Full Description
For more than 400 years, the big-gun warship stood as the supreme naval war machine. It was not only a major instrument of warfare, but a visible emblem of a nation's power, wealth and pride. Battleships features 52 of the greatest warships to have sailed in the last 500 years. Beginning with English king Henry VIII's flagship, Henry Grace à Dieu, the book covers all the main periods of battleship development, including the great sail ships, such as Sovereign of the Seas, Santissima Trinidad and Victory. The advent of steam-driven warships provides the core of the book, beginning with the introduction of Gloire in 1859, and continuing through all the major pre-Dreadnoughts, such as Inflexible, Maine and Tsessarevitch. There is detailed coverage of the great battleships of the two world wars, including Derfflinger, Yamato and Iowa, while the book closes with the last new battleship to be commissioned, Vanguard, in 1946. Each entry includes a brief description of the battleship's development and history, a colour profile artwork, key features and specifications. Packed with more than 200 artworks and photographs, Battleships is a colourful guide for the military historian and naval warfare enthusiast.
Contents
Introduction
Henry Grace a Dieu 1514
San Martin 1579
Vasa 1627
Sovereign of the Seas 1637
Le Soleil Royal 1669
Victory 1765
Santissima Trinidad 1769
Santa Ana 1784
Bucentaure 1803
Gloire 1859
Victoria 1859
Warrior 1860
Konig Wilhelm 1869
Devastation 1873
Italia 1880
Inflexible 1881
Collingwood 1887
Royal Sovereign 1892
Maine 1895
Indiana 1895
Jaureguiberry 1896
Kearsarge 1900
Mikasa 1902
Tsessarevitch 1903
Dreadnought 1906
Nassau 1909
South Carolina 1910
Lion 1912
Wyoming 1912
Derfflinger 1913
Royal Oak (or Revenge) 1914
Texas 1914
Queen Elizabeth 1915
Fuso 1915
Nevada 1916
Bayern 1916
Courageous 1917
Hood 1920
Nagato 1920
Rodney 1927
Deutschland/Graf Spee 1933
Scharnhorst 1936
Gneisenau 1938
Bismarck 1940
Prince of Wales 1940
Richelieu 1940
Yamato 1940
Vittorio Veneto 1940
Tirpitz 1941
Indiana 1942
Iowa/Missouri 1943
Vanguard 1946
