The Naval Institute Guide to the Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet (16th ed) [Hardcover]

Norman Polmar (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1996 | Series: 16th ed

This popular reference has been updated with the latest technical data on the U.S. Navy's current ship, aircraft, missile, and electronics programs. Award-winning author and naval analyst Norman Polmar delivers details on the Navy's newest programs, while helping the reader keep track of the large number of ships and units being taken out of service.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 580 pages
• Publisher: Naval Inst Pr; 16th edition (November 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557506868
• ISBN-13: 978-1557506863
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 9.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,146,720 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars THE ANSWERS TO SO MANY NAVAL REFERENCE QUESTIONS, January 30, 2006

By 

Heather L. Parisi "Robert and Heather Parisi" (St. Augustine, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Naval Institute Guide to the Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet (16th ed) (Hardcover)

NOTHING HERE IS STILL CLASSIFIED SO READ THIS EDITION TO YOUR HEARTS CONTENT - JUST DON'T MAIL THEM OUT OF THE COUNTRY,

IN A NUTSHELL: REAL DETAILS AND AN INVENTORY OF ORDNANCE TOO!

Want to find out details about standard U.S. Naval defense systems? This is the book. Ideal for defense enthusiasts, analysts, historians and academic researchers, this volume has very hard to find data and info about virtually everything the U.S. Navy can float, submerge, haul, shoot, or fly.

Frankly in most countries the material here would be restricted, and in fact there is warning in the inside cover that states that; this is to be "sold in the United States, Canada and American possessions only".

A new edition comes out about 3 times per decade and includes everything but the latest, still classified, U.S. military hardware.

STILL HERE -- OKAY THERE'S MORE:

If you save the older issues, you will have a rather comprehensive chronicle of the nuts and bolts of the U.S. Navy - real interesting stuff. For instance, if you go back to say the thirteenth edition, you can find a full description of the Iowa Class Battleships and the compositions of a variety of their 16" projectiles. Want to know about the jets used in the Vietnam War? Look at the 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th editions, and you'll find cool aircraft and helicopters as well as Crusiers that still fired artillery. Would you like to see and read about the add-on, stand-off weapons from the Gulf-War era. You'll find them in editions 13-16 listed under "WEAPONS SYSTEMS". How fast or far do our missles fly? How large a warhead do they carry and what type of guidance system do they use are all included for countless systems in each and every volume of this text.

BOTTOM LINE: If this type of stuff is interesting too you, this text can take the place of counting sheep at night, as it does for me.

The good news is that NOTHING IN THIS TEXT IS STILL CLASSIFIED SO YOU CAN READ THESE VOLUMES TO YOUR HEARTS CONTENT - JUST DON'T MAIL THEM OUT OF THE COUNTRY.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ultimate U.S. Navy Reference, October 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Naval Institute Guide to the Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet (16th ed) (Hardcover)

The Naval Institute Guide to the Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet (16th) is the ultimate U.S. Navy recource. Mr. Polmar convays the Navy w/ stunning photographs and detailed line drawings. This book is a must for naval buff's. NOAA ships are also presented in the book. The best Naval reference I have EVER read!