British Battleships of World War Two

British Battleships of World War Two PDF

Author: Alan Raven

Publisher:

Published: 1976

Total Pages: 444

ISBN-13:

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This lavishly-illustrated volume, first published in 1976 and back by popular demand, presents the full story of the design and construction of every British battleship and battlecruiser class that served in World War II--from the Queen Elizabeth class to the Vanguard. Noted authors Alan Raven and John Roberts include a comperehensive review of each ship's initial configuration and refits as well as developments in weapons, gunnery, fire control, radar, protection, and propulsion. There are also sections devoted to combat actions involving British battleships and comparisons with battleships of other navies. Six hundred photographs and illustrations, including sixteen fold-out pages, complement the authoritative history of the vessels. For other books in the battleship series, see page 26.

British Battleships of World War One

British Battleships of World War One PDF

Author: R. A. Burt

Publisher: Naval Institute Press

Published: 2012-11-15

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 1612519555

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This new edition of a classic work on British battleships is the most sought after book on the subject. Containing many new photographs from the author's exhaustive collection this superb reference book presents the complete technical history of British capital ship design and construction during the dreadnought era. Beginning with Dreadnought, all of the fifty dreadnoughts, 'super-dreadnoughts' and battlecruisers that served the Royal Navy during this era are described and superbly illustrated with photographs and line drawings.

British Town Class Cruisers

British Town Class Cruisers PDF

Author: Conrad Waters

Publisher: Seaforth Publishing

Published: 2019-11-18

Total Pages: 617

ISBN-13: 1526718871

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This scholarly study of the Royal Navy’s WWII light cruisers presents extensive design, performance, and engagement analysis of each ship. When the Second World War began, the ten British ‘Town’ class cruisers were the most modern vessels of their type in the Royal Navy. Primarily designed for the defense of trade, they played decisive roles in victories such as the Battle of the Barents Sea and the destruction of the German Scharnhorst at the North Cape. They also paid a heavy price: four of the ships were lost and the other six sustained serious damage. In this major study, Conrad Waters provides a technical evaluation of the ‘Town’ class design and its subsequent performance. He outlines the class’s origins in the context of inter-war cruiser policy, explains the design and construction process, and describes the characteristics of the resulting ships and how these were adapted in the light of wartime developments. An overview of service focuses on major engagements and presents detailed assessments of action damage. Concluding chapters explore the the modernization program that kept the remaining ships fit for service during the Cold War era. Heavily illustrated with contemporary photographs and expert drawings, British Town Class Cruisers provides a definitive reference to one of the Royal Navy’s most important warship designs.

British Cruisers

British Cruisers PDF

Author: Norman Friedman

Publisher: Seaforth Publishing

Published: 2011-01-24

Total Pages: 680

ISBN-13: 1783469188

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“An extraordinarily detailed account of the development of Royal Navy cruisers . . . a towering work” from the author of Fighting the Great War at Sea (Warship 2012). For most of the twentieth century, Britain possessed both the world’s largest merchant fleet and its most extensive overseas territories. It is not surprising, therefore, that the Royal Navy always showed a particular interest in the cruiser—a multipurpose warship needed in large numbers to defend trade routes and police the empire. Above all other types, the cruiser’s competing demands of quality and quantity placed a heavy burden on designers, and for most of the interwar period, Britain sought to square this circle through international treaties restricting both size and numbers. In the process, she virtually invented the heavy cruiser and inspired the large 6in-armed cruiser, neither of which, ironically, served her best interests. This book seeks to comprehend, for the first time, the full policy background—from which a different and entirely original picture of British cruiser development emerges. After the war, the cruiser’s role was reconsidered, and the final chapters of the book cover modernizations, the plans for missile-armed ships, and the convoluted process that turned the “through-deck cruiser” into the Invincible class light carriers. With detailed appendices of ship data, and illustrated in depth with photos and A.D. Baker’s specially commissioned plans, British Cruisers truly matches the lofty standards set by Friedman’s previous books on British destroyers. “Wow! . . . Lavishly illustrated with a photograph or line plan on almost every page. The text is packed with technical information, detail, and description of design, construction and application of these important ships.” —Clash of Steel

British Battlecruisers of World War 1

British Battlecruisers of World War 1 PDF

Author: Hugh Harkins

Publisher:

Published: 2013-11

Total Pages: 156

ISBN-13: 9781903630242

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The purpose of this volume is to provide a detailed log of the operations of the Royal Navy Battle Cruisers and associated units from July 1914 until the end of June 1915. During this time the Battle Cruisers were engaged with elements of the German Fleet on a number of occasions; most notably in the Battle of the Heligoland Bight in August 1914, The Battle of the Falkland Islands in December 1914 and the Battle of the Dogger Bank in January 1915. In only the Dogger Bank action did the opposing forces Battle Cruisers engage in battle which resulted in a material and strategic defeat for the German High Seas Fleet, albeit at the cost on one British Battle Cruiser severely damaged. In the Heligoland Bight action on 28 August 1914, the British Battle Cruisers provided support to light forces engaging German Light forces. The result was a defeat for the German Fleet, which now concentrated in strengthening the defenses of the area. The Battle of the Falkland Islands in December 1914 was a pivotal moment for the advocates of the Battle Cruiser concept. It successfully engaged and defeated enemy Armoured Cruisers, and Light Cruisers; the very role for which it had been designed. Intended as an operational history of the employment of the British Battle Cruisers, it is not the intention of this volume to go into the details of the rights or wrongs of the Battle Cruiser concept. It will suffice for the purposes of this volume to state that the designs emerged as an evolution or replacement of the Armoured Cruiser. Not tied to any single role, the new Battle Cruiser was capable of operating as independent units hunting down enemy Cruisers, as in the Falklands battle, or in larger scale operations with the Battle Fleet; scouting ahead with the potential to operate as a fast wing of the Battle Fleet in a fleet action. For this latter role, later in the war the British Battle Cruisers in particular proved unsound in design, tactics or a combination of both. During the first year of the War British Battle Cruisers would be employed in all of the above roles.

German Warships of World War 1

German Warships of World War 1 PDF

Author:

Publisher: US Naval Institute Press

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 424

ISBN-13:

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Fully illustrated, this reference is compiled from a series of confidential books produced by British Intelligence during World War I.

German Battlecruisers of World War One

German Battlecruisers of World War One PDF

Author: Gary Staff

Publisher: Seaforth Publishing

Published: 2014-11-29

Total Pages: 1161

ISBN-13: 1848323077

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The most comprehensive English-language study of the German Imperial Navy’s WWI battlecruisers, fully illustrated with drawings, diagrams and photographs. In this in-depth study, naval historian and author of Battle on the Seven Seas Gary Staff presents a full analysis of Imperial Germany’s battlecruisers. Known as Panzerkreuzer, the eight ships of this class were involved in several early North Sea skirmishes before their historic victory against the Royal Navy in the Battle of Jutland. Staff details the design and construction of these ships, and traces the full-service history of each one, recounting their actions, largely from first-hand German sources and official documents. Detailed line drawings and maps augment the text throughout, as do a wealth of contemporary photos that depict the vessels at sea as well as in dock, where many aspects of their design—as well as damage sustained in action—can be viewed in close up. A superb series of full-color computer graphics show full length profiles and top-down views of each ship in precise and clear detail. German Battle Cruisers of World War One presents a major contribution to German naval history in the English language. It is a must-have volume for Great War historians and enthusiasts, as well as battlecruiser modelers.

British Battlecruisers, 1905–1920

British Battlecruisers, 1905–1920 PDF

Author: John Roberts

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Published: 2016-10-30

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 1473882370

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“A valuable stand-alone text . . . Contains large amounts of data on all of the vessels officially classified as battlecruisers in the Royal Navy.” —International Journal of Maritime History The brainchild of Admiral Sir John Fisher, battlecruisers combined heavy guns and high speed in the largest hulls of their era. Conceived as super-cruisers to hunt down and destroy commerce raiders, their size and gun-power led to their inclusion in the battlefleet as a fast squadron of capital ships. This book traces in detail the development of Fisher’s original idea into first battlecruiser Invincible of 1908, through to the Splendid Cats of the Lion class, and culminating in HMS Hood in 1920, the largest warship in the world for the next twenty years. The origins of the unusual light battlecruisers of the Courageous type are also covered. “The author is still the foremost authority on battleships from Dreadnought and, although now retired, he continues to research the subject. This new edition of the definitive book on battlecruisers has been updated with the latest findings from his research. An outstanding review of the subject.” —Firetrench “It is good to see this book back in print with this improved edition.” —Warship, “Naval Books of the Year”