Andrew Gordon (naval historian)

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Andrew Gordon is a British naval historian.

Dr. Gordon has degrees in BSC Economics from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and a PhD in War Studies at King's College London, University of London. Gordon is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and worked as consultant during the drafting of British Maritime Doctrine (BR 1806), and Fighting Instructions. He was formerly a Lieutenant Commander at HMS President, the London unit of the Royal Naval Reserve, and works as the Conservative Party's researcher on naval matters. Currently he is head of maritime history at the Joint Services Command and Staff College at Shrivenham, near Swindon.

At present, he writing a biography of Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay. He has best known for his 1996 book The Rules of the Game, a critical study of the Grand Fleet's leadership during the Battle of Jutland.

History Today magazine in summer 2006, publised an article describing how the three military historians, including Dr Gordon, who teach the command course at Shrivenham have concluded that it was the Royal Navy, and not the RAF, that prevented a German invasion in 1940. The article quotes Andrew Gordon stating "It really is time to put away this enduring myth. To claim that Germany failed to invade in 1940 because of what was done by phenomenally brave and skilled young men of Fighter Command is hogwash. The Germans stayed away because while the Royal Navy existed they had not a hope in hell of capturing these islands. The navy had ships in sufficient numbers to have overwhelmed any invasion fleet."

This article did, not unexpectedly, raise some controversy at time of publication.

[edit] Work

British Sea power and Procurement between the Wars: a Reappraisal of Rearmament, Basingstoke: Macmillan Press, 1988
The Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command, London: John Murray, 1996, paperback 2000.