British Battleships 1889-1904 by R. A. Burt soon to be presented for sale on the first-class BookLovers of Bath web site!
Published: Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1988, Hardback in dust wrapper.
Illustrated by way of: Black & White Photographs; Diagrams; Tables;
From the cover: The completion in 1892-4 of the 13. 5-inch gunned ships of the Royal Sovereign Class gave Britain a group of battleships far in advance of their foreign counterparts. After a period of considerable experiment from about 1860, the wooden line-of-battle ship had evolved via the ironclad into the fully armoured, turreted battleship.
The Russian war scare of 1884 and a series of public criticisms aimed at the Royal Navys ability to fight a modern war had resulted in the Naval Defence Act of 1889 and a vast programme of warship construction. Over the next twenty years, a fleet of 52 battleships was built, construction being finally interrupted and ended by the revolutionary Dreadnought design. All were armed with large, turret-mounted guns, steel armoured, and propelled by coal-fired steam engines. The battleship era had dawned.
With more than 200 illustrations and 40 sets of large-scale line drawings, British Battleships 1889-1904 presents an authoritative history of the succeeding classes of battleships that were built during these formative years.
British Battleships 1889-1904 is the full story of these ships, and the companion volume to R. A. Burts acclaimed British Battleships of World War One, which deals with the first dreadnought generations of battleships and battle cruisers. Both books follow the style and format of the definitive British Battleships of World War Two and British Cruisers of World War Two, in presenting accurate data, full accounts of each ships design and construction, details of armament, protection, machinery and performance, all backed up with accurate data tables listing design figures, trials results, full particulars as completed and at later stages in each ships career, as well as tabulations of GM and stability. The history of each battleship is also chronicled, and there are sections providing more specific information on such topics as armament types, fire control, armour and protection techniques, camouflage, propulsion and comparisons with contemporary warships built for other navies.
All this is complemented by superb, large-format line drawings showing the ships as designed, completed and modified, including general arrangements, deck plans and inboard profiles. These drawings have all been executed by the author, who has also selected from his unique collection of photographs, gathered over many years, to provide the reader with a visual account of the ships, each photograph fully captioned and dated, to point out significant features and modifications. Some 90 further line illustrations depict details of paint schemes and modifications.
The Royal Navys pre-dreadnought battleships saw more and varied service in the First World War than the dreadnoughts, and suffered greater losses. They bore the brunt of the action at the Dardanelles, bombarded the Belgian coast, patrolled in the North Sea and the English Channel, reinforced the Italian Fleet, as well as serving in East Africa, the East Indies and the White Sea Jupiter made history by reaching Murmansk through the ice in February 1915. Most of the pre-dreadnoughts were extensively modified during the course of the war, London in particular receiving drastic alteration while being converted to serve as a minelayer. This variety makes them especially interesting warships for the historian, enthusiast and modeller.
Very Good in Good+ Dust Wrapper. A little rubbing to the edges of the dust wrapper, nicked at the tail of the spine and again at the head of the lower panel, with fading to the spine and onto the margins of the panels. Text complete, clean and tight.
Blue boards with Gilt titling to the Spine. 320 pages. Index. Bibliography. 10″ x 9¾”.
Of course, if you don’t like this one, may I lure you to view a further assortment hither or maybe further, hand picked, books in my Military Naval catalogue?
BookLovers of Bath 