Bassetts book is a very thorough history of the battle cruiser type. The japanese lost two battleships, one heavy cruiser, three destroyers, eleven transports, and 64 aircraft. The climactic scene at the sicilian invasion is a real nail biter. This book is set during the middle years of wwii on a battlecruiser a ship with the firepower of a battle ship, but with the speed and maneuverability of a cruiser. But it is the summer of 1944, and on every front the war is going badly for germany. In this new book by bestselling author aidan dobson, the two hundred or so big cruisers that were built for the worlds navies from 1865 are. The type of this class in the united states navy was the brooklyn, which figured prominently in the war with spain in 1898. You get the sense the battle part of the name won out over the cruiser part. Helena hit kirishima aft with one 6inch projectile which resulted in minimal damage. Often forgotten are its lineal ancestors, the big cruisers that were constructed as capital ships for distant waters, as commerce raiders, and as fast scouts for the battle fleet during the last decades of the nineteenth century and the first years of the. In addition to the torpedoed ships recorded on its battle flag, the uss balao ss285 had a separate tally of victory marks for all the merchant ships sunk by its deck gun.
This book is set during the middle years of wwii on a battlecruiser a ship with. British novelists have produced a wide array of war novels from the napoleonic period to the modern day. The allied powers, with their larger fleets and surrounding position, largely succeeded in their blockade of germany and the other central powers, whilst the efforts of the central powers to break that blockade, or to establish an effective counterblockade with submarines and commerce raiders, were eventually unsuccessful. Quincy, the second ship to carry the name, was laid down by bethlehem shipbuilding corporation s fore river shipyard in quincy. First published in 2011 this book has been rereleased in july 2018.
Construction of these ships was abandoned under the terms of an armaments limitation treaty, though two were completed as aircraft carriers. This second volume in the shipshape series covers the development of one of the largest, fastest and most charismatic warship types. During world war ii, the united states built 72 light cruisers of various classes. Battlecruiser mp3 cd audiobook, mp3 audio, unabridged. After the mysterious death of the reliants last captain, guy sherbrooke is given command of the legendary battlecruiser. The japan china war, the naval battle of haiyang, on the. Navy and the imperial japanese navy that played out six months after the attack. The first uss juneau cl52 was a united states navy atlantaclass light cruiser sunk at the naval battle of guadalcanal november 1942. Youll notice in the text from 1916 that there is an aversion to. Historical summary of the naval battle of guadalcanal. Her construction began on february 23rd, 1909 and the ship was launched in october of that year. Enterprise and the first year of the war by eugene burns, hellcats. These ships are multimission air warfare aw, undersea warfare usw, naval surface fire support nsfs and surface warfare suw surface combatants capable of supporting carrier battle groups, amphibious forces, or of operating independently and as flagships. The naval battle of guadalcanal, sometimes referred to as the third and fourth battles of savo island, the battle of the solomons, the battle of friday the th, or, in japanese sources, the third battle of the solomon sea, daisanji soromon kaisen, took place from 1215 november 1942, and was the decisive engagement in a series of naval battles between allied.
These plans cover both preliminary concept designs that did not lead to ship construction as well as four designs prepared during the course of development of the one class selected for construction, the. The origins of the act are traced to pressures generated. In early november 1942, the japanese under admiral yamamoto isoruku organized another convoy, embarking 7,000 troops and their equipment. They were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed slightly in form and balance of attributes. Royal navy naval operations, volume 1 by sir julian. Navy guided missile cruisers perform primarily in a battle force role. The multiphase naval battle of guadalcanal consisted of a series of air and sea engagements related to the japanese effort to reinforce their land forces on guadalcanal in order to seize or destroy henderson field. List of battlecruisers of the united states military. But like all battle cruisers, its deck was thinly armored. Some tears were taped by the previous owner sometime in the past.
This part deals with the naval battle of haying between the japanese and chinese squadrons in the yellow sea on september 17, 1894. A night surface action on 12 november was the first phase. In an interesting lecture to the institution of naval architects of march, 1893, entitled on the present position of cruisers in naval warfare, rearadmiral samuel long stated that the size of cruisers had grown to such an extent that it would justify attaching the name of battle cruisers to many of them. This album contains a total of 216 individual sheets of u. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading battlecruiser modern naval fiction library book 4. This is a paperback edition of a book first published in 2005. The excerpt is taken from the military naval combat history of the naval battles of ww2 pacific theater. Hms indefatigable was a battlecruiser belonging to the british royal navy rn.
Naval battle of guadalcanal the naval battle of guadalcanal occurred 1215 november 1942 in two phases. The kirov class, soviet designation project 1144 orlan, is a class of nuclearpowered guided missile cruisers of the soviet navy and russian navy, the largest and heaviest surface combatant warships i. The most famous battle cruiser was the hms hood, the largest ship in the royal navy and, for awhile, the largest warship in the world. The ocean battles are complimented by flying scenes which are as exciting as the naval clashes. The design and development of british and german battlecruisers of the first world war era. This is the story of the royal navy battle cruiser hms renown, a famous ship with a long and distinguished operational career. Our outdated navy investigates, both curious and fearful. The brainchild of admiral fisher, the concept of this class began as large, fast. In previous years, congress had generally appropriated, say, two battleships and a destroyer flotilla, which left the navy lobbying in vain for the cruisers that the battleships needed to scout for them. By the time battle cruiser was written, reeman had polished his craft. Dec 15, 2014 this is the most comprehensive, englishlanguage study of the german imperial navys battlecruisers that served in the first world war. The alaskaclass cruisers were six very large cruisers ordered on 9 september 1940.
In the 75 years since the end of world war ii only two countries have constructed major surface combatant ships other than aircraft carriers. Richmond kelly turner, commander of amphibious forces in the south pacific theater, said. Scale modes of these kilometerlong craft were subsequently made. World war, 19391945 naval operations, british fiction.
Overview on 15 october 1944, following indications of impending allied landings in the philippines, the japanese imperial navys first mobile fleet launched operation sho. Petersburg built four nuclearpropelled battle cruisers, completing the 28,000ton warships of the kirov class from 1980 to 1996. Sho pulled together the majority of japans remaining battleship, cruiser, and carrier forces in a desperate, multipronged attempt to interdict and destroy allied landing forces off of leyte in the central philippines. Among modern warships, they are second in size only to large aircraft carriers, and of similar size to a world. In response to the severe air threat that surface ships faced, new cruisers were designed with increasingly heavy antiaircraft weaponry as well as the traditional 6in guns. The multiphase naval battle of guadalcanal consisted of a series of destructive air and sea engagements closely related to a japanese effort to reinforce land forces on the island. They were known, popularly and by historians, as battlecruisers, although the navy discouraged describing them as such and gave them the hull symbol for large cruisers cb.
Book 4 of 5 in the modern naval fiction library series. All were named after territories or insular areas of the united states, unlike battleships, generally named for states, or cruisers. A symbol of everything the royal navy stands for, the battlecruiser boasts the. The battlecruiser is perceived by many as the most glamorous of warships, remembered for its triumphs and tragedies in both world wars. For most authors she was a monocaliber armoured cruiser, quite a unique proposition at that time. The battlecruiser hms renown 19161948 default store view. The united states navy began building a series of battlecruisers in the 1920s, more than a decade after their slower and less heavily armed armored cruisers had been rendered obsolete by the royal navys invincibleclass battlecruisers. I especially liked his technical detail, battle descriptions, and opinions on how the ship type was used, or misused, in battle. Pen and sword books the battle cruiser hms hood an. The figures following show two original drawings of naval spacecraft carriers and battle cruisers that were visualized in advanced design, in 1954, from dozens of alternate configurations. Battle cruiser is one of reemans most polished efforts.
Filson young 18761938 was an irish writer, journalist, war correspondent and essayist. Recently the armored cruiser has been superseded by the battle cruiser. Korvettenkapitan vollerthun succinctly summed up the differences between royal navy and imperial navy battle cruisers by terming the british ships battleship cruisers and the german ships cruiser battleshipsindeed a farsighted and prophetic characterization. Books on naval warfare military history encyclopedia. Castles of steel is the sequel to robert massies page mammoth dreadnought which chronicles the national another one of his books ends with the sentence the great war was over. Only the weak armament made her miss the denomination of battlecruiser. Dec 19, 2014 the pseudonymous naval historianwhose writings i read and oftentimes enjoyhas hauled the naval diplomat into. Uss quincy ca 39 was a united states navy new orleans class cruiser, sunk at the battle of savo island in 1942. Battlecruisers typically had slightly thinner armour and a lighter main gun battery than contemporary battleships, installed on a longer hull with much higher engine. Halsey at noumea task force 67 rear admiral richmond k. The battlecruiser, or battlecruiser, was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. The naval arms race between britain and germany to build dreadnought battleships in the early 20th century is the subject of a number of books.
Navy preliminary design plans, dating from march 1911 through september 1925. Germanys attempt to build a battleship fleet to match that of the united kingdom, the dominant naval power of the 20thcentury and an island country that depended on seaborne trade for survival, is often listed as a major reason for the. In early november, the japanese organized another guadalcanal convoy, embarking 7,000 troops and their equipment in another attempt to retake henderson field. The ocean battles are complimented by flying scenes which are as exciting as the naval. In this engagement, we had displayed for our lasting respect and admiration a cool but eager gallantry that is above price. Naval warfare in world war i was mainly characterized by blockade. Peter chestnuts historical novel, attila and the battle cruiser, takes readers into the midst of amazing sea battles during world war ii.
The british were in 1906 also building nearmonocaliber cruisers such. Originally published in 2004, and once again now in 2015, the battle cruiser hms hood an illustrated biography 1916 1941 by bruce taylor is an incredibly comprehensive publication the entire life one of the most iconic ships to set sail for his majestys service. Looks at a group of ships that when first built posed a real threat to britains naval. Bullard publishes a plea for the battle cruiser in novemberdecember issue of proceedings. Japans defeat also ended the enemys final significant attempt to dislodge the allied forces in the eastern solomons.
This plan envisaged the construction of a large aircraft carrier from the keel up, but following the washington treaty on naval arms limitation in 1922 two battle cruisers under construction were instead converted to large aircraft carriers. Sms moltke engaged two british battlecruisers, hms tiger the most heavily armored battlecruiser in the royal navy when the war started and the indefatigableclass battlecruiser hms new zealand. Battle cruiser preliminary design drawings eleven of the 211 design drawings in the 19111925 spring styles book treat battle cruisers. The battle of midway was an epic wwii clash between the u. The development and technical history of the royal navys battleship and battlecruisers from 1911 to 1946. Battlecruiser modern naval fiction library book 4 kindle edition by reeman, douglas. The united states navy began building a series of battlecruisers in the 1920s, more than a. Another great naval history by ronald bassett his factual histories always read like a novel of the highest standard and battle cruisers does not fail his standards, anyone interested in naval history will love this book, and even though it reiterates many oft related topics his take on the many viewpoints from stoker, seaman, officer through to admiral regarding naval engagement s and events never fail to evoke interest. Start reading battlecruiser modern naval fiction library book 4 on your kindle in under a. What lies between these two lines is an unparalleled work more than 800 pages long of history about the war at sea between britain and germany in the great war. To the beleaguered army on the baltic coast she was their one remaining symbol of hope. Navy built the nuclear cruiser long beach cgn 9, completed in 1961. Battlecruiser modern naval fiction library book 4 kindle.
A symbol of everything the royal navy stands for, the battlecruiser boasts the speed of a destroyer and the firepower of a battleship. Battlecruisers in the united states and the united kingdom. This book, the battle cruiser hms hood an illustrated biography 1916 1941 by bruce taylor, is the most definitive collection of material covering the entire life of the mighty hood. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Nov 15, 2018 the battlecruiser is perceived by many as the most glamorous of warships, remembered for its triumphs and tragedies in both world wars. The uss atlanta is the fifth ship in the american column, behind a vanguard of four destroyers and followed by several cruisers and several additional destroyers. Its 1943, and the seas are haunted by hitlers deadly uboats and cruisers. First published in 1921, with the battle cruisers is a very personal, focused study of naval life during wartime as it unfolded for young. The uss barb ss220 had an unusual victory mark on the submarines battle flaga locomotive middle of bottom row. The faults lie in protection and thickness of armor.
Therefore the german battle cruisers were extremely combatcapable ships, steadfast against shell fire, mines, and torpedoes. Known as panzerkreuzer, literally armored cruiser, the eight ships of the class were to be involved in several early north sea skirmishes before the great pitched battle of jutland where they inflicted devastating damage on the royal navys. Battle cruiser lost colonies trilogy book 1 kindle edition by larson, b. The battle began on may 31st and lasted until june 1st, 1916 and became the largest naval action of world war 1. The journey from the railway station to the church in the one and only taxi seemed to pass within a minute. Battlecruiser modern naval fiction library, book 4 by douglas. The naval battle of guadalcanal naval weapons, naval. List of battlecruisers of the united states wikipedia. She was ordered as part of the 19081909 naval programme and awarded to devonport dockyard.
These massive warships were fitted with the latest weapons and electronic systems. The battle cruiser in the royal navy dreadnought project. What is the difference between a cruiser and a battleship. Battlecruiser by douglas reeman nook book ebook barnes. The japanese force consisted of two kongoclass battleships with high explosive shells for bombarding henderson field, one small light cruiser, and 11 destroyers. Battlecruisers typically had slightly thinner armour and a lighter main gun battery than contemporary battleships. This is for a rare vintage world war ii united states navy, uss guam cb2 battle cruiser. The battlecruiser is perceived by many as the most glamorous of warships. It is in good used historical condition for its age. The naval battle of guadalcanal 5 february 2020 page 3 of 58 times by 14 gunfire, likely from kirishima which claimed hitting a second american cruiser. Heavy cruisers were also the most likely surface threat to aircraft carriers making independent raids, so a. Battle cruiser preliminary design drawings shipscribe. Reeman has written a lot of these stories and they are very similar. Larson is a military science fiction space opera which will leave you breathless every time you put it down.
Uss guam cb2 19441945 ww ii battle cruiser cruise book navy. She was laid down by federal shipbuilding company, kearny, new jersey, on 27 may 1940, launched on 25 october 1941, sponsored by mrs. Buy battlecruiser by douglas reeman from amazons fiction books store. Combining the armament of a battleship with the speed of a cruiser in some of the largest hulls then built, these ships were the cutting edge of early 20thcentury naval technology. The crack german cruiser prinz luitpold had always been lucky in battle. Top aerospace designer blows whistle on secret us navy. The battlecruiser, or battle cruiser, was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. The italians, under their cinc admiral campioni, flying his flag in the new battleship vittorio veneto 9 x 15.
List of battlecruisers of the royal navy wikipedia. This book is a 272 page, softcover accounting of the hoods glorious, and at times, not so glorious. Aug 26, 2017 battle of ecnomus 256 bc largest naval battle in history duration. Modernised just in time for world war two, she rejoined the fleet in. I have a large collection of books that cover naval history from 1815 onwards, and. He was noted for publishing a book about the sinking of the titanic little over a month after the tragedy in 1912. This fast paced, action packed book is a great example of scifi writing at its best. With the speed and range to keep up with aircraft carriers, and their considerable antiaircraft capability, they were a mainstay of the.
The action at sea and on land flows smoothly and we have few extended breaks between the battles at sea. Yates stirling, usn claims that the dreadnought battleship has passed away. The armored cruiser was the particular development of the antagonistic views prevailing among naval architects. In total, 687 men, including the five sullivan brothers, were killed in action as a result of its sinking. Sep 23, 2015 the battleship book, to be published by wildside books in september, 2015 book robertmfarleydp1479405566. Aug 12, 2016 a century ago president woodrow wilson signed into law what at the time was the largest expansion of the u. Hms renown battlecruiser 1916 1948 page 2 of 4 naval. Now, at one stroke, capitol hill and president wilson promised the service 10 battleships, 6 battleshipsized battle cruisers, 10 light cruisers, 50 destroyers, and 30 submarines, plus lesser ships. Battlecruiser modern naval fiction library, book 4 by douglas reeman book cover, description, publication history. British experience during the battle of the falkland islands in late 1914 and the battle of dogger bank the following year, where british battlecruisers caught and destroyed german armored cruisers, confirmed all these capabilities. Originally built for the first world war she subsequently served in the postwar fleet and took royalty around the world.