American Command of the Sea Through Carriers, Codes, and the Silent Service (Mariners' Museum publication)

American Command of the Sea examines the development of Allied code breaking expertise, the role of signal intelligence in the global war at sea in the 1940s, and the ways in which the modern American navy has been shaped by the experience of World War II. This books draws on recently declassified documents to show that many Allied naval victories hinged on the work of a small, multinational group of Allied code breakers.

World War II forever changed the nature of naval warfare. Aircraft carriers and submarines, in particular, were used to devastating effect against Axis forces in both the Atlantic and the Pacific, ultimately tilting the conflict in favor of the Allies. As American Command of the Sea explains, the effectiveness of these two types of warships was greatly enhanced by communications or signal intelligence.

Carl Boyd is Louis Jaffe Professor of History and designated as Eminent Scholar at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, where he has taught military history since 1975. He is the author of The Extraordinary Envoy: General Hiroshi Oshima and Diplomacy in the Third Reich: 1934-1939 and Hitler's Japanese Confidant: General Oshima Hiroshi and MAGIC Intelligence, 1941-1945. He served in United States Navy submarines from 1954 to 1958 before earning history degrees at Indiana University (B.A., M.A.) and the University of California, Davis (Ph.D.).