British Cruisers of the Victorian Era PDF Download
Are you looking for read ebook online? Search for your book and save it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Download British Cruisers of the Victorian Era PDF full book. Access full book title British Cruisers of the Victorian Era by Norman Friedman. Download full books in PDF and EPUB format.
Author: Norman Friedman
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 1473803128
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 793
Get Book
Book Description
“This magnificent book reinforces Norman Friedman's unparalleled reputation as a peerless author of maritime topics.”—Australian Naval Institute Gradually evolving from the masted steam frigates of the mid-nineteenth century, the first modern cruiser is not easy to define—but for the sake of this book, historian Norman Friedman takes as a starting point Iris and Mercury of 1875. They were the Royal Navy’s first steel-built warships; were designed primarily to be steamed rather than sailed; and formed the basis of a line of succeeding cruiser classes. The story progresses with the last armored cruisers, which were succeeded by the first battlecruisers (originally called armored cruisers), and with the last Third Class Cruisers (Topaze class), all conceived before 1906. While dovetailing precisely with the author's previous book on British cruisers, this one also includes the wartime experience of the earlier ships. The two central themes are cruisers for the fleet and cruisers for overseas operations, including (but not limited to) trade protection. The distant-waters aspect covers the belted cruisers, which were nearly capital ships, intended to deal with foreign second-class battleships in the Far East. The main enemies contemplated during this period were France and Russia, and the book includes British assessments of their strength and intentions, with judgments as to how accurate those assessments were. Deeply researched, original in its analysis, and full of striking insights, this is another major contribution by Norman Friedman to the history of British warships.
Author: Norman Friedman
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 1473803128
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 793
Get Book
Book Description
“This magnificent book reinforces Norman Friedman's unparalleled reputation as a peerless author of maritime topics.”—Australian Naval Institute Gradually evolving from the masted steam frigates of the mid-nineteenth century, the first modern cruiser is not easy to define—but for the sake of this book, historian Norman Friedman takes as a starting point Iris and Mercury of 1875. They were the Royal Navy’s first steel-built warships; were designed primarily to be steamed rather than sailed; and formed the basis of a line of succeeding cruiser classes. The story progresses with the last armored cruisers, which were succeeded by the first battlecruisers (originally called armored cruisers), and with the last Third Class Cruisers (Topaze class), all conceived before 1906. While dovetailing precisely with the author's previous book on British cruisers, this one also includes the wartime experience of the earlier ships. The two central themes are cruisers for the fleet and cruisers for overseas operations, including (but not limited to) trade protection. The distant-waters aspect covers the belted cruisers, which were nearly capital ships, intended to deal with foreign second-class battleships in the Far East. The main enemies contemplated during this period were France and Russia, and the book includes British assessments of their strength and intentions, with judgments as to how accurate those assessments were. Deeply researched, original in its analysis, and full of striking insights, this is another major contribution by Norman Friedman to the history of British warships.
Author: Norman Friedman
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 184832099X
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 354
Get Book
Book Description
Gradually evolving from the masted steam frigates of the mid-nineteenth century, the first modern cruiser is not easy to define, but for the sake of this book the starting point is taken to be Iris and Mercury of 1875. They were the RN's first steel-built warships; were designed primarily to be steamed rather than sailed; and formed the basis of a line of succeeding cruiser classes. The story ends with the last armoured cruisers, which were succeeded by the first battlecruisers (originally called armoured cruisers), and with the last Third Class Cruisers (Topaze class), all conceived before 1906. Coverage, therefore, dovetails precisely with Friedman's previous book on British cruisers, although this one also includes the wartime experience of the earlier ships.rn The two central themes are cruisers for the fleet and cruisers for overseas operations, including (but not limited to) trade protection. The distant-waters aspect covers the belted cruisers, which were nearly capital ships, intended to deal with foreign second-class battleships in the Far East. The main enemies contemplated during this period were France and Russia, and the book includes British assessments of their strength and intentions, with judgements as to how accurate those assessments were.rn As would be expected of Friedman, the book is deeply researched, original in its analysis, and full of striking insights ÛÒ another major contribution to the history of British warships.
Author: Norman Friedman
Publisher: US Naval Institute Press
ISBN: 9781682473290
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Get Book
Book Description
This is a companion volume to Norman Friedman' s highly successful British Battleships 1906-1946 and completes his study of the Royal Navy's capital ships. Beginning with the earliest installation of steam machinery in ships of the line, British Battleships of the Victorian Era traces the technological revolution that saw the introduction of iron hulls, armor plate, shell-ring guns, and the eventual abandonment of sail as auxiliary propulsion. This hectic development finally settled down to a widely approved form of pre-dreadnought battleship, built in large numbers and culminating in the King Edward VII class. As with all his work, Friedman explains why, as well as how and when, advances were made, and locates British ship design firmly within the larger context of international rivalries, domestic politics, and economic constraints. The result is a sophisticated and enlightening overview of the Royal Navy's battle fleet in the latter half of the nineteenth century. British Battleships of the Victorian Era is well illustrated--a comprehensive gallery of photographs with in-depth captions is accompanied by specially commissioned plans of the important classes by A. D. Baker III, and a color section featuring the original Admiralty drafts, including a spectacular double gatefold.
Author: Angus Konstam
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472844548
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 49
Get Book
Book Description
The Royal Navy's battleships at the turn of the 20th century were the most powerful battlefleet in the world, and embodied one of the key periods in warship development - the development of the dreadnought battleship. The term 'pre-dreadnought' was applied in retrospect, to describe the capital ships built during the decade and a half before the launch of HMS Dreadnought in 1906. At that moment these once great warships were rendered obsolete. However, until then, they were simply called 'battleships' and were unquestionably the most powerful warships of their day. These mighty warships represented the cutting edge of naval technology. The ugly ducklings of the ironclad era had been transformed into beautiful swans, albeit deadly ones. In Britain, this period was dominated by Sir William White, the Navy's Chief Constructor. Under his guidance the mastless battleships of the 1880s gave way to an altogether more elegant type of capital ship. The period of trial and error which marked the ironclad era ushered in a more scientific style of naval architecture. As a result, these battleships were among the most powerful warships in the world during the late Victorian era, and set a benchmark for the new battle fleets produced by navies such as Japan, Russia and the United States. Illustrated throughout with full-colour artwork, this fascinating study offers a detailed and definitive guide to the design, development and legacy of the Royal Navy's battleships at the turn of the 20th century as they paved the way for the coming of the Dreadnought.
Author: Robert C. Stern
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 1526737922
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 646
Get Book
Book Description
“An entertaining and informative review of the evolution of one of the most important classes of warship, from the technology of WWII into the missile age.” —Firetrench Cruisers probably vary more in their characteristics than any other warship type and have certainly been subject to the most convoluted development. There was always a basic tension between quantity and quality, between numbers and unit size, but at a more detailed level every one of the naval powers made different demands of their cruiser designers. This makes the story of cruiser evolution in the world’s major navies fascinating but complex. This book sets out to provide a coherent history of the fortunes of this ship-type in the twentieth century, beginning with a brief summary of development before the First World War and an account of a few notable cruiser actions during that conflict that helped define what cruisers would look like in the post-war world. The core of the book is devoted to the impact of the naval disarmament treaty process, which concentrated to a great extent on attempting to define limits to the numbers and size of cruisers that could be built, in the process creating the “treaty cruiser” as a type that had never existed before and that existed solely because of the treaty process. How the cruisers of the treaty era performed in the Second World War forms the final focus of this “interesting, well-written, and well-grounded” book, which concludes with a look at the fate of the cruiser-type since 1945 (Warship International). The result is probably the best single-volume account of the subject to date.
Author: Angus Konstam
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472849698
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 100
Get Book
Book Description
This illustrated history explores the cruiser forces of the Italian and British Royal navies, the jack-of-all trades warships of the Mediterranean Naval War. In 1940, when Italy entered World War II, the Royal Navy was badly overstretched, and its Mediterranean Fleet had to face both the Italian Navy and the German and Italian Air Forces in a battle for supremacy. Although the British and Italian battle fleets squared off against each other, they were both often held in reserve, in case the enemy fleet put to sea. So, it was left to the cruisers to wage their own naval war in the Mediterranean. This involved a range of missions, from escorting convoys and hunting enemy ones, to fighting for control of the sea around key locations such as the waters off Malta and Crete. This superbly illustrated study, written by renowned naval expert Angus Konstam, compares and contrasts the design, weapon technologies and combat performance of the opposing cruiser forces. It also documents several major clashes between British, Commonwealth and Italian cruisers, including spirited actions fought off Cape Spada in 1940, a string of actions in the Gulf of Sirte throughout 1941, battles against Axis convoys in 1941–42, and the Battle of Pantelleria in 1942. Among the subjects of the specially commissioned colour artworks are HMAS Sydney, HMS Naiad, RM Trento and RM Raimondo Montecuccoli.
Author: Norman Friedman
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473812801
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 895
Get Book
Book Description
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.
Author: Christopher Buckey
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
ISBN: 1682475824
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 380
Get Book
Book Description
Genesis of the Grand Fleet: The Admiralty, Germany, and the Home Fleet, 1896-1914 tells the story of the prewar predecessor to the Royal Navy's war-winning Grand Fleet: the Home Fleet. Established in early 1907 by First Sea Lord Sir John Fisher, the Home Fleet combined an active core of powerful armored warships with a unification of the various reserve divisions of warships previously under the control of the three Royal Navy home port commands. Fisher boasted that the new Home Fleet would be able to counter the growing German Hochseeflotte. While these boasts were accurate, they were not the sole motivation behind the Home Fleet's establishment. The Liberal Party's landslide victory in the 1906 General Election made fiscal economy on the part of the Admiralty even more important than before, and this significantly influenced the Home Fleet's creation. Subsequently the Home Fleet suffered a sustained campaign of criticism by the commander-in-chief of the Channel Fleet, Lord Charles Beresford. This campaign ruined many careers including Beresford's and resulted in the assimilation of the Channel Fleet into the Home Fleet in 1909. From 1910 onward the Home Fleet steadily evolved and became the most important single command in the Royal Navy, and the Home Fleet's successive commanders-in-chief had influence on strategic policy rivaled only by the Board of Admiralty. The last prewar commander of the Home Fleet, Admiral Sir George Callaghan achieved this influence by impressing the civilian head of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill. A driven reformer, Churchill's influence was almost as important as Fisher's. Against this backdrop of political drama, Genesis of the Grand Fleet: The Admiralty, Germany, and the Home Fleet, 1896-1914 explains how Britain maintained its maritime preeminence in the early twentieth century. As Christopher Buckey describes, the fleet sustained Britain and her allies' path to victory in World War I.
Author: Rif Winfield
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 1848321694
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 434
Get Book
Book Description
The publication of this book sees the completion of a monumental work listing the technical details and career histories of every significant British warship between 1603 and 1863. Following three earlier volumes, this one carries forward the story from the post-Napoleonic War reorganisation of the Royal Navy's rating system to the end of sail as the principal mode of propulsion. ??Although apparently well documented, this is a period of great complexity in the procurement and naval architecture of ships. The introduction of steam radically altered the design of vessels under construction and was later retro-fitted to others, while many 'names' lived a ghostly existence on the Navy List: ships ordered but not started, and in some cases having their intended draughts altered more than once before being cancelled entirely.??This book meticulously sorts out and clarifies these confusions _ a major contribution in itself _ but for the first time it also provides outline service histories for an era that is largely neglected. Like its companion volumes, the book is organised by Rate, classification and class, with significant technical and building data, followed by a concise summary of the careers of each ship in every class. ??With its unique depth of information, this is a work of the utmost importance to every naval historian and general reader interested in the navy of the sailing era and the formative years of the steam navy that supplanted it.
Author: David Hobbs
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 1848323042
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 298
Get Book
Book Description
The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich houses the largest collection of scale ship models in the world, many of which are official, contemporary artefacts made by the craftsmen of the navy or the shipbuilders themselves, and ranging from the mid seventeenth century to the present day. As such they represent a three-dimensional archive of unique importance and authority. Treated as historical evidence, they offer more detail than even the best plans, and demonstrate exactly what the ships looked like in a way that even the finest marine painter could not achieve. This book is one of a series that takes a selection of the best models to tell the story of specific ship types in this case, the various classes of warship that fought in the First World War, from dreadnoughts to coastal motor boats. It reproduces a large number of model photos, all in full colour, and including many close-up and detail views. These are captioned in depth, but many are also annotated to focus attention on interesting or unusual features. Although pictorial in emphasis, the book weaves the pictures into an authoritative text, producing an unusual and attractive form of technical history.
