Battleship Books

A gift for a retired navy man who served on this ship and was very impressed.

IN A NUTSHELL: THE LIFE - TIME - MISSIONS & MEN OF THE H.M.S. HOOD

This reads like a sort of requiem for a legendary ship, its men and the swan song for the era of invincibility that they represented. The ship lived, like the story about it for 199 pages out of the first 200, before it was struck by trouble. The trouble, so to speak was but a nano-second in the life of the ship, but it delivered instant doom to the ship, the crew [all but 3 died] and the feelings of security that the western world had held for a century.

OF COURSE IT WAS MADE OF EVENTS AND PEOPLE -- BUT MOSTLY THE SHIP:

Yes, and this book is filled with these events, such as the debacle over the surrender or sinking of the French fleet after France fell in 1940. There was also much made about the overdependence, and resulting overuse that the Royal Navy had to subject the ship and its men to.

What started out as a wonder of the world, somehow became something that was due for scrapping prior to its eternal meeting with the Bismarck, just 20 years later. Bismarck too, only a few days later suffered the same fate as the Hood, as did the men on both ships. On a larger scale, many of these same vessels that survived the war were "expended" in atomic bomb testing at places like Bikini atoll only a few years later. Friendly or enemy vessel -- it made no difference as they were all made completely obsolete by another man-made wonder. A rather horrible image I have of the Bikini atoll atomic test is the American Battleship Arkansas in a vertical position, above the water, about a mile from ground zero. That's right - vertical!

BACK TO THE SHIP: MANY LESSONS ARE HERE TO BE LEARNED

In the end, this is a real page turning piece of non-fiction that answers most of the questions and fills most of its pages with interesting and useful stuff -- if this is the stuff that interests you -- as it does me.

If you always wanted to know more than just how the Bismarck sunk the Hood, this book is for you. Sure, the short exchange and the survivors accounts are included, short but not so sweet as they are. However, this book does get into the decisions that were made involving the design of the great Hood. How the lessons of Jutland, which exposed the obvious shortcomings of other earlier English Battlecrusiers was addressed in the design and redesign of the Hood. Also, of equal importance was the effect of the Washington Naval Treaty and the later London treaty which was thought to compell other nations to reduce the size, and number of their capital ships, and the armor and armaments that were available within the treaty limits. The rsult was that England and the United States had smaller and less well armed and protected capital ships than they could have. The author implies [and he may be correct] that the Bismarck was not built within the limits of the treaty, unlike the Prince of Wales, that accompanied the Hood to meet the Bismarck. In theory, Bismarck and Prince of Wales were subjected to the same limits, yet the German ship appears to have displaced around 48,000 tons compared to 35,000 for the Prince of Wales. Would the Hood still have been leading the Prince of Wales to meet the Bismarck, or would it have been the other way around if both the Prince of Wales, and Bismarck were both built to either the Bismarck's interpretation of the treaty of the English interpretation. The book delves into this matter in a number of interesting ways.

BOTTOM LINE: WARSHIP DESIGN IS A SERIES OF COMPROMISES

Building a Battleship is a lot like building a house, except it has to float even under fire, carry armorments that effectively sink its rival warships and be a good home to several thousand men. It also has to meet treaty requirements which always warps the designs of armaments. This book examines that idea in the form of a sort of biography of a ship - its life - times - men!

The large print is a godsend which made it possible for me to completely read through it in 5 hours.

John Sweetman's book is rather short but full of details regarding the British aerial attacks on the German super-battleship Tirpitz during World War II. Although he gives only a few details about the other trials to destroy that ship by Chariots and X-craft, the story of the RAF and AAF attacks is really compelling and very well told. Details of the weapons used are also presented, especially those of the famous Tallboy bomb and there some very good maps and a few black and white photos. The other side of the hill is also covered, with attention to the reports of the German Admiralty and the commanders of the ship. Overall, an excellent account of the determined and persistent British efforts to put that mighty warship out of action and get rid of a constant danger to their Arctic convoys, something that was finally achieved rather late in the war.

An excellent book which fills out the, to some, unexciting era of the Navy between the wars. Good breakdown of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1921, and its subsequent modifications - not to be found elsewhere outside of scholarly doctoral-type theses.
A superior book for those who grew up between 1920 - 1940, but who were too young to be in the Navy during those two decades. The annual Battle Problems are excellently described, particularly to those of us "Navy Juniors" who were aware that our fathers were away, but not why or where. The postcards or letters from "exotic" locations like Panama, Chile, Brazil, Guantanamo Bay, Lahaina, Pearl Harbor etc, along with the Battle Problem discussions, to me filled in a lot of my father's three battleship, one cruiser and three destroyer "cruises".
Accurate history (like why the Battle Fleet was in Hawaii on several occasions) interspersed with "sea stories" of those years, make this book a delight to read. Additionally, as a plugged-in Marine, Col Hammond covers the Caribbean "wars" and the development of amphibious warfare, which was so important in our march across the Pacific in WWII. Extremely readable, detailed in a manner which makes one realize that dusty academic tomes don't contribute much to an understanding of the sacrifices that navy men and their families went through in the 20's and 30's.

This account details what it was like to be aboard the USS California from the invasion of Pearl Harbor through the turmoil of WWII. Mostly pictures, which are very good and a narrative by two shipmates, these stories parallel the memories and tales my father spoke of who also served on the California that frightfull morning on December 7th.

FOREWARD: "The wartime story of the battleship California is the story of the men who gave her their fighting spirit. The account in the pages is an attemp to fix on paper the feelings and actions of these men as each did his part in contributing to the American victory gainst the enemy, Japan."

I value this book that was handed down to me by my father as I know his 20 years of service in the U.S. Navy was a segment in his life he was very proud of. To see this book is quite a throwback to some of the more recent war footage we have seen in IRAQ. It's amazing how our brave men perservered with the tools, weapons and equipment that were available to them during this time in our history.

Excellently written. Just the right length. And a book long overdue on this particular period of American history.

2004 paper covers, 8 1/4 x 11, glossy page stock, 64 pages, 70 B&W photos, and 1 colorized photo, 8 sets of technical drawings, and front cover painting by Tom Freeman.
The Yamato and the Musashi were the largest battleships ever built by arty nation and they carried the largest guns of any warship ever built, yet they both were overwhelmed and sunk by air power. They were built at the height of the Dreadnought era, which also was the dramatic rise of aircraft carrier dominance, eclipsing the mighty battleship as ruler of the seas. So little was known about these leviathans, that the US Naval Intelligence was not aware of their existence until they were spotted in battle in the Pacific War. Details were not available until after the war, but so little visual information was available that we are still learning new data to this day. This book is filled with the majority of the only existing photographs, composed of 64 pages, containing 70 black & white and one colorized photograph, 8 sets of technical Illustrations and the front cover painting by the famous naval artist Tam Freeman. Extensive captions and a brief history of these ships rounds out the coverage on these little known battleships.

Having previously reviewed several of this author's books, it is easy to look at those reviews and combine the best comments for a set of 3 of his best works.

Preston's books about ships are amongst the finest ever produced. With the battleship, we have the complete story of the ships which replaced the wooden vessels of the Nelsonian age. Commencing with the ironclad "La Gloire" and ending with the USS New Jersey, we are taken on a thrilling ride of freakish ships, first arms race, Dreadnought era, the end of European naval domination of the high seas and beyond. The mighty ships - such as Hood, Bismarck, Tirpitz and Yamato disappearing from the face of the earth forever.

In Submarines the reader will be thrilled by the complete story of the submarine from those first hand-cranked efforts that enjoyed limited success to latest thing in Nuclear propulsion and armaments. In Aircraft Carriers, he tells the complete story of the Aircraft Carrier from it's humble origins in WW1 right up to date.

With excellent illustrations, photographs, maps and charts, these books should be read by all those with an interest in the subject. Then leave it a short while - as I did, and read them again. Somehow it seems far more interesting second time around.

Well worth the price.

NM

Having previously reviewed several of this author's books, it is easy to look at those reviews and combine the best comments for a set of 3 of his best works.

Preston's books about ships are amongst the finest ever produced. With the battleship, we have the complete story of the ships which replaced the wooden vessels of the Nelsonian age. Commencing with the ironclad "La Gloire" and ending with the USS New Jersey, we are taken on a thrilling ride of freakish ships, first arms race, Dreadnought era, the end of European naval domination of the high seas and beyond. The mighty ships - such as Hood, Bismarck, Tirpitz and Yamato disappearing from the face of the earth forever.

In Submarines the reader will be thrilled by the complete story of the submarine from those first hand-cranked efforts that enjoyed limited success to latest thing in Nuclear propulsion and armaments. In Aircraft Carriers, he tells the complete story of the Aircraft Carrier from it's humble origins in WW1 right up to date.

With excellent illustrations, photographs, maps and charts, these books should be read by all those with an interest in the subject. Then leave it a short while - as I did, and read them again. Somehow it seems far more interesting second time around.

Well worth the price.

NM

An astounding story of courage and determination that is hard to top. We should be thankful that we live in a world where this level of risk and sacrifice is not demanded of the ordinary citizen as it was of these young men. A MUST read. These kids had BALLS.