Customer Reviews

Naval Weapons of World War II

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

 

 

Without a doubt, this is one of the finest reference works for the purist that I have ever purchased. This is a highly technical book, and, as such, is not for everyone. If you ever wanted to know whether a naval gun was built-up, autofretted or loose-linered, then this is the book you want to purchase. If you have no clue as to what those terms mean and are looking for a more traditional work on the Second World War, then quickly move on to the next book on your shopping list; as this one is not for you.

This latest edition has apparently not been updated to correct mistakes and ommissions found in the original 1985 publication and is simply a reprint of the original work. For example, the data on Soviet/Russian weapons found in this book is quite limited. Much more data, both in terms of volume and in accuracy, has come to light on those weapons since the end of the Cold War, but none of it has found its way into this newest edition.

However, I would consider this to be a relatively minor failing, as the amount and quality of the data on nearly every other nation's weapons is simply overwhelming in its scope and in its detail.

The 2002 edition has some quality issues, and appears to have been simply digitally copied from an original rather than being a new press run. As a result, the pictures appear "grainier" than in the original 1985 printing.

All in all, I highly recommended this book.

The particular value of this book, and something that must have been a labor of love for the author, is the coverage of every weapon that could emit a projectile from a warship in WW2.

The sheer quantity of weapons means that most of the smaller or less well-known weapons get a brief table of particulars and a couple of paragraphs of text. The more important weapons, such as the various US 16", British and German 15" and British 14" get two or three pages.

The selection of photos were mostly new to me and very interesting, particularly the photos of tests of mines and torpedos on destroyers.

At the risk of being critical, the book contains little discussion of the fighting value of the weapons, other than some informal comments that a weapon was or was not considered effective. There is not much in the way of penetration tables, or evaluation of warships on the receiving end of shellfire. There is a nice selection of pictures of warships with their ends blown off by torpedos, and some overall numbers such as torpedo hit percentage - but these (effectiveness) numbers would be the most interesting to wargamers.

One more point: the beautiful cutaway drawing on the cover is not at all representative of the drawings inside the book, none of which are in that color-cutaway style.

As an original copy is seldom available, this bad reprint provides the best source for this data in one book. WARNING - have your reading glasses ready - this edition is a poorly scanned copy of the original - most type is readable, but blurry. Pictures have too much contrast and lack detail. Line diagrams have fine lines and small type faded away.
Even with these faults, there is still a wealth of data to make this a keeper

Its a very good -but dated- reference book to have at your disposal. Unfortunately if I ever find any discrepancy with Cambell's book and the "Navweapons. Com" internet site, I always defer to the latter.

[...]

I can certainly do without the editorializing in John Campbell's work.

Now if the 'NAVWEAPONS' people every got around to turning their database into book format, I would be `all over that'.

I purchased this when it first came out in 1985 and it simply blew me away. There was, and is, no other work that comes even close. However, please understand that this is a reference work. You will learn, in great detail, about naval artillery, fire control systems, torpedoes, depth charges, etc. You will learn nothing about the men who used them, and little about the ships they were carried on (except for which ships had which version of which weapon) and even less about the actions they were used in. If you want a work that will tell you, in great depth, about the weapons used aboard WW2-era warships, this is the book for you. If you want something more general, don't buy this book.

The best single reference on WW2 naval weapons. Sections for major naval powers are excellent.

Only flaws are a lack of data on Soviet weapons and new edition photographs are not as sharp as first edition due to reproduction process.