Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia [Hardcover]

M. J. Whitley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 2000

Fast, compact and formidable, destroyers were in the thick of the action in every theater of operations during the Second World War. They performed a wide range of duties, often of the most hazardous nature. Not only were they assigned to escort the main battle fleets into action, but they were called upon to escort convoys and protect them from attacks by aircraft and submarines.

Illustrated with hundreds of photographs and line drawings, this reprint of the popular 1988 book comprehensively details in one volume all the destroyers built between 1939 and 1945 by the navies of the world. Each class is described under three headings: design, modification, and service. The author, a leading World War II historian, provides a wealth of data on each ship's builder, dimensions, armament, performance, and fate as well as keel-laying, launch, and commissioning dates. Such a detailed record of these highly effective, versatile ships will prove invaluable to warship enthusiasts everywhere.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mike Whitley has established himself as the leading historian of Second World War German naval power, with a series of reference books packed to the gunwales with solid information, all based on his own meticulous original research --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: US Naval Institute Press (March 31, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870213261
• ISBN-13: 978-0870213267
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 9.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #985,609 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good effort, January 30, 2000

By 

wonderrat "wonderrat" (Mountain View, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia (Hardcover)

Destroyers of World War Two : An International Encyclopedia is an excellent effort by an author whose work has often been marred by factual errors. The information contained in this volume is for the most part correct and most of the photos are different enough from other reference books. All particulars on destroyers of the various nations during World War 2 are listed here, including the ships of combatant and neutral nations. Whitley's definition of 'destroyer' is rather loose, as it does include fleet torpedo boats of over 200 tons, but essentially any vessel armed with torpedos and powered by steam or diesel propulsion and able to operate with major fleet combatatants is considered a destroyer in this book: therefore the US Navy destroyer escorts, which could be categorized as frigates under a different classification system, are included in this volume. The inclusion of the destroyers of neutral nations is welcome since much of this information is not available elsewhere.

As a reference, this is a pretty useful book but the drawings are not the book's high point. The poor drawings are a feature of all the books of the series. As I have an older edition, I assume this reprint is pretty much the same; however it is good to see this book back in print. All we need is for the submarine encyclopedia to be reprinted for the entire series to be complete.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What the doctor ordered, November 11, 2001

By 

Richard Worth (MO, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia (Hardcover)

There are times when you want to know the number of rivets on a gun shield, or the ship's exact position at the moment of your birth, or the skipper's wife's maiden name.... But most of the time, all you want is something that gives you the important numbers and features in an easily accessible form. That's where Whitley comes in. One volume--all the important stuff. So unless you're a modeler or otherwise obsessed with micro-detail, you're likely to get a lot of use out of this book. Whitley's drawings leave much to be desired, but his text is concise and to the point--a good overview of the subject.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The only reference work on this subject you will need., March 11, 2003

By 

Ned Middleton (British professional underwater photo-journalist & author) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia (Hardcover)

As a scuba diver of almost 30 years experience and something of an expert on "shipwrecks," I have visited a small number of Destroyer wrecks over the years. Just as soon as this book arrived on my desk, therefore, I went straight to one very specific ship that is well known to me. I found she was portrayed by a photograph I had not seen before and my first reaction was to say to myself "so that's what I was looking at."

"Destroyers of World War Two - An International Encyclopaedia" is a large soft-back book measuring 9½" x 9½" containing over 300 pages packed with solid information about each type of ship laid out country-by-country. If you want to know anything about a Destroyer from WW2 - then that information is right here.

Commencing with an informative introduction in which the author explains the origins of the Destroyer and it's brief history up to the end of WW2, we then find the navies from that period laid out alphabetically from Argentina to Yugoslavia. Within each of these countries, their Destroyer fleets are then listed by type of vessel with full specifications and an illustration. Each country is then neatly finished off with the details of any ships which were either captured or transferred from elsewhere.

This is a work of reference will which stand the test of time. It is a scholarly work and extremely well illustrated throughout - with at least one image on every page. Though previously published in 1988, I am sure there will be plenty of people who missed this book first time around and who are now only too pleased of the opportunity to purchase once again. I know I was.

I congratulate the author on such a thorough job of work.

NM