An engrossing compendium of high-seas military disasters

From the days of the Spanish Armada to the modern age of aircraft carriers, battles have been bungled just as badly on water as they have been on land. Some blunders were the result of insufficient planning, overinflated egos, espionage, or miscalculations; others were caused by ideas that didn't hold water in the first place. In glorious detail, here are thirty-three of history's worst maritime mishaps, including:

• The British Royal Navy's misguided attempts to play it safe during the American Revolution


• The short life and death of the Imperial Japanese Navy


• The scuttling of the Graf Spee by a far inferior force


• The sinking of the Nazi megaship Bismarck


• "Remember the Maine!"—the lies that started the Spanish-American War


• Admiral Nelson losing track of Napoleon but redeeming himself at the Nile


• The ANZAC disaster at Gallipoli


• Germany's failed WWII campaign in the North Atlantic


• Kennedy's quarantine of Cuba

Chock-full of amazing facts and hilarious trivia, How to Lose a War at Sea is the most complete volume of nautical failures ever assembled.