Spanish Civil War Naval Books?

[Dr Rare]

Hello ,

I wonder if any one can recommend ,(if its been written?) a book or books covering the entire Naval aspect of the Spanish Civil war including all contribution's and actions by other nations.

Dr

[Ironmachine]

You are going to find nothing better than the five volumes of La guerra silenciosa y silenciada. Historia de la campaña naval durante la guerra de 1936-39, by Fernando and Salvador Moreno de Alborán y de Reyna. It is based on the memoirs of Admiral Francisco Moreno y Fernández, on documents from both sides and on testimonies of the protagonists.

[Dr Rare]

Hello,
Thanks for your quick reply.That sounds like a great read,But unfortunately i cannot read Spanish.
I should have made myself clearer do you know of any books about the Spanish Civil War's Naval campaigns in English?(if one has been written.
I have plenty of General Spanish Civil War books and a few about the Mediterranean as a zone of conflict and one book about SCW Blockade Runners, but i would really like a book or some books about all the different sides and Foreign Navies involved in the conflict.

Thanks.

DR

[Ironmachine]

No, unfortunately I can't help you regarding English books on that matter.
Regards.

[Felix C]

Willard C. Frank wrote a series of articles for the Naval War College Review providing a concise account of the naval side of the Spanish Civil War.

Sir Peter Gretton wrote a very good book on the Royal Navy (British) in the SCW which does provide an idea of what was occurring among the different factions and their supporters.

I would not be surprised if Michael Alpert's book on the naval war is in translation as his other book on international aspects of the war was translated into English as well.

[Dr Rare]

Thanks a lot for your help and tips.

I do have Micheal Alpert's book "A New International History of the Spanish Civil War" and its a great book ,in fact its one of the reasons i wanted to know more on the subject.

I couldn't find any mention of a release date for a English translation on the net of Micheal Alpert's book "La guerra civil espanola en el mar" ,but hopefully it will be translated some day.

Thanks again all.

DR

[Adler250]

I don't know books on that matter in english language, but I can recommend you one in spanish that is full illustrated and easy to understand even for non spanish-speakers.

Atlas Ilustrado de Armas y Uniformes de la Guerra Civil
Editor: Susaeta
Price (in Spain bookstores) 15€



This is a general book about Spanish Civil War but it has huge sections about land, sea and air forces, uniforms and weapondry. Is a very big book but cheap. Very complete, specially the naval section, full of photos and interesting facts (including in which side was each ship, combats, artillery...).

[Orwell1984]

As Felix C mentioned Willard Frank wrote some English articles on naval actions in the Spanish Civil War for the Naval War College Review. They are available online in downloadable PDF's from the US Naval College Website.
Naval operations in the Spanish Civil War 1936 to 1939 contained in:
http://www.usnwc.edu/NavalWarCollegeRev ... bruary.pdf
Misperception and Incidents at Sea: The Deutschland and Leipzig Crises 1937 in:
http://www.usnwc.edu/NavalWarCollegeRev ... Spring.pdf
Multinational Naval Cooperation in the Spanish Civil War 1936 in:
http://www.usnwc.edu/NavalWarCollegeRev ... Spring.pdf

[Ironmachine]

This is a general book about Spanish Civil War but it has huge sections about land, sea and air forces, uniforms and weapondry. Is a very big book but cheap. Very complete, specially the naval section, full of photos and interesting facts (including in which side was each ship, combats, artillery...).

I don't think this is what Dr Rare is looking for. Leaving aside the language problem, the naval section talks about the ships and guns but not in detail about the campaigns and naval operations of the war, and the information about other nations is limited to the ships and weapons they provided to the Spanish Navies.

[Felix C]

One could always google translate or similar the numerous Spanish Civil War naval related websites.

I did same for some Russian language ones and found the translation tolerable compared to my zero knowledge of Cyrillic.

There is one more a Master thesis available online at:

INFLUENCE OF NAVAL POWER ON THE COURSE
OF THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR, 1936-1939

http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA389113

This was my topic of interest when I attended a Graduate History program many years ago. Amazing the amount of good research done since then. Spanish is easy to learn compared to other languages.(compared to Russian!) Give it a try if it interests you.

[Ironmachine]

There is also this book: Historiografía de la Guerra Española en el Mar (1936-1939), by José Cervera Pery, published in 2008.

cover.jpg (24.6 KiB) Viewed 3613 times

It is devoted to present and analyze the books that cover the naval aspects on the SCW. Here is the table of contents:
- Los libros fundamentales.
- Libros directos.
- Libros circunstanciales y testimoniales.
- Las marinas extranjeras y la guerra naval.
- La guerra naval en las historias generales.
- La guerra naval en las historias militares.
- La guerra naval en las historias de conflicto.
- La guerra de los fascículos.
- Lo inédito también cuenta.
- Memorias y tesinas.
- La narrativa tuvo su papel.
- Reflexión histórica.

[Nickuru]

Here is a good text El Factor Olvidado: La Marina Britanica y la Guerra Civil Española. True it is Spanish by Editorial San Martin, Madrid. It is written by Admiral Sir Peter Gretton. The copy I have is a translation, translated by Roberto López. Therefore the original was probably in English. The ISBN is 84-7140-224-6.

This a subject which involved my family and their friends so it is something I have some sources on. Another forum I go to showed no interest in this topic, but from from my conclusions allowing the Spanish Civil War to proceed, was as insane as European foreign policy before WWI. Fire away! there is much interesting stuff here.

[Ironmachine]

IIRC, the original was titled The forgotten factor: The Naval Aspects of the Spanish Civil War and was published by Oxford University Press in 1984, the same year that the first Spanish edition was published by Ed. San Martín.

[Spearfish]

Dr Rare
I understand an English-language book on the Spanish Civil War naval side will appear in the near future, possibly this month. I am trying to get details

[Orwell1984]

Dr Rare
I understand an English-language book on the Spanish Civil War naval side will appear in the near future, possibly this month. I am trying to get details

I'd definitely be interested in finding out more about this impending release.