Customer Reviews

Civil War Navies 1855-1883 (U.S. Navy Warship)

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

 

 

As others have noted, Paul Silverstone's book is not a study of the U.S. and Confederate navies themselves, but rather of the many vessels that constituted the navies. Every known vessel is listed and organized by type and class. The format is both pictorial and tabular. The encyclopedic nature of the work makes it an excellent reference companion when studying any American Civil War naval action.

Silverstone begins with a brief introduction, then a section explaining the presentation format of the data, provides a list of abbreviations, and then includes a section on naval ordnance by W.J. Jurens before proceeding to the bulk of the work. Civil War Navies is divided into two parts. Part I covers U.S. Navy warships and is divided into the following chapters: Armored Vessels, Unarmored Steam Vessels, Acquired Combatant Vessels, Service Vessels, Sailing Ships, The Mississippi River Fleet, The U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, and the United States Coast Survey. Part II presents the Confederate States Navy warships and includes the following chapters: Introduction, Armored Vessels, Unarmored Steam Vessels, Area Defense Forces, Privateers, Blockade Runners, and Tenders. The book concludes with an appendix list of shipbuilders, a bibliography, and index of ship names.

Typical entries are arranged by class with a short table of names, builders, lay down date, launch date, and commissioning. Photographs of the actual vessels are included where available. Below the vessel name list for the class are tonnage, dimensions, machinery (propulsion), ship's complement, and armament. Differences between vessels of the same class are noted here, and rearmament is also listed where known. Further notes are then provided, then the service records, (sometimes with mention of casualties), and known captures of enemy vessels.

I highly recommend Mr. Silverstone's work as an indispensable reference to those studying American Civil War naval warfare

This book has practically everything you need to know about Civil War naval ships in an easy to read "Jane's" type format - sorted into categories such as armored vessals, unarmored steam vessals, sailing ships, etc. and listing tonnage, armaments, complement, and a brief service record for each ship. As far as I can tell, the research is impeccable - quite a few photos never seen before. A real labor of live. The book is a little overpriced at $50, especially since it does not include other country's navies, have any maps, or include any other "goodies", but is really the only resouce of its kind for Civil War naval buffs.

This book is an ideal companion to other histories of the Civil War. Its title, however, is a bit misleading. It is a book about ships, not about navies. It gives the vital statistics and brief service records for all the Union and Confederate ships but contains little else. Its real value is that it "puts a face" to the ship names in most civil war histories.

I good reference source for early navy ships of the US Navy. As a shelf book i prize it highly I am familar with Paul Silvertstone for the naval Photos obtained from him in earlier years.