King George V Class Battleships [Paperback]

V.E. Tarrant (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 2000

They were some of the finest ships the Royal Navy ever built--the last of the great "floating villages" to see WWII action. Their achievements appear in dramatic photos of both battle action and close-up detail, along with exhaustive charts of technical specifications. The personality of each of the five ships comes through in sketches of many of the 1,500 officers and men, in more than six years of battle, in most sea theaters. 288 pages, 170 b/w illus., 7 3/8 x 9 3/4. NEW IN PAPERBACK

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

V E Tarrant, an ex-Navy man, has achieved an international reputation for the

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Sterling (June 30, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1854095242
• ISBN-13: 978-1854095244
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,101,884 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An engrossing history of KGV class., June 18, 2001

By 

Claudio Bompadre - See all my reviews

This review is from: King George V Class Battleships (Paperback)

This book covers the operational history of the King George V class, the last battleships to see combat service in the Royal Navy. To author's credit, the many shortcomings that plagued the class during operational life are thoroughly investigated. Tarrant describes how the units were built according to design limitations enforced by the Washington treaty (imposing unsatisfactory trade-offs), and the Admiralty's incapacity to freeze the ships' basic design. In fact the Royal Navy went on the naval building holiday without an alternate plan, relinquishing the expertise that proved to be so vital at dockyards when the work resumpted. To complicate matters further, the Navy had controversial attitude towards the balance of armor and armament; it was never satifactorily settled. During the description of engagements and missions operated by the class, the author is quite steadfast in showing defects that have to be traced to these original misconceptions. A second point is highlighted by the author in the episode of the doomed sortie of Prince of Wales and in the closing chapters dedicated to Pacific operations. Tarrant is very clever when he explains all the failures leading to the loss of P.of W. in Singapore. The central evaluation of the british policy is summarized by the statement " to have a two Hemisphere Empire defended by one Hemisphere Navy". The extended logistic lines and the composition of the Pacific fleet were the key elements in shaping the secondary role, albeit an important one, played by the Britons in the theater.

The book comes pretty close to be the definitive history of the KGV class. The authoritative text is always attentive to human drama behind the engagements and the fatigues endured by the crews. Tarrant's narrative style is highly readable and absorbing, indulging in the magnitude of war at sea without loosing the sight of accademic treatise. An engrossing reference in recent British naval history.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent summary of an interesting compromise, March 23, 2003

By 

John Anderson (Bar Harbor, ME USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: King George V Class Battleships (Paperback)

The King George V class battleships seem to have been a classic example of the dangers of "design by committee". Given the limitations of the Washington Disarmament Treaty and the constraints of tight budgets and an apathetic Parliament they were probably the best that Britain could have done at the time, and Tarrant has done a wonderful job of showing us the history of their development, their strengths and their weaknesses. He also points out that in spite of all their drawbacks & indeed the overall decline of battleships as weapons of war, the KGVs probably prevented Britain from losing the war. Had PRINCE OF WALES not holed BISMARK in her fuel tanks, BISMARK would have continued into the North Atlantic & shut down the vital Atlantic convoy system. Had DUKE OF YORK not sunk SCHARNHORST a similar disaster could have been in the making. No mean feat. Lavishly illustrated -both in terms of text and photos- the book provides us with an in-depth look at the entire class & includes the often neglected stories of the later members ANSON & HOWE. My one quibble with the book -and it is really with the publisher- is that it has a somewhat "cheap' feel in terms of paper & cover. Given the quality of the content the book deserves more attention to physical structure, but battelship enthusiasts everywhere need this text on their shelves. Now, wouldn't it be nice if Tarrant did the same sort of job on the QUEEN ELIZABETH class battleships (possibly the most successful group of warships yet built) that he does here on the KGVs?

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Second rate ships, proudly fought, January 4, 2003

By 

Susan Paxton - See all my reviews

This review is from: King George V Class Battleships (Paperback)

V.E. Tarrant's history of the King George V class battleships is superb and well worth the time of anyone interested in battleships in general, in the naval aspects of WWII, or those who enjoy reading first-hand accounts from veterans.

Tarrant is unsparing about the KGVs; built to the restrictions of the Washington treaty (which limited battleships to 35,000 tons full-up displacement and restricted them to 16 inch guns at maximum), they suffer badly in comparison to the US Navy Washington and South Dakota class ships, also built to the treaty restrictions. The selection of 14 inch guns badly limited their hitting power (and faulty turret design was an additional crippling factor in action), their relatively narrow beam compromised their underwater protection systems (fatally in the case of Prince of Wales), and their inefficient engineering plants badly restricted their range. That said, the five ships of the class served nobly and well during WWII, thanks to the men who commanded and manned them so ably.

Tarrant opens with a discussion of the design of the ships, including the mini-controversy over their naming. The lead ship was originally to be named King George VI, but the King insisted that the ship be named for his father instead; two later ships were to be HMS Beatty and HMS Jellicoe, but unfortunately the Jutland controversy was still too sore a self-inflicted wound and the remaining ships were named Prince of Wales, Duke of York, Anson, and Howe.

The careers of the five ships follow, discussed chronologically. Tarrant covers in fascinating detail the pursuit and sinking of the Bismarck, the Force Z disaster, and the sinking of the Scharnhorst, as well as the more mundane activities of the ships (Anson was so late completing she never had the chance to fire her main battery in anger). Tarrant's analysis of the loss of Prince of Wales and Repulse is especially well done; while being somewhat gentle to the memory of Admiral Phillips and Captain Leach, who were lost with their ship, he points out how well the captain of Repulse handled her, while poor handling of PoW certainly contributed to her destruction.

A great feature of the book is Tarrant's use of first-hand accounts to illuminate the activities of the ships. Ranging from officers to the lower deck, these accounts have been well chosen and give the human factor often missing in books of this type. The reminiscences of Petty Office Bill Batters of HMS Howe are particularly wonderful.

As a modeler, I would have liked to see more and more detailed diagrams, but the illustrations are good and the many photographs showing the ships throughout their careers are excellent and useful and often interesting (ammunitioning Duke of York after her encounter with Scharnhorst, for example).

All in all, this is one of the best histories of a class of ships I have seen, with only a few typos to watch for. Sadly, the four surviving KGVs were scrapped in the late 50s, but this history remains to give these ships and their brave crews their due.