British Cruisers: Two World Wars and After

During the twentieth century, Britain had the world's largest merchant fleet and overseas territories, leading to the Royal Navy's interest in the cruiser. The demands of quality and quantity placed a heavy burden on designers, and Britain sought to restrict size and numbers through international treaties. This book explores the policy background and the development of British cruisers, including modernizations, plans for missile-armed ships, and the conversion of through-deck cruisers into light carriers. It is a comprehensive and authoritative review of British cruisers, beautifully laid out to Seaforth's high standard.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 432 pages
Publication date: 28 February 2022
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books Ltd

Throughout the majority of the 20th century, Britain held both the world's largest merchant fleet and its most extensive overseas territories. Consequently, it is hardly surprising that the Royal Navy exhibited a particular interest in the cruiser, a versatile warship required in large quantities to safeguard trade routes and maintain order within the empire. Among all other types of cruisers, the competing demands of quality and quantity placed a significant strain on designers, and for most of the inter-war years, Britain sought to navigate this conundrum through international treaties that limited both size and numbers. Unsurprisingly, this approach inadvertently led to the invention of the heavy cruiser and the subsequent development of the large 6-inch-armed cruiser, both of which ultimately served Britain's interests less effectively. For the first time in this book, we aim to comprehensively understand the policy backdrop that shaped British cruiser development. Following the war, the role of cruisers was reassessed, and the final chapters of the book delve into modernizations, plans for missile-armed ships, and the intricate process that transformed the through-deck cruiser into the Invincible class light carriers. Accompanied by detailed appendices of ship data and extensively illustrated with photographs and A D Baker's specially commissioned plans, British Cruisers truly upholds the lofty standards set by Friedman's previous works on British destroyers. This is a lavish volume that offers a most authoritative and comprehensive review of British cruisers in the 20th century. The book is meticulously designed to Seaforth's renowned high standards.

Weight: 1818g
Dimension: 248 x 290 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781399097918