First published in Great Britain in 2009 by Osprey Publishing,
Midland House, West Way, Botley, Oxford OX2 0PH, UK
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© 2009 Osprey Publishing Ltd
All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Enquiries should be addressed to the Publishers.
A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
Print ISBN: 978 1 84603 440 4
PDF e-book ISBN: 978 1 84908 106 1
ePub e-book ISBN: 978 1 78096 993 0
Editorial by Ilios Publishing Ltd, Oxford, UK (www.iliospublishing.com)
Page layout by: Ken Vail Graphic Design
Index by Michael Forder
Typeset in Myriad Pro and Sabon
Maps by Bounford.com
3D bird’s-eye views by Ian Palmer
Battlescene illustrations by John White
Originated by PPS Grasmere Ltd
Printed in China through Worldprint
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THE WOODLAND TRUST
Osprey Publishing are supporting the Woodland Trust, the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity, by funding the dedication of trees.
AUTHOR’S DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to Louise who aided and abetted my passion for writing.
AUTHOR’S ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author is indebted to the staffs of the US Naval Historical Center Photographic Section and the Yamato Museum (formerly the Kure Maritime Museum) and to Tohru Kizu, editor of Ships of the World Magazine, for their assistance in procuring the photographs used in this title.
ARTIST’S NOTE
Readers may care to note that the original paintings from which the color plates in this book were prepared are available for private sale. The Publishers retain all reproduction copyright whatsoever. All enquiries should be addressed to:
John White, 5107 C Monroe Road, Charlotte, NC 28205, USA
The Publishers regret that they can enter into no correspondence upon this matter.
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