Battleships Of World War Ii

By the acclaimed author of Destroyers of World War Two, this book is a fully illustrated and highly detailed overview of the capital ships that saw action in the last war. Compiled with the assistance of naval authorities and experts from around the world, it includes not only detailed descriptions of the ships' armament and armour, full technical specifications, date of construction, service and engagement record, but also accounts of the ultimate fate of the ships.

This authoritative reference book charts the development and history of the battleship from the end of World War I, through World War II and up to the present day. This period saw a dramatic change in the role of the battleship as a result of the vastly

Often overlooked as a naval power of WWII, Italy's Regia Marina was, upon the declaration of war against France, the fourth largest navy in the world. Despite its numbers, the Italian fleet was made up of largely obsolete vessels, none being equipped with radar, and had a reputation for having inadequately-trained crews. Added to these drawbacks, the Italian commanders did not enjoy the discretion of command at sea that their counterparts in the service of other nations did, being directed closely by the Supermarina (Italian Naval Headquarters). Despite these obstacles, and the heavy losses inflicted upon the fleet by the Royal Navy while in harbour at Taranto, the battleships of the Italian Navy enjoyed a good reputation for being well-designed, and served with courage and determination at Punto Stilo/Calabria, Sirte, Cape Spartivento, and Cape Matapan. Mark Stille details, with the aid of many stunning photographs, including several from the Italian Navy's own archives, the battleships of one of the forgotten navies of WWII.

Part of a three-volume set on the world's battleships, this book provides a comprehensive history of all U.S. Navy battleships and battlecruisers built, designed, or projected built since the early 1930s. It covers their design and construction, operational careers, and eventual disposition. Complete plans are presented for many classes as well as extensive technical data covering their characteristics and performance, information that is sometimes hard to find and often.

Contains the only published photographs of the damage sustained by HMS Prince of Wales in her action with the Bismarck. Updated to include British and French radar systems as well as extensive information on the French Richelieu-class and a sketch of the Alsace-class.

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.

This fleet of 28 accurately detailed ships includes the ill-fated PT-109, commanded by a young John F. Kennedy, a German U-boat, and the USS Missouri, the battleship on which the Japanese surrendered.

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.

The idea of creating such an album dedicated to the battleships of World War Two had been born in the last dozen or so years. During this period, various concepts appeared in print, which were meant to present those beautiful ships in the form of a "condensed pill." Most of the contributions have been made by foreign authors who had had greater access to photographic references. It was not easy, because it was difficult to choose several photos illustrating the entire history of the battleship, starting from the moment of the keel laying and ending with its sinking. Then, in some cases it has a further history as a wreck resting on the seabed until today. Initially, we selected over 1,000 photos, which we had to give up because of the size of such an album. In the end, it was divided into two volumes, thanks to which the number of photos remained only slightly reduced. In the case of vessels with a large or interesting combat history, we tried to put more photos illustrating their operational activities. Some ships have a very limited number of photos included. The best example of this is the Japanese battleship "Musashi", of which only few photographs exist. Most of them come from private collections and it was very difficult to get permission to publish them. Despite these difficulties, it was possible to gather unique photographic material enriched with the brief combat records of individual battleships, which will hopefully allow the reader to trace their story. In the first volume, the author describes all the most important battleships from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Greece, Spain, Japan, France, and Germany.