The launch of HMS Dreadnought in 1906 ushered in one of the most rapid periods of warship development in history; and only ten years after this all-big-gun, turbine-powered battleship was completed, two entire fleets of Dreadnoughts would meet at Jutland and put the work of the prewar designers to the ultimate test. The renowned warship author, D K Brown, examines the development of these vessels and looks at how wartime experience affected warship design. As well as battleships and battlecruisers, for the first time the developmental history of smaller vessels such as minesweepers, monitors and escort vessels, built in direct response to wartime needs, is described, as is that of the submarine and aircraft carrier. A detailed study is made of battle damage, including the role played by ammunition explosions in the loss of three British battlecruisers at Jutland. Also described are the postwar capital ship designs, killed off by the Washington Treaty, which are among the most fascinating might-have-beens of naval history. A classic work again available for historians and enthusiasts, detailing the development of all those ships that enabled the Royal Navy to rule the waves supreme and defend country and empire.

This volume brings to completion the reissue of R A Burt's magnificent bestselling three-volume history of British battleships, and it covers the pre-dreadnought era which has, in recent years, acquired a new and fervent following.??The Russian war scare of 1884 and the public's anxiety about the Royal Navy's ability to fight a modern war at sea resulted in the Naval Defence Act of 1889 and a vast programme of warship construction. Over the next twenty years a fleet of 52 battleships was built, construction finally interrupted by the revolutionary Dreadnought design. In this new volume, the author presents full details of design and construction, armament, protection, machinery and performance, all backed up with accurate data tables listing design figures, trials results, and full particulars at different stages in the ships' careers. The history of each battleship is chronicled and the reader is reminded of their major contribution in the First World War. They bore the brunt of the action at the Dardenelles, bombarded the Belgium coast, patrolled the North Sea and the Channel, reinforced the Italian Fleet, and served in East Africa, the East Indies and the White Sea. Most were extensively modified during the War and this variety has made them of special interest to the historian, enthusiast and ship modeller.??With the addition of many new photographs from the author's massive collection, this new edition is simply a 'must-have' addition to every naval library.

The ‘ShipCraft’ series provides in-depth information about building and modifying model kits of famous warship types. Lavishly illustrated, each book takes the modeller through a brief history of the subject class, highlighting differences between sister-ships and changes in their appearance over their careers. This includes paint schemes and camouflage, featuring colour profiles and highly-detailed line drawings and scale plans. The modelling section reviews the strengths and weaknesses of available kits, lists commercial accessory sets for super-detailing of the ships, and provides hints on modifying and improving the basic kit. This is followed by an extensive photographic gallery of selected high-quality models in a variety of scales, and the book concludes with a section on research references – books, monographs, large-scale plans and relevant websites.rnrnThis volume follows the format of the highly successful Flower Class where the extent has been doubled to include far more illustrations of the many different designs, from the Invincible of 1906 to the Renowns of 1915, and including the hybrid ‘large light cruisers’ Courageous, Glorious and Furious.

The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) revolutionized warfare at sea, on land, and in the air. This little-known naval aviation organization introduced and operationalized aircraft carrier strike, aerial anti-submarine warfare, strategic bombing, and the air defence of the British Isles more than 20 years before the outbreak of the Second World War. Traditionally marginalized in a literature dominated by the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force, the RNAS and its innovative practitioners, nevertheless, shaped the fundamentals of air power and contributed significantly to the Allied victory in the First World War. The Development of British Naval Aviation utilizes archival documents and newly published research to resurrect the legacy of the RNAS and demonstrate its central role in Britain’s war effort.

Admiral Sir Herbert Richmond was "a unique phenomenon in the Victorian-Edwardian navy—a professionally competent and successful officer who was also an intellectual," writes the author. "This was enough to ensure that his progress would be stormy.'' This thoroughly documented biographical study of Richmond's professional career reveals a fully experienced, clear-thinking officer with a profound understanding of naval history, "a restless and uncompromising personality," and a passionate concern with naval strategy, the art of war, and the most effective training programme for officers. Richmond persistently challenged the accepted practices and prejudices of the naval profession. He and his small group of disciples, the "Young Turks," found themselves in the thick of the most crucial controversies in the British Navy. In spite of frequent official displeasure, however, Richmond became an influential naval historian and educator, responsible for the creation of the modern naval staff and the Imperial Defence College. The volume rests on extensive research in the official records and the private papers of Richmond and his close associates. It will interest not only naval historians, but also those with a general interest in the impact of one man's thought and actions on Britain's defence policy and the outcome of two World Wars.

Joseph Moretz's innovative work focuses on what battleships actually did in the inter-war years and what its designed war role in fact was. In doing so, the book tells us much about British naval policy and planning of the time. Drawing heavily on official Admiralty records and private papers of leading officers, the author examines the navy's operational experience and the evolution of its tactical doctrine during the interwar period. He argues that operational experience, combined with assumptions about the nature of a future naval war, were more important in keeping the battleship afloat than conservatism in Navy.