Entering service between 1937 and 1939, the ten British “Town” class cruisers were the most modern vessels of their type in the Royal Navy when World War II began. Built in response to large 6-inch gunned cruisers in the U.S. and Japanese navies and primarily designed for the defense of trade, they saw arduous service in a wide range of ...
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British Town Class Cruisers
"Southampton and Belfast Classes: Design, Development and Performance"
Available Formats: Hardcover
Hitler's Forgotten Flotillas
Kriegsmarine Security Forces
This study of the Kriegsmarine’s Sicherungsstreitkräfte, their security forces, fills a gap in the study of the German navy in World War II. This book describes the wide array of vessels including patrol boats, minesweepers, submarine hunters, barrage breakers, landing craft, minelayers, and even the riverine flotilla that patrolled the Danube as it snaked towards the Black Sea. These vessels ...
Available Formats: Hardcover
Cruiser Birmingham
Detailed in the Original Builders' Plans
The technical details of British warships were recorded in a set of plans produced by the builders on completion of every ship. Known as the “as fitted” general arrangements, these drawings documented the exact appearance and fitting of the ship as it entered service.
Today these plans form part of the incomparable collection of the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich ...
Available Formats: Hardcover
British Naval Weapons of World War Two
"The John Lambert Collection, Volume I: Destroyer Weapons"
John Lambert was a renowned naval draughtsman, whose plans were highly valued for their accuracy and detail by model makers and enthusiasts. By the time of his death in 2016 he had produced over 850 sheets of drawings, many of which have never been published. British Naval Weapons of World War Two covers weapons carried by British destroyers of this ...
Available Formats: Hardcover
Black Night off Finisterre
The Tragic Tale of an Early British Ironclad
HMS Captain was the first sea-going turret warship built to provide all-round firepower. This definitive account of the loss of the Captain details the decade-long public controversy in parliament and the press that led to the building of the ship in unprecedented circumstances. The lengthy controversy involved a disagreement between the Captain's designer and inventor of the turntable turret ...
Available Formats: Hardcover
Joshua Barney
Hero of the Revolution and 1812
Little has been published about the life of Baltimore’s Commodore Joshua Barney, a man who earned a commission in the nascent Continental Navy, sailed as a privateer, and served as a commodore in both the French and American navies. Louis Norton’s biography scrutinizes Barney's colorful life and critically analyzes events that forged his character.
Available Formats: Softcover
Rules of Game
Jutland and British Naval Command
Foreword by Admiral Sir John Woodward. When published in hardcover in 1997, this book was praised for providing an engrossing education not only in naval strategy and tactics but in Victorian social attitudes and the influence of character on history. In juxtaposing an operational with a cultural theme, the author comes closer than any historian yet to explaining what was ...
Available Formats: Softcover
Otto Kretschmer
The Life of Germany's Highest Scoring U-boat Commander
Otto Kretschmer was only in combat from September 1939 until March 1941 but was Germany's highest-scoring U-boat commander, sinking 47 ships totaling 274,333 tons. This definitive work details his personal story and the political backdrop from his earliest days.
After completing his officer training and time on the training ship Niobe he served aboard the light cruiser Emden. In December ...
Available Formats: Hardcover
Schnellboote
A Complete Operational History
The Kriegsmarine’s Schnellboote—fast attack boats or E-boats to the Allies—were the primary German naval attack units in coastal waters throughout the Second World War. Operating close to their various bases they became a devastatingly effective weapon in nearly all the Kriegsmarine’s theaters of war, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. It was in the English Channel ...
Available Formats: Hardcover
British Fiji Class Cruisers and their Derivatives
The Fiji-class, often called the “Colony” class, cruisers were a class of eleven light cruisers of the Royal Navy that saw extensive service throughout World War II. They were an attempt to incorporate the characteristics of the preceding “Town” class within the reduced 8,000-ton limit agreed under the 1936 London Treaty. In general layout, Colony class resembled the earlier ...
Available Formats: Hardcover