Customer Reviews

Jane's Warship Recognition Guide (Jane's Recognition Guides)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Maybe I expected too much. But the 2nd edition of Jane's Warship Recognition Guide comes up lacking in some respects, especially in comparison to my dog-eared, 1973 Jane's Pocket Warship Guide.

First, the good news: As a recognition guide, it does the job well. Line drawings are good, (if a bit too miniaturized) and a description of the ship's unique recognition features are covered in good detail. Full-page photographs of each class of ship are included. Most of the photos are of excellent quality, though a few (example, the converted Russian "Kiev" class carrier) are so washed-out as to be nearly useless. Still, if you're looking for a recognition guide, this book does the job. Buy it.

Now, the bad news: the technical information is erratic. Maybe I'm asking too much for Jane's to list each class of ship's main machinery in detail (make, model, horsepower, configuration - though they somehow managed to do so in my 1973 guide) but one would at least expect a one-word comment about the ship's propulsion ("CODOG," "nuclear," etc.). But Jane's offers us nothing - zero. Is France's new carrier nuclear powered? I would assume so, but who knows? Omission of this basic information is just inexcusable, even in a recognition guide.

Weapons systems, with some exceptions, are covered in better detail. Aircraft carrier descriptions include information on the types and numbers of aircraft likely to be carried by each particular class. Excellent. But one has to wonder why, after informing us that the "Typhoon" class submarines are equipped with SS-N-20 missiles, they can't bother to tell us how many of these dammed SS-N-20s each boat carries. C'mon, guys, this is kinda important information!

The bummer is that there's a real dearth of general-purpose warship books out there, and if you're looking for anything under $50, Jane's is really the only game in town. It's really not that bad - it just could have been so much better.

The book is a good addition to any professional salior or naval buff's library. The pictures, for the most part are of good quality, but some are of little value as they are bow-on or stern-on shots. Also, the author gets the California and Virginia class vessels of the USN (CGNs) mixed together when they are two distinct classes. However, as all vessels of both classes are (or soon will be) no longer in service it is not a big issue. With the rapid pace of naval events a newer edition is needed; say in 2000-2001. The key recognition features of each class is a good feature, allowing the reader to pick them up from the picture on the opposite page.

This is a wonderful book if your objective is to be able to identify ships. It has a lot of detailed explainations on how to look for distinguishing features such as what type of mast a ship has, how many funnels, locations of weapon systems, what shape the forecastle is etc. It also gives detailed line drawings of the side view of each ship to make identification easy. So, if all you want to do is to be able to recognise the ships, then this is the guide for you. On the down side, it does lack some details a military buff might be interested in, such as how many missiles of each particular type are carried, range of the various electronic sensors onboard, range of the main armament and things like that. Therefore, if you want to know those kinds of details you will have to find another book. On the whole though, this is a very comprehensive book, which covers MOST of the ships in service today, so it's actually pretty useful. It's worth the money spent to buy it.

This is an excellent guide for those interested in recognition of and distinction between different classes of naval vessels. Some common vessels are missing from the Patrol Boats, but overall this is the best guide on the market for learning vessel characteristics.

This was a good basic reference , but if your looking for detail you wont find it in this book.It has a picture of each ships broadside and a rundown of the statistics. IE: range , how many guns, how many in service,ect.

this is a good reference book but I would probably have to be soon updated as many warships are likely to be withdrawn as the Superpower competition has ended.Ballistic missile submarines are an obvious category. Future issues of this reference book may include ships such as the USN's proposed Arsenal Ship or amphibious assault ships.

As a naval wargamer I picked this up partly as a simple and efficient guide to more modern craft than the various books I already owned about warships up to and including World War 2. And it really did the trick and became a very useful reference for my friends and I. The format here is simplicity itself, you get a page of information about each ship such as weaponry and performance (more on this later) and underneath that you score yourself a line drawing. Now one reviewer has stated you needed a magnifying glass for these.... methinks that was a deliberate exageration in the name of artistic licence. The drawings aren't THAT small. On the facing page you score yourself a photo of the vessel in question.

Now firstly some reviewers have pointed out the paucity of information for some of the entries and I'd have to agree however this is a recognition guide first and foremost rather than a detailed reference work which would of course be much bigger and far more expensive as anyone who has invested in the Conways All The Worlds Fighting Ships can attest. Secondly it has to be pointed out that in some cases the photos aren't smashing in their quality. But then again presumably it's not always an easy thing to source decent photos of the ships of some nations.

In summation I found this a good buy and even as it ages and in some ways becomes less useful for naval wargamers, modellers and nautical buffs in general this still rates as a good thing to have laying around if you can get it for a good price.

THERE ARE SO MANY EXCELLENT REVIEWS HERE ALREADY, ESPECIALLY THE ONE IN THE SPOTLIGHT FROM JANUARY OF 2001.

HAVING SAID THAT FIRST:

"Jane's Warship Recognition Guide" - fully updated 2nd edition, by Keith Faulkner, is a lot of concentrated warship recognition to have literally in the palm of one's hands. It practically fits in one's pocket, and this undeniably points to this volume's strengths as well as its weaknesses.

IN A NUTSHELL: I NEED A MAGNIFYING GLASS TO SEE THE DIAGRAMS & FINE PRINT USEFULLY

For recognition purposes, the full-page photos and detailed line diagrams for the over 200 classes of warships included, are scaled down to where I need to use a high-powered magnifying glass to make sense out of what I am looking at.

WARNING: MAGNIFYING GLASS USE ON-BOARD SHIP CAN LEAD TO SEA-SICKNESS:

Yes, it was a pretty bad scene and highly embarrassing. I saw many a seamen, who had witnessed my magnifying glass sickness, grimacing before turning to one another and nodding - go figure.

AFTER DOWNING SOME "ANTI-VERT" & RETURNING TO THE BRIDGE, I GAVE IT ANOTHER TRY:

In exchange for the smallness of the print, photos and diagrams, we have in our hands quite a lot of data and graphics. Enough to fill an older computer, to be sure.

The guide is organized by ship type which is ideal, when you are not told ahead of time what you are looking at. In essence, you would not need to pull out the guide at sea if you can see an air-craft carrier with the number 65 in huge white letters on the island just below the bridge, supported by an unusally narrower pedestal structure beneath. If you did, there would certainly be plenty of chuckles and you'd never make that mistake again.

Where this guide comes in handy, is as a fast and dirty identification tool when you really need it. Say, for instance, you're in the English channel in failing light. You can make out a large patrol boat say 8,000 meters off the port-bow and the issue is whether it is French or English. What's the big deal you might think, but on a patrol boat with a crew of a dozen or so, language may be an issue, and you might have to muster a linguist on-board your vessel or it will be a tough go communicating with a French crew, especially during a war. After all, naval vessels have become very generic, with some third world countries purchasing older classes of vessels from the U.S.A., Russian and UK navies.

ANOTHER GOOD THING ABOUT THIS GUIDE IS IT DOES GET INTO THE RESALE MARKET:

Essentially, Mexico, Greece, Pakistan, Turkey, South Korea, and Taiwan are sailing around in the very recognizable Ex-Gearing class Destroyers. For each country that has purchased these former previously owned U.S.A. Destroyers, there is a refitting of equipment along with insignia, flags, and other identification markings that are different. This guide does pay very careful attention to these differences. So, if you happen upon a ship which everyone on the bridge knows is an old Gearing Class destroyer, this guide can very quickly help identify the present difference in these vessels, from country to country. This is a more important use for this volume, not only because this type of identification is more difficult and common, but because these types of vessels are often in the hands of nations that have been, or will be, involved in regional conflicts. So all of the above, the language issue, the quick identification issue and now, the security issue, all come together for a solution in this book. FAST AND ACCURATE IS WHAT COUNTS HERE!

My only regret is the stats are not detailed enough. Other than that, it is a thorough look at the warships of the world's current navies. A must for any nautical fanatic.

--don

Well, as a Jane's Pocket Guide, it pretty much outlines all of the ships currently in service around the world. It breaks them down by type and by nation. It also even lists the individual names of each ship in each class which is pretty cool if you need to find out what ship and what class your loved one is stationed on.

The only negative comment I have about the book is that all of the pictures are black and white. Now I realize that some ships from around the world are not that readily available to get a color photograph of, but I must assume that most should be. So why not use them?