Customer Reviews

British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Frigate may have been around in the days of Nelson but not the Destroyer. Towards the end of the 19th century, Britain's mastery of the seas remained uncontested. Not since the days of Trafalgar (1805) had any navy or combined navies dared to threaten that supremacy. These, however, were years of great change with the arrival of the Dreadnought battleship making the entire British Fleet obsolete at a stroke. Other nations could now build their own ships at the same rate as Great Britain and, therefore, finally challenge the one country they all wished to see removed from power.

Then came the motorised torpedo. This device could be fired from a very small vessel and carry sufficient explosive to sink the largest warships afloat. By comparison to the money, time, resources and technology required to produce a single Battleship, the torpedo and, most important of all, the means of delivering that weapon to its intended target, was relatively inexpensive. Consequently, small craft capable of the high speeds required to get close enough to deliver the torpedo were born. Torpedo-catchers, Torpedo Gunboats and even the Torpedo-boat Destroyer were some of the names used until the latter was finally reduced to "Destroyer" and a whole new type of craft entered the Navies of the world. As a type of ship (not to be confused with "Class." There are different classes of Destroyer, just as there are different classes of Aircraft Carrier), the development and continual improvement of all aspects of the Destroyer was far more rampant within the Royal Navy as she sought to defend and protect her role as "Ruler of the waves." This is the story of that development and of the vessels which were introduced along the way.

Author Norman Friedman tells this story from the earliest concept through to the beginning of WW2. I have deducted one star for two reasons. Firstly, he concludes his account just as WW2 was beginning. I would have preferred the work to have ended either in 1938 - just as Europe was approaching those war years, or in 1945, allowing the reader to evaluate the results of all those improvements and developments against how each class of Destroyer fared in action. For me, this "premature" ending creates its own confusion. For example, a very popular wreck dive in Malta comprises the remains of HMS Maori - a Tribal class Destroyer built by Fairfield in 1937. When I came across a reference to an HMS Maori undertaking trials in 1912 (page 84), therefore, I took an immediate interest and consulted the index to access all entries for this ship. "This" HMS Maori is also described as a Tribal class Destroyer built by Denny and launched in 1909. Towards the end of the book are details of other ships from 1942 and further references to as late as 1944. Whilst I was previously unaware of the existence of two "Tribal" classes of destroyer - albeit many years apart (most unusual for any Navy), I now find the subject is adequately covered in other works. My 1937 Maori, however, is not mentioned in this book at all when other topics from 7 years after her launch are included. Whilst I may have personally learned a very valuable lesson, I cannot help but feel something is missing in this work.

Amongst the excellent selection of photographs, I particularly enjoyed the images of the earlier boats. Sadly, and "yet" again, none of these, as far as I am aware, were ever preserved for posterity! This is especially so with those which look like they were nothing more than a large torpedo (with funnel) themselves.

In summary, this is still an excellent product. Friedman's meticulous research and detailed analysis coupled with an excellent selection of illustrations, line drawings and photographs, combine to create the complete history of the evolution of the British Destroyer from original concept to the beginning of WW2. It is, therefore, highly recommended for those with an interest and is one of those books to which I shall continually return in the years to come.

NM

It could well be argued that Great Britain, as the premier sea power as a global empire, began its decline after World War II when the U.S. achieved its own world-wide naval preeminence. In "British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War, military history and naval analyst Norman Friedman presents his many years of research in providing an original and meticulous history of the British Royal Navy's combat ship, the destroyer. Beginning with its predecessors and prototypes from the 1880s through the First World War and on to the 1930s before turning the focus on British destroyers during the Second World War, this compendium is superbly enhanced with numerous photographs as well as accurately detailed ship plans drawn by A. D. Baker III. Of special note is the development of the torpedo as both an offensive and defensive naval weapon and hallmark of destroyer armaments. Of considerable interest is the history of how the British utilized American provided destroyers. With a select bibliography, extensive notes, a Data List of ship specifications, a listing of the ships with their building dates and ultimate fates, and a comprehensive index, "British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War" is a seminal contribution to personal, academic, and community library Military Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

There is no doubt that Norman Friedman belongs to the foremost naval analysts in the world. His work on individual ship types of the USN belongs among the classical reference sources for all students of naval history and naval operations. It is with the greatest pleasure that I welcome Dr. Friedman's foray into the realm of Royal Navy. The now complete, two volume set devoted to RN's destroyers ("British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War" and "British Destroyers & frigates: The Second World war and After" BRITISH DESTROYERS AND FRIGATES: The Second World War and After) is unquestionably the most authoritative analysis of the development and employment of these ships currently available anywhere. It is also the first work of this type that fills the gap left by Edgar March's classic "British Destroyers: 1892 - 1953" [[ASIN:B0007IZ1L8 British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892-1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers and Building Plans]. Friedman expands the field by providing details unavailable to March, adds a wealth of new information, and brings the history of British destroyer development to the present day.

The first volume of the series (which, curiously, emerged as the follow up on ships constructed during WW2) is devoted to the era between the earliest stages of destroyer development to the last pre-war "I" and "H" classes. The volume also includes the analysis of the wide range of WW2 conversions of the aging "V" and "W" ships, and of the modifications to the destroyers acquired from the USN under the "Lend and Lease" programme ("Town" class. While the earliest destroyers received handsome treatment by David Lyon in his "The First Destroyers"The First Destroyers, Friedman provides the reader with the fascinating history of the development of WW1 classes, and a thorough analysis of seemingly very similar ships constructed between the two wars (A-I/H classes). Probably for the first time since March, the diffrences among individual classes are carefully described, and the development of these ships from the relatively simple "As" to fully capable "Hs" is carefully studied.

As expected from Friedman's books, both this and the companion volume are filled with often rarely seen photographs which, together with the informative captions, provide the essential visual support of the text. Superb drawings by A.D. Baker II day greatly enhance the informative aspect of the two volumes, making both the major reference source not only for naval professionals and buffs, but also for modelers.

The text is written in traditional Friedman's style. It is crisp, lucid, and conveys often complicated information directly and clearly. In short, it is a book one reads with the greatest pleasure, and one to be frequently returned to not only when authoritative reference is required, but also for the very pleasure of once again leafing through the pages of this superb volume and its companion. It is to be hoped that having entered the world of the Royal Navy, Dr. Friedman will continue his work on other types of RN vessels, and offer us a similar set that he has written about the vessels of the United States Navy.

In the end, one must also commend the Naval Institute Press . After a series of rather sub-standard publications, the present one returns USNI back to its customary level of excellence in editing and production. The volume (and its companion) have the required, large format, their heft is "just right", the quality of photographic and graphic reproduction peerless, and all are accompanied by careful editorial work. The book represents what a good book should be - a pleasure to hold, a pleasure to read, and a source of solid information.

This book covers development of a torpedo boat destroyer, which has evolved to become a critical and integral part of any navy in the last century. As the title suggests, the focus is on the British developments in this area, though I would prefer more information on the development of torpedo-boats and destroyers in other countries. While there are some references to French ships, and very limited info on Russian and Japanese ships, additional info would be most welcome: the French ships were the primary reason for the development of the destroyer as the ship class, and the destroyer and torpedo-boats activity in the Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905 was the first large scale conflict where destroyers played a large part.
Illustrations and schematics throughout the book are great, highly detailed and with good annotation. One complaint I would have of the format is the use of end-notes, instead of foot-notes: there is a lot of useful information presented there, but it is rather tedious having to go to the end of this rather large format book to find the appropriate entries.

This is the second half of Norman Friedman's two part design history of British destroyers. Curiously, the two volumes did not appear chronologically; the book on later British destroyers (and frigates) appeared earlier and is also highly recommended.

Happily, after Friedman's disappointing "Naval Firepower", this volume represents a return to form. Friedman does what Friedman does best. He explains the political, technical, economic, and strategic context which influenced destroyer development throughout its history. He begins with a threat to British naval dominance, the invention of the torpedo, and works his way through the torpedo boat, torpedo cruiser, torpedo gunboat, until we get to the definitive torpedo boat destroyer itself. He works his way through class after class, through World War I, and through the postwar classes until the British destroyer abruptly breaks with its roots with the Tribal class (covered in the previous volume). Not only are British destroyers proper covered but destroyers built by British yards for foreign powers are also dealt with. The destroyers covered are dealt with all the way through to the ends of their service careers. Thus, how the destroyers were used and modified during WWII gets full coverage. In addition, foreign destroyers used by the British also get coverage. Along the way we are treated to many well captioned photographs ans excellent line drawings including inboard profiles. As in all Friedman books, sources are well documented.

There are a few things potential buyers should be aware of. Friedman is a very "dense" writer. With the text itself, the captions, and the notes one sometimes gets the feeling one is reading three books at once! Friedman does not write for the complete naval novice. If you don't know what "abaft" means or what a "davit" is you won't get much out this book. This is also not a light read. Information comes thick and fast. Friedman also writes in a strict chronological order. This means that sometimes it is difficult to tell which class he is speaking about. For example, during the chapter on WWI the story of the "big" leaders, the V leaders, and the V destroyers, the V specials, etc is sometimes difficult to untangle. There are a number of editing glitches throughout the book. The most grievous is where the chapter title reads "the A - 1" series instead of "the A - I" series.

In short, a five star book for the naval enthusiast. It does not completely eclipse previous books like March's "British Destroyers 1892 - 1953" because of the numerous plans in the latter but is an incomparably better work of research. The dust jacket says that Friedman is working on a book about British cruisers. One hopes it is the earlier ones as the later ones have been well covered by Raven and Roberts "British Cruisers of World War Two" but in any case I look forward to it.