Customer Reviews

British Battleships: Warrior 1860 to Vanguard 1950 : A History of Design, Construction and Armament

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Although written for naval buffs, this book will be of interest to anyone involved in the design of systems. With the coming of steam propulsion, naval architects and technologists had to find the right balance between the three elements of speed, gunpower, and armoured protection. It took them a hundred years, and - the common fate of all systems - as soon as they reached perfection the whole conception of the batleship was obselete. This book (huge, 700 pages in 11 x 9inch format) details the successes, the blind alleys, the debates and personalities - and every British battleship ever built, and the designs of the ones that weren't.

Contains 4 to 10 large pages on every iron-clad battleship ever built for the British Navy. Each chapter contains a discussion of the design drivers, a series of line drawings showing armor disposition and internal layout, a photo, and class and ship summary. For important ships like the Dreadnought, there is additional written coverage actually superior to John Roberts masterpiece Anatomy Of The Ship (although of course with nothing like the quality of drawings and photos).

Interspersed are chapters describing political circumstances that drove naval decision-making, some AARs, contemporary foreign designs, and important non-battleships that influenced battleship evolution.

It is lovingly written, with a great flair for prose. On the debit side, he did not benefit from such recent work as John Campbell's Jutland analysis, and so Parkes' judgement of this battle somewhat inflates the British achievement.

Tragically out of print, I found mine for $100 used, and believe I have a terrific bargain. I might not have ventured, say, $150 prospectively, but now would not trade my volume for twice that.

The author explores the British Battleship in the context of world events, including contemporary battleships from other countries (described in equal detail) which inspired or copied Britsh designs and even includes three biographies of important Naval Constructors.