The French battleship, Jean Bart, together with its twin Richelieu, was among the largest and most modern ships of this class that served in the Marine Nationale. Their construction was based on the experience gained during the construction of Dunkerque battleships face=Calibri>– smaller and less armed units – but quite modern for their times. A characteristic feature of the aforementioned ships, including the Jean Bart, was the unusual layout of the main artillery concentrated in two four-barrel turrets located in the fore part, while medium calibre artillery was located in the stern. This, in combination with the massive body of the command tower and the chimney 'hidden' in the rest of the superstructures, created an astonishing silhouette of a beautiful and very dangerous ship. Jean Bart was built at the Ateliers et Chantiers de Saint-Nazarie (Penhoët) shipyard in Saint-Nazarie. The keel was laid on December 12, 1936. The ship was launched on March 6, 1940.

The British Airship Carrier HMS Furious is one of the most unusual units of the Second World War. The ship was designed during the previous conflict as a „great light cruiser� with 457mm guns, but far-reaching changes were made during construction. Furious entered service in June 1917 as aircraft cruiser with a large aircraft deck in the bow and a single turret with a gun of the mentioned caliber in the stern. Thus, Furious made history as one of the precursors of British on-board aviation, becoming a floating platform for various types of trials and tests with airplanes. It quickly turned out that aircraft deck took up the entire bow part and is insufficient to meet the needs of the day-to-day expanding on-board aviation. Therefore, after carrying out only a few patrols on the waters of the North Sea, the ship was returned to the shipyard in the same year, where it underwent further reconstruction. This time, the aft tower and mast were removed and in their place was built another hangar with an aircraft deck, which was connected to the bow with special platforms running on the sides of the preserved superstructures. Since then, Furious was already a powerful aircraft, unfortunately not very successful considering the superstructure with a chimney that occupies the entire amidships, which apart from obviously taking up space, caused air turbulences induced by the huge dimensions and warm exhaust gases coming from the chimney. However, this did not prevent Furious from becoming the hero of the historical event, which was on-board aviation first strike on land targets, which took place on July 19, 1918. The target of the attack was the German Zeppelin base in Tondern, and it was carried out using Sopwith Camel planes taking off from the deck of Furious.

This book is a compilation in which we will find in one place (two volumes) the stories of all the German cruisers that were in Kriegsmarine service. Author describes their history in the order in which they entered the service, devoting much attention to their construction, precisely describing the differences among others. Going back to the history of the service, trying not to forget about the many curiosities in this policy and people who have a direct influence on their fate. Many excellent quality photographs primarily from private collections. All the ships are described and illustrated with full technical specifications. Profusely illustrated with scale drawings and color illustrations. Cruisers describes in vol. 1: Nurnberg Admiral Hipper Blucher Prinz Eugen Lutzow/Seydlitz

The French aircraft carrier "Clemenceau" is one of the largest and most powerful ships that served the Marine Nationale. Her keel was laid in November 1955 at the Brest Arsenal Ch. Atlantique in St. Nazaire, and she was launched two years later - on December 21st, 1957. Together with the twin "Foch", it was built on the basis of a project developed from the beginning of the 1950s, which included almost all of then novelties that were introduced in the construction of this type of ships. Therefore, she received, among others: a sloped flight deck with two lifts, mirror systems facilitating the approach to landing, means of observation enabling early detection of surface units and means of air attack, and modern catapults adapted to work with jet aircrafts with a large take-off mass. The length of the flight deck was 257 meters, the main runway was 165.5 meters long and 29.5 meters wide, with a deviation from the centre of the ship by 8 degrees. The hangar below it was 180 meters long and 22 meters wide. In more than forty years of service, which began on November 22, 1961, the "Clemenceau" performed countless tasks in both European and Pacific waters. She supported the activities of the land forces, incl. in former French colonies and during nuclear tests. Together with "Foch", she formed one of the strongest task force in the Mediterranean region and the waters of Western Europe.