Entering service between 1937 and 1939, the ten British Town' class
cruisers were the most modern vessels of their type in the Royal
Navy when the Second World War began. Built in response to large
6-inch gunned cruisers in the US and Japanese Navies and primarily
designed for the defence of trade, they saw arduous service in a
wide range of roles, playing a decisive part in victories such as
the Battle of the Barents Sea and the destruction of the German
Scharnhorst at the North Cape. The cost was heavy: four of the
ships were lost and the other six all survived heavy damage, in
some cases on more than one occasion. In this major study, Conrad
Waters makes extensive use of archive material to provide a
technical evaluation of the Town' class design and its subsequent
performance. He outlines the class's origins in the context of
inter-war cruiser policy, explains the design and construction
process, and describes the characteristics of the resulting ships
and how these were adapted in the light of wartime developments. An
overview of service focuses on major engagements, assessing the
extent to which the class met its designers' expectations and
detailing the consequences of action damage. Concluding chapters
continue the story into the Cold War era, examining the
modernisation programme that kept the remaining ships fit for
service during the 1950s. Heavily illustrated with contemporary
photographs and drawings by A D Baker III, John Jordan and George
Richardson, British Town Class Cruisers provides a definitive
reference to one of the Royal Navy's most important Second World
War warship designs.
General
Imprint: |
Seaforth Publishing
|
Country of origin: |
United Kingdom |
Release date: |
November 2019 |
Authors: |
Conrad Waters
|
Dimensions: |
298 x 255 x 26mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Hardcover - Cloth over boards
|
Pages: |
320 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-5267-1885-3 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
1-5267-1885-5 |
Barcode: |
9781526718853 |
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