Jane's Warship Recognition Guide [Paperback]

Anthony J. Watts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 4, 2006

The essential guide to the world's warships

• Full-color photographs
• Completely up-to-date and comprehensive coverage on all types of warships
• Technical data
• Key recognition features
• Detailed line drawings

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; 4 edition (April 4, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060849924
• ISBN-13: 978-0060849924
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 4.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #81,997 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Watts this?, April 28, 2006

By 

Georgios-ilias Alexiou (Iraklion, Crete, Greece) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jane's Warship Recognition Guide (Paperback)

I waited with eagerness for the fourth edition of Jane's Warship Recognition Guide, since from the last one there have been many changes in naval affairs. But when it arrived I was dissapointed. Until now Jane's Warship Recognition Guides were updated to include every new major warship class. Not this one. For example it does not include the new danish Absalon class multipurpose landing ships, the indonesian Tanjung Dalpele LPD, or the new russian Lada class SSK, all in service with their respective navys. It also does not include the new japanese Atago class DDG, or the south korean Dokdo LHD, both of which are only a couple months shy of starting their sea trials. Another dissapointing thing is that there is still a photo of a Typhoon class SSBN in the entry of the Oscar class, as well as the profile of the south african MEKO A200 in the MEKO 360 entry and the profile of the danish Thetis in the estonian Admiral Pitka, has nobody noticed this mistakes for four years in HarperCollins? Then there is the use of 12 profile drawings instead of photos, of which only 3 are of ships still under construction and for the other 9, there are plenty of photos around (just take a look in Jane's Fighting Ships). The last thing I want to point out are the many small photos. I can understand this in the cases where the text covers the rest of the page, but not where it is empty. I hope when this edition is revised, they will fix the above problems, since the rest of the book is very good.

P.S. I don't think that the new CVN21 class supercarriers will be only 255m long

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A treasure of information on Warships, June 30, 2006

By 

Francois Bardol (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jane's Warship Recognition Guide (Paperback)

In a clear, concise manner, Anthony Watts has written this Book at a pivotal time. A shift is present in all Naval Forces , because of the End of The Cold War , and the rise of new types of conflicts. Due to the enormous amount of information presentd in a simple manner , anyone can understand and compare the need for, the function of and the difference between the various classes of Warships, amongst the World Naval Forces. Why and When a certain class of ship replaces What , becomes clearer and more interesting, due to this brilliant introduction and presentation.
We also get to look at the photos and the classic " black silhouettes " ( profile of ships on the horizon), permitting to ID ships more easily.
A+ and a "plus" for anyone interested in Warships as a Peace time deterrent, or as awesome power in time of War.Francois Bardol

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Less Complete, but Smaller, Handier and a Lot Cheaper, June 25, 2006

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jane's Warship Recognition Guide (Paperback)

Jane's guides have long been the standard book of identifying weapons systems rather they were airplanes, missile systems or ships. And because the books are so big they are expensive to buy. The result has been a series of smaller 'Recognition Guides,' based on the information in the big books. This one is obviously on warships. It's a small format book, only about 5 by 7 inches, and a bit under 400 pages. (In contrast, Jane's Fighting Ships, the big book is 9 by 13 inches, 967 pages and costs $725.)

At present the Navy's of the world are in a period of transition. The threats of the Cold War seem past, and the newer ships reflect having to operate in an anti-terrorist environment rather than a major blue ocean battle. Also stealth technology has been influencing ship design as well. The new ships don't have the cluttered look of the ships of old (where old is not that many years), but have clean lines to reflect radar waves away from the sender rather than back.

This book obviously has to eliminate a lot of the information in the big book, but is a much handier size at a much handier price.