Customer Reviews

The Hybrid Warship: The Amalgamation of Big Guns and Aircraft

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Mssrs. McGlaughlin and Laymam write an excellent history of the mixed breed of warship known as the hybrid. They cover designs from before the First World War to modern designs combining missiles and VTOL aircraft. In particular they reveal the difficulty of making a ship capable of carrying and launching a sufficient number of aircraft while at the same time possessing adequate protection and surface firepower. The German vessels designed after the Graf Zepplin were huge ships of over 70,000 tons but carried only 42 aircraft with 6-11/54.5 cal. guns. They were immensely protected but were completely unrealistic as weapons of naval warfare. The Japanese built several classes of cruiser and converted battleships which could be described as hybrid and proved useful although the floatplanes they carried could be vastly outperformed by carrier aircraft. The French, British and Italians also had designs for hybrids. The Russians were going to contract the U.S. to build huge battleship-carriers for them but Congress refused to allow this. Overall, this book is fascinating reading and a must read for any ship modeler, naval historial or naval wargamer.

This is an excellent review of hybrid warships from the early 20th century to the 1980s. It highlights the difficulties in combining an ability to handle aircraft with any other useful military attributes. It suggests that the desire to design or build such ships is a sign of some psychological defect. If you are interested in a detailed study of the interaction between technical characteristics and military utility in warships, then this book is for you.