Jane's Submarines: War Beneath the Waves from 1776 to the Present Day [Hardcover]

Robert Hutchinson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Jane's Submarines | Publication Date: February 1, 2002

The highly respected journalist and author, Robert Hutchinson, follows the development of the submarine as a weapon of war from its earliest designs in the 16th Century to the last vessels at sea today. Included are text, tables, illustrations and photographs of: The first submarines World War I designs Inter-war designs and disasters World War II operations ' Cold War' submarine design and operations The latest submarin designs Submarine accidents through the years, including details on the Russian ' Kursk' that sank in 2000. Acclaimed naval artist Tony Gibbons has provided illustrations for many of the major ' landmarks' for designs from 1776 through to the present day.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robert Hutchinson was the Defence Correspondent of the Press Association between 1977 and 1983 before joining Jane's as one of the founding team that launched the world renowned Jane's Defence Weekly in 1984. After leaving the Jane's board of directors in 1997 he continued to report on defence and security issues in print and on radio, and now also undertakes training of writers and journalists internationally. He is also the author of Jane's Warship Recognition Handbook. Tony Gibbons illustrated Jane's Battleships, War at Sea and Jane's Naval History of World War II.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Collins (February 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0007105584
• ISBN-13: 978-0007105588
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #645,930 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Hutchinson was Defence Correspondent for the UK national news agency, the Press Association in Fleet Street from 1978-83 before moving to Jane's Information Group to launch Jane's Defence Weekly and becoming Publishing Director, responsible for books, magazines, journals and digital titles. From 1997-2008, he was chairman of the media side of the Defence, Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee, the unique British system that protects national security in the reporting of military or intelligence issues.
He is a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, an associate tutor in church archaeology at the University of Sussex, and an expert in the arcaheology of the Reformation. He was appointed OBE in the 2008 New Year's Honours list.
A keen historian and archaeologist, Hutchinson believes that Britain's history provides stories of more drama and passion than could ever be made up for any television or film screenplay. He uses as much original documents as possible in researching his highly-acclaimed books because 'it's good to read the character's own words written at the time'.
He writes a strong narrative, with additional information on people, places and events, provided in the endnotes, so that any questions the reader might have can be quickly answered. 'The narrative is stand alone - it's up to the reader to decide whether to pause in the story to discover extra information'

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A well illustrated overview, February 18, 2005

By 

J. RABINOWITZ (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Jane's Submarines: War Beneath the Waves from 1776 to the Present Day (Hardcover)

An attractively illustrated book, this is not however really something you can read cover to cover: it's more in the style of an encyclopedia article. Nor is it really a complete reference work, since a number of intermediate classes are simply omitted, e.g., Gato class subs are fully covered, but the Balao and Tench classes are unmentioned.
Quite good enough for a dabbler like me, but this will not satisfy someone looking for the kind of comprehensive treatment one associates with Jane's.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Submarine Book, August 19, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Jane's Submarines: War Beneath the Waves from 1776 to the Present Day (Hardcover)

Great illustrations and photographs. Spent 11 years on subs, and this is a book every submariner should have in his collection.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nicely illustrated book, October 5, 2009

By 

Michael A. Duvernois (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Jane's Submarines: War Beneath the Waves from 1776 to the Present Day (Hardcover)

This covers the early history of submarines, Bushnell's Turtle through Holland's efforts for the U.S. Navy through the early pre-World War 1 submarines, especially well. Both of the World War submarines fleets are examined, but not in great detail, as this is a relatively thin book. The Cold War also has a lot of coverage in other books, and the treatment here was somewhat thin. No Victors or Novembers for the Soviet Union, for example.

Overall a good book for an introduction. I've deducted a star for the horrid editing and fact checking. Most every page has a spelling or grammatical mistake. Some dates are obviously wrong, transposed digits, but what other mistakes might be hiding in here?