Commissioning Editor Tom Milner tells us what we can expect from the Fleet series in 2026.

 

Coming up to its fourth year, we will be publishing nine new Fleet books in 2026, including the series’ first visit to the Age of Sail and a fascinating history of the little-known Adriatic campaign of World War I. Of course, we have a good selection of World War II subjects as well, ranging from such famous fleets as Britain’s D-Day task force and the 1942 US Pacific Fleet through to one of the Kriegsmarine’s least-known commands and the pioneering ABDA Striking Force. However, I’m most looking forward to Kriegsmarine Norway Command, a wide-ranging history of German naval operations in the far north.

 

Italian Adriatic Fleet 1915–18: The fierce naval war with Austria-Hungary

Enrico Cernuschi, Edouard A. Groult

29/01/2026

Fiercely fought with all the latest weaponry of World War I, Italy’s Adriatic campaign is the forgotten war of the dreadnought era. Fully illustrated, this is its first history in English.

Fought across the narrowest naval frontline of World War I, with almost daily actions, the Adriatic Sea was perhaps the war’s most active coastal naval campaign, yet it is barely known in the English-speaking world. Although the two battle fleets never met, the Adriatic was ferociously fought over by Italy and Austro-Hungary’s cruisers, destroyers, torpedo boats, floating artillery platforms and submarines. It was a war of hit-and-run attacks, port raids, blockades and evasions, convoy warfare, shore bombardments and amphibious operations.

Renowned naval historian Enrico Cernuschi draws upon his decades of research to present the first complete history in English of Italy’s Adriatic naval war, and the fleets and flotillas that fought it. The theatre saw successful use of new technology and tactics, including the first battleship to be sunk by torpedo, as well as extensive use of aircraft and flying boats.

Packed with rare and unpublished photos, superb original artwork, 3D maps and diagrams, this book explores the Regia Marina’s warships, command structures, intelligence, relations with other Allied navies, as well as a thorough history of Adriatic naval actions, most of which have never been written about in English.

 

French Navy 1939–42: The Marine Nationale in World War II

Hugues Canuel, Adam Tooby

26/02/2026

An authoritative, illustrated analysis of the official French Navy in World War II, under the command of the Third Republic and of Vichy.

At the outbreak of World War II, the Marine Nationale was the most powerful navy in continental Europe, unified in its purpose of defending the nation and the colonial empire. It was the product of the unique 1920s–30s French naval doctrine and armaments development, as a continental power with worldwide interests. The fall of France shattered this unity, as the fleet split between loyalty to Vichy and Free France.

In this book, Hugues Canuel presents a sharp, focused operational study of the official French Navy in World War II, from action alongside its British allies in 1939–40 to the fiery end of the Vichy fleet in Toulon harbour in 1942. Based on a wealth of French, British, and American archive material and drawing on the author's years of research, it explores France's warships and their capabilities, the roles the fleet was structured to perform, and the combat they saw – including operations off Norway and tackling German raiders in the Atlantic, operations in Indochina, and the battle with the Allies in Operation Torch.

Illustrated throughout with rare photos, spectacular battlescenes, maps and 3D diagrams of engagements and fleet formations, this book is an essential guide to one of the least-known major navies of World War II.

 

D-Day Fleet 1944, British Sector: The Royal Navy's Eastern Task Force

Nick Hewitt, Paul Wright

23/04/2026

The D-Day amphibious landings were the biggest in history, and relied on a huge naval operation. Fully illustrated, this explains the detail of the Royal Navy’s sector on D-Day and after.

Although D-Day is perhaps the most written-about event in military history, little has been published on the nuts-and-bolts of the sea power that Overlord relied upon. In this book, critically acclaimed historian Nick Hewitt examines the fleet that secured the British Assault Area from the eve of D-Day until the end of the assault phase of operations on 30 June. While led and dominated by the Royal Navy, it was multinational, including forces from Canada, Norway, and the Free French.

The invasion had many moving parts and proved there is more to a successful assault than simply putting soldiers ashore on a beach. This book explains the minesweeping that allowed the landings to take place, and the various naval operations that brought British and Canadian troops to the beaches. It also explores how the fleet defended the British Assault Area from counterattacks by enemy destroyers, coastal forces, mining, and special attack units, and how it sustained the build-up that fed resources to the growing Allied forces.

Illustrated with archive photos, original artwork and 3D diagrams and maps, and drawing upon primary documentation that has previously gone largely unused, this book offers a fresh exploration of the sea power behind D-Day.

 

Kriegsmarine Southern Command 1941–45: The Adriatic, Aegean and Black Sea naval wars

Lawrence Paterson, Edouard A. Groult

21/05/2026

Fully illustrated, the first history of the little-known Marinegruppenkommando Süd, Germany’s southern naval command that fought a fast and furious war in the Adriatic, Aegean and Black Seas.

As Germany and Italy overran Yugoslavia and Greece in early 1941, the Kriegsmarine established a new theatre command, tasked with establishing German control over the eastern Mediterranean and coordinating actions with the Italian, Romanian and Bulgarian navies. With the invasion of the USSR that summer, the Black Sea would also become a battleground, and Naval Group South would be established.

For the first time, Kriegsmarine historian Lawrence Paterson outlines the dizzying array of Kriegsmarine combat units that fought under Naval Group South – S-boats and U-boats, flotillas of escort ships, landing ships, artillery vessels, patrol boats, submarine hunters and minesweepers – and how they operated, including their organization, their complex logistics, and vital intelligence and communications. Combat was frequently fast and furious, ranging from pitched battles with the Soviet Black Sea Fleet and operations supporting Operation Barbarossa to combat against naval units of Tito’s Partisans off the Croatian coast.

Superbly illustrated with rare photos, artwork of dramatic actions, 3D diagrams and maps, this explores the little-known naval war fought by Germany’s smaller craft, at the farthest reach of German naval power in Europe.

 

ABDA Command Striking Force 1942: The American-British-Dutch-Australian fleet that tackled the IJN

Angus Konstam, Adam Tooby

30/07/2026

As Japan attacked in 1942, the overwhelmed Allies in theatre formed a joint command, which fought until defeat at Java Sea. Fully illustrated, this explores this pioneering multinational fleet.

The Japanese strike on Pearl Harbor and the near-simultaneous invasions of the Philippines and Malaya were soon followed by the invasion of the oil-rich Dutch East Indies. In mid-January, the American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command was created to unify the available forces, of which its naval component would be its most integrated. It was the first joint Allied fleet of World War II.

In this book, naval historian Angus Konstam studies this almost-forgotten formation, which was charged with defending the Malay Barrier, and preventing Japanese access to the Indian Ocean and Australian waters. Following its fleetingly successful debut at the Battle of Belikpapan in January 1942, a remorseless, grinding erosion of ABDACOM’s forces followed, during a string of naval clashes fought amid the straits and islands in the southern Java Sea. Outnumbered and without adequate air cover, it was a hopeless task, and ended in the fleet’s destruction at the battles of Java Sea and the Sunda Strait.

Packed with illustrations and photos, this traces the rise and fall of ABDACOM’s naval squadron – a unique mixture of cruisers and destroyers from four Allied navies – and how it performed when thrust into the path of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

 

Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet 1793–1805: The war at sea against Napoleon

Casey Baker, Edouard A. Groult

27/08/2026

The Mediterranean Fleet was at the heart of Britain’s naval war against Revolutionary France. Fully illustrated, this explores the reality of its multifaceted war from Toulon to Trafalgar.

When war broke out with Revolutionary France in 1893, the Royal Navy’s Mediterranean Fleet was launched into a long and complex war. Operating at arms-length from London, the fleet assumed traditional responsibilities for trade protection, blockade, and high-seas warfare, but also diplomatic and counter-revolutionary activities across the region. It was the theatre that produced some of the most iconic moments of British naval history, and made a legend out of Horatio Nelson.

However, the reality of the Mediterranean war has long been overshadowed by its fleet battles and big personalities. In this book, naval scholar Casey Baker draws upon his years of archive research to present a comprehensive portrait of the Mediterranean Fleet’s war – its strategic roles, its organization and decision-making, fighting capabilities and shortcomings, diplomatic and political responsibilities, logistics and manning, and the combat that it saw from the Levant to Cape Trafalgar.

With superb original artwork, new maps and 3D diagrams of little-studied actions from amphibious operations to the maritime trade war, he assesses how Royal Navy’s most active fleet of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars fought and operated in this most crucial theatre.

 

Kriegsmarine Norway Command 1940–45: The naval war on the northern flank

Lawrence Paterson, Edouard A. Groult

24/09/2026

Conquered Norway was a large and active theatre for Germany’s surface fleet, from Tirpitz to trawlers. Fully illustrated, this is the first full history of the Kriegsmarine in the fjords.

The invasion of Norway was intended to secure Germany’s northern flank, and its access to the Atlantic and to vital Scandinavian resources. It was the Kriegsmarine’s biggest, most testing, and most costly amphibious operation, and victory only brought new demands on the mauled surface fleet.

Naval historian Lawrence Paterson here examines the Kriegsmarine’s presence and operations in occupied Norway, as the fleet fought to establish the territory’s security and launch offensive operations, first against the British and later the Soviets. It is a theatre most famous as the last lair of Germany’s battleships and for operations against the Arctic Convoys, but operations involved the full spectrum of the navy. Convoy protection, coastal security and interdiction were vital throughout the war and relied heavily on Germany’s workhorse Vorpostenboote, although the deployment of S-boats in the wild Arctic was a disaster.

Illustrated with some rare and unpublished photos, superb original artwork, diagrams and maps, this book explores the full story of the Kriegsmarine in Norway. From warships and combat to its strategic tasks, the complex and confusing command structure, intelligence, logistics, security and facilities, it is the first comprehensive history of Germany’s fleet in the far north.

 

US Navy Pacific Fleet 1941–42: Striking back in the months to Midway

Mark Stille, Jim Laurier

19/11/2026

Illustrated throughout, an expert account of the US Pacific Fleet in the crucial six months between Pearl Harbor and its revenge at Midway.

Despite the damage inflicted at Pearl Harbor, the Pacific Fleet still had the ability to hit back. In this book, US Navy expert Mark Stille explains and assesses how it responded to the apparent disaster, and how its actions over the next six months led to the decisive victory at Midway.

He explains how, although unable to mount a large-scale offensive into the Central Pacific as called for in pre-war plans, the Pacific Fleet carried out a number of carrier raids, while the US submarine service also went on the offensive, albeit with success constrained by technical problems. Crucially, the Pacific Fleet secured sea communications between the US and Australia, and then moved to stop Japanese advances into the South Pacific, which led to the war’s first carrier battle at Coral Sea. He explores the intelligence and logistics capabilities built up pre-war, which were among the Navy’s most important assets as it searched for opportunities to level Japan’s advantage.

Illustrated with artwork, maps and 3D diagrams, this book examine the Pacific Fleet's operations and capabilities during this precarious period, as well as its strengths, and the weaknesses it was yet to overcome. Amazingly, within six months of Pearl Harbor, the “crippled” Pacific Fleet had conclusively turned the tables on the IJN.

 

Royal Navy Coastal Forces 1939–42: The fast craft war in the North Sea and English Channel

Angus Konstam, Jim Laurier

17/12/2026

In World War II, the Royal Navy fought a dashing, dangerous war to defend the last miles of British waters. Fully illustrated, this studies Coastal Forces in the toughest years of the war.

At the start of the war, the Royal Navy possessed a handful of small, fast, experimental motor torpedo boats (MTBs). There was no command structure, and no plans for their use. But with the fall of France in 1940, the Kriegsmarine’s experienced force of fast, light coastal craft could now be deployed just across the English Channel. A counter was needed.

In this book, naval historian Angus Konstam traces the rapid development of Coastal Forces in home waters. By late 1942 it had expanded to a force of almost 10,000 officers and men and some 300 vessels, including destroyers and fast motor gunboats. Initially their main role was the defence of British coastal convoys, but during 1941 they increasingly went on the offensive across the North Sea and English Channel. Then in February 1942, MTBs attacked Scharnhorst and Gneisenau during their ‘Channel Dash’ – a suicidal venture that achieved little apart from capturing the public imagination. The following month Coastal Forces’ participation in the Saint-Nazaire raid was much more successful, but equally high-risk.

Packed with illustrations, this tells the dramatic story of the creation of Coastal Forces, and outlines its development, expansion, and action during the early years of the war.

 

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