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CRUISERS IN ACTION. (With John R. Dominy)
H/B 1981 (ISBN 0 7183 0218 4)
A detailed examination of the design, battle history, alterations and fates of every Royal Navy cruiser in service between 1939 and 1945, with a feast of drawings by John Dominy coupled with a selection of rare photographs showing early days, wartime changes and final post-war appearances.
Starting with a detailed look at how the cruiser type of warships developed in the Royal Navy in the 19th-century and how it expanded to cover a huge range of widely differing sizes, armaments, roles and concepts, from the small "Scouts" that accompanied the destroyer flotillas, through the light cruiser types that scouted ahead of the main fleets, to the larger Ocean Trade protection vessels up to the powerful "Armoured Cruisers" that were almost second-class battleships in size and power, this volume then takes the story on from the end of the Great War. In 1919 the Royal Navy was at the absolute peak of its strength and power, but within three years the politicians and the disastrous Washington Naval Treaty had cut fleet to the bone. Mass scrappings of still valuable ships followed and the emaciated remains had to fight a reluctant Government for every penny to replace with modern tonnage even a fraction of what remained.
Not only did the Royal Navy have to fight its own Treasury (under Winston Churchill) but at the same time the United States Government was determined on achieving superiority in cruiser numbers and sizes, although, having abandoned the League of Nations, it had none of the responsibilities of keeping the world's sea routes clear. The advent of air power was another complicating factor and resulted in yet another type of specialist ship, the AA Cruiser, both conversions of older ships and the new Dido Class. Just how the much-reduced cruiser fleet of the Royal Navy coped in six years of all-out warfare are contained in these pages, as is the subsequent dismal fate of the post-war fleet when all the old lessons, so painfully re-learnt, were again swept aside.
Ships Monthly reviewed the book and stated that it was, "...good reading, coupled with a fine work of reference." Lloyd's List stated. "As a penetrating study of the rise and fall of the cruiser this book should be of value and interest to a wide readership covering the whole spectrum from amateur enthusiast to expert professional."
Publisher enquiries welcomed.
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