s and 1930s. The first anti-tank guns had been developed by the beginning of World War II,...

NVG100 - British Mark I Tank 1916

In 1915 a machine christened Little Willie changed the way that wars were fought. Little Willie was a fully tracked armoured vehicle that could break a trench system. Its development was completed in December 1915, but by then it had already been...

NVG111 - Apache AH-64 Boeing (McDonnell Douglas) 1976–2005

The Boeing (McDonnell Douglas, formerly Hughes) AH-64A Apache is the US Army's primary attack helicopter, and the most advanced helicopter gunship flying today. The most expensive rotary-winged aircraft ever built when it was introduced in the early...

NVG127 - German Panzers 1914–18

Panzer warfare is synonymous with the Wehrmacht of World War II. This book examines the story of the Panzer's more mysterious ancestors, the little-known panzers of the Great War. Germany was very slow to develop armored vehicles compared to Britain and...

NVG131 - US Field Artillery of World War II

Determined to learn from the lessons of World War I where it was unprepared and heavily reliant on British and French guns, the US Army developed a whole new generation of field artillery weapons and tactics during the 1930s. Consequently, in World War...

NVG135 - Imperial Japanese Navy Submarines 1941–45

The Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II possessed the most technologically advanced and varied submarine fleet in the world. Ranging from the largest pre-nuclear submarines in the world to manned torpedoes, with the fastest combat vessels and midget...

NVG139 - Sherman Crab Flail Tank

The Sherman Crab Flail tank was the powerful culmination of a series of mine-clearing flail tanks developed during World War II. Here, David Fletcher recounts how the Sherman Crabs were among the first tanks ashore on D-Day and as the war progressed they...