"The authors set themselves a bold purpose, to examine six technologies (two weapons, two tools, and two platforms), chart their influence on naval warfare, and provide "new perspectives and insights" into how technological innovation develops and progresses. The authors recognize this is a 'vast subject,' but they have done a very effective job at examining the six technologies and their use in war. I believe this is one of the great strengths of the book, the emphasis on actual use, because-as the authors correctly point out-theories about the potential of technology must regularly be revised once a new technology collides with the reality of its utility." -Trent Hone, author, Learning War: The Evolution of Fighting Doctrine in the U.S. Navy, 1898-1945 Innovating Victory: Naval Technology in Three Wars studies how the world's navies incorporated new technologies into their ships, their practices, and their doctrine. It does this by examining six core technologies fundamental to twentieth-century naval warfare including new platforms (submarines and aircraft), new weapons (torpedoes and mines), and new tools (radar and radio). Each chapter considers the state of a subject technology when it was first used in war and what navies expected of it. It then looks at the way navies discovered and developed the technology's best use, in many cases overcoming disappointed expectations. It considers how a new technology threatened its opponents, not to mention its users, and how those threats were managed. Innovating Victory shows that the use of technology is more than introducing and mastering a new weapon or system. Differences in national resources, force mixtures, priorities, perceptions, and missions forced nations to approach the problems presented by new technologies in different ways. Navies that specialized in specific technologies often held advantages over enemies in some areas but found themselves disadvantaged in others. Vincent P. O'Hara and Leonard Heinz present new perspectives and explore the process of technological introduction and innovation in a way that is relevant to today's navies, which face challenges and questions even greater than those of 1904, 1914, and 1939.

Vincent P. O'Hara is an independent naval historian and the author of thirteen works, including Six Victories: North Africa, Malta, and the Mediterranean Convoy War, November 1941-March 1942, and Clash of Fleets: Naval Battles of the Great War, 1914-18, with Leonard R. Heinz. He holds a history degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and lives in Chula Vista, California.

Leonard R. Heinz worked for many years as a financial services lawyer while maintaining an active interest in military and naval history. He has written articles and designed war games on naval topics. He holds a history degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and lives in Corrales, New Mexico.