British Destroyers A-I and Tribal Classes

British Destroyers A-I and Tribal Classes

Author: Les Brown

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2009-02-19

Total Pages: 133

ISBN-13: 1783469218

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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, then moves to an extensive photographic survey of either a high-quality model or a surviving example of the ship. Hints on building the model, and on modifying and improving the basic kit, are followed by a section on paint schemes and camouflage, featuring numerous colour profiles and highly-detailed line drawings. The strengths and weaknesses of available kits of the ships are reviewed, and the book concludes with a section on research references—books, monographs, large-scale plans and relevant websites.This new volume deals with the classes which represent the whole inter-war development of British destroyers, from the prototypes Amazon and Ambuscade of 1926—the first new post World War I design—to the powerful and radically different 'Tribal' class a decade later. These ships formed the backbone of Royal Navy destroyer flotillas in the Second World War.


Malta's Savior

Malta's Savior

Author: John Henshaw

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2024-02-16

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 1476648530

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Holding the small island of Malta, the British Empire's strategic centerpiece in the Mediterranean Sea, was critical to the Allied cause in World War II--and taking it was essential for Axis victory. German forces laid siege to the island beginning in June 1940, and it soon became the most bombed place on Earth. By August 1942, with supplies running out, Malta was in dire need of relief. In what was then the largest Royal Navy force yet assembled in the war, two battleships, three aircraft carriers, seven light cruisers, 32 destroyers and a fleet of transports were mustered from far-flung theaters. This day-by-day account of Operation Pedestal chronicles the planning, execution and climactic battle that saw only five of 14 merchant ships make it to Valletta, all but one heavily damaged.


British Light Cruisers

British Light Cruisers

Author: Les Brown

Publisher: Seaforth Publishing

Published: 2023-08-30

Total Pages: 149

ISBN-13: 1399030574

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The ‘ShipCraft’ series provides in-depth information about building and modifying model kits of famous warship types. Lavishly illustrated, each book takes the modeler through a brief history of the subject, highlighting differences between ships and changes in their appearance over their careers. This includes paint schemes and camouflage, featuring color profiles and highly detailed line drawings and scale plans. The modeling section reviews the strengths and weaknesses of available kits, lists commercial accessory sets for super-detailing of the subjects, 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. This is the first of two volumes covering Royal Navy 6-inch cruisers of the 1930s and later, this one devoted to three related designs armed with twin mountings. This group includes some of the most celebrated ships of the Second World War, like Ajax, Achilles, Penelope and the Australian Sydney. The next volume will feature the later classes armed with the triple 6-inch mounting – the ‘Towns’, ‘Colonies’ and their derivatives. With its unparalleled level of visual information – paint schemes, models, line drawings and photographs – this book is simply the best reference for any modelmaker setting out to build one of these famous cruisers.


Victory

Victory

Author: Kerry Jang

Publisher: Seaforth Publishing

Published: 2022-11-17

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 1399085743

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The ‘ShipCraft’ series provides in-depth information about building and modifying model kits of famous warships. Previously, these have generally covered plastic and resin models of 20th century subjects, but this volume is a radical departure – not only a period sailing ship but one for which kits are available in many different materials and scales. This requires some changes to the standard approach, but the main features of the series remain constant. Victory, Nelson’s flagship at Trafalgar, is probably the world’s most famous sailing warship, and survives in restored form at Portsmouth. With lavish illustration, this book takes the modeller through a brief history of the ship, highlighting differences in appearance over her long career. Detailed color profiles reveal decorative detail and changes to paint schemes over 250 years, and outline some of the debatable features experts still disagree about. The modelling section reviews the strengths and weaknesses of available kits, lists commercial accessory sets for super-detailing, and provides hints on modifying and improving the basic kit, including the complexities of rigging. This is followed by an extensive photographic gallery of selected high-quality models in a variety of scales, and coverage concludes with a section on research references – books, monographs, large-scale plans and relevant websites. Following the pattern of the series, this book provides an unparalleled level of visual information – paint schemes, models, line drawings and photographs – and is simply the best reference for anyone setting out to model this imposing three-decker.


British Destroyers

British Destroyers

Author: Norman Friedman

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2009-08-30

Total Pages: 895

ISBN-13: 1473812801

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A history of the early days of Royal Navy destroyers, and how they evolved to meet new military threats. In the late nineteenth century the advent of the modern torpedo woke the Royal Navy to a potent threat to its domination, not seriously challenged since Trafalgar. For the first time a relatively cheap weapon had the potential to sink the largest, and costliest, exponents of sea power. Not surprisingly, Britain’s traditional rivals invested heavily in the new technology that promised to overthrow the naval status quo. The Royal Navy was also quick to adopt the new weapon, but the British concentrated on developing counters to the essentially offensive tactics associated with torpedo-carrying small craft. From these efforts came torpedo catchers, torpedo-gunboats and eventually the torpedo-boat destroyer, a type so successful that it eclipsed and then usurped the torpedo-boat itself. With its title shortened to destroyer, the type evolved rapidly and was soon in service in many navies, but in none was the evolution as rapid or as radical as in the Royal Navy. This book is the first detailed study of their early days, combining technical history with an appreciation of the changing role of destroyers and the tactics of their deployment. Like all of Norman Friedman’s books, it reveals the rationale and not just the process of important technological developments.


Radar at Sea

Radar at Sea

Author: Derek Howse

Publisher: Springer

Published: 1993-02-09

Total Pages: 402

ISBN-13: 1349130605

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This book tells in non-technical language how the British Navy contributed to the development of naval radar in World War 2. Addressed to the general reader, it tells not only the technical story in simple terms, but also of the operational use of shipborne radar at sea - for warning, for fire control, for fighter direction, for navigation, in all theatres of war - and particularly about the people who designed and fitted the equipment, and those who used it at sea.