Mrs Ferguson's tea-set, Japan, and the Second World War : the global consequences following Germany's sinking of the SS Automedon in 1940
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Mrs Ferguson's tea-set, Japan, and the Second World War : the global consequences following Germany's sinking of the SS Automedon in 1940
Global Oriental, 2007
Available at 7 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Bibliography: p. 168-174
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
The saga of the sinking of the Blue Funnel Line's ill-fated SS Automedon in November 1940 by the German commerce raider Atlantis is well documented, but in this new work the author argues that he is not just setting the history right in terms of the inaccuracies so far reported, but is also offering significant new information based on direct contact with surviving members of the Automedon's crew and their families, together with access to new primary sources. Offering a Japanese perspective for the first time, the book tracks the role of the Japanese navy as a silent partner and active participant in the war at sea against Britain and her allies prior to Japan's flagrant formal entry into the Second World War at Pearl Harbor. The author argues that the cooperation between the German and Japanese navies led to Japan's final defeat when Admiral Yamamoto was misled by the intelligence obtained from the confidential Cabinet papers recovered from the Automedon. One of the most significant conclusions to be drawn from this fascinating story, that is 'relived' here, is how chance impacts on the outcome of conflict: had not Mrs Violet Ferguson who was on board the Automedon at the time of its capture asked for the trunk containing her precious tea-set to be saved, the German crew would never have found the Automedon's secret strong-room containing the 'Most Secret' papers.
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of Plates
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 A Fateful Decision
- Chapter 2 The Battle of Britain
- Chapter 3 'Play for Time in Asia'
- Chapter 4 Atlantis, Predator of the Seas
- Chapter 5 The Trunks and the Cabinet Papers
- Chapter 6 A Gift from Hitler
- Chapter 7 The Days of Captivity
- Chapter 8 The Atlantis Meets her End in the South Atlantic
- Chapter 9 Conclusion
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Appendix 1: List of ships sunk or captured by the Atlantis
- Appendix 2: Map of the operations of the Atlantis
- Appendix 3: Central Tokyo in 1940 178
- Appendix 4: Letter: Heather Stewart to Eiji Seki
- Index
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