Full Description
A revealing documentary account of how Britain struggled to shape a modern navy amid Cold War pressures, rapid technological change and relentless financial constraint.
The Postwar Fleet Vol 2 reproduces key documents relating to the planning of Britain's postwar Navy from the period 1950-1957, as the Government tried to reconcile worldwide requirements with severe financial constraints. It begins in June 1950 with the outbreak of the Korean War, which marks the end-point of Volume 1. This event overturned many previous planning assumptions and initiated a short-lived programme of rearmament. Succeeding years saw an almost annual cycle of what were, in effect, fresh defence reviews as the Ministry of Defence and the Admiralty tried to match resources and force levels to continuing commitments. Planners also had to respond to the increasing influence of technological change, especially nuclear weapons, computers and guided missiles.
The volume concludes with the publication of a major Defence Review in April 1957 which marked the beginning of a new, post-Suez Operation, phase in British defence policy.
Contents
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Equipment Glossary
Key Personalities
General Introduction
Part I - Korean War Rearmament, June 1950 - September 1951
Part II - Retrenchment and Global Strategy, October 1951 - December 1952
Part III - The Radical Review First Stage, January 1953 - March 1954
Part IV - The Radical Review Second Stage, April 1954 - February 1955
Part V - The Way Ahead, March 1955 - December 1956
Part VI - The Sandys Review, January - April 1957
Sources and Documents
Index
