British and Empire Warships of the Second World War [Hardcover]

H. T. Lenton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1998

A vast fleet came into existence under the powerful stimulus of war and underwent a dramatic and sudden demise at the end of the conflict. In this comprehensive and definitive reference work H. T. Lenton lists in detail all the warships of the Royal Navy and British dominion, and colonial naval forces that participated in World War II. Included are a large number of vessels from the Australian, Canadian, and Indian navies. The book is divided into seven sections that cover major surface warships, flotilla vessels, minelayers, minesweepers, trawlers, whalers, amphibious forces, coastal forces, and miscellaneous vessels. Each warship category is presented with a background history, extensive tables for the individual units, specifying the name, builder, engine manufacturer, building dates, and ultimate fate of each vessel, where known. For each class of warship dimensions, displacements, armament, and armor thickness are detailed. Hundreds of photographs illustrate the entries. While other books have documented specific categories of these fleets, this book provides the only complete record of all of the ships, from the largest aircraft carriers to the smallest auxiliaries. It is a greatly expanded, revised, and updated edition of a book originally published to acclaim in 1962. In addition, there are detailed appendixes on radar, sonar equipment, and pendant numbers adding to the value of this sweeping study, which will be the standard reference on the subject for many years to come.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 766 pages
• Publisher: Naval Inst Pr (June 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557500487
• ISBN-13: 978-1557500489
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 9.2 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,627,218 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very reliable work of reference., July 4, 2000

By 

Nick Clark (Nottingham England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: British and Empire Warships of the Second World War (Hardcover)

It is good to see H.T. Lenton's classic still available in print as it is surely a must for all those serious about having a complete reference to the British Empire fleet of WW2. The detail in which the book covers is truly staggering and this must be the result of years of research recording every technical detail available on each vessel. I first came across this definitive work while studying at the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, London and ever since then I have used the book as my main source of reference.

I was very pleased to see that the section on the British trawlers and other 'minor vessels' remains in this edition and disagree totally with Tom Johnson's review preferring, "that Lenton repeat his first work and cover all the major navies in one book, at the expense of leaving off minor British trawlers and landing craft". It was thanks to Lenton's original work that I was able to carry out a comprehensive study on the anti-submarrine and minesweeping vessels used by the Royal Naval Patrol Service. This service lost more vessels than any other branch of the Royal Navy and therefore these small fighting ships should always be included.

I congratulate the author on this fine work and look forward to new editions of his books.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The ultimate work on this subject! Excellent, August 20, 2001

By 

Pierluigi Malvezzi (MILANO Italy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: British and Empire Warships of the Second World War (Hardcover)

The most complete reference book about the RN I have never seen. When you own this book you do not need reading anymore about the Royal and Commonwealth Navies, because all the relevant informations can be found in this super reference book. Lots of data, very fine photographs, details concerning even the smallest craft (and this can be seen by someone as a fault). Just to pick holes Lenton could insert sections dealing with naval ordnance, mines, radar and so on. But anyway his work is an excellent one: a must-have book for the naval enthusiast's shelf.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Definitive Work, February 1, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Marlow, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: British and Empire Warships of the Second World War (Hardcover)

As the author's son I would of course highly recommend this book to you all. I assisted my father with its production which took nearly three years. The work is the result of over thirty years of research and provides a mass of new detail and information not previously published. The photographs are excellent some of which are very rare and form only 20% of our overall warship collection. Quite simply this book has no equal, the previous definitive work was also written by my father.

I am pleased to be able to announce that work has already commenced on British and Empire Warships since 1945 which of course will bring us up to date. In addition we shall also be updating and republishing all former works in a better more complete format especially the works on the US Navy. Amazon list most of the former works which are now out of print. We shall now put this right.

The author can be contacted at [e-mail] and I can be contacted at [e-mail] for further information.