Category: WW2 Ships: General

Although much has been written about battleships, little has been written about how their armament functioned. This book sets out to remedy this with an excellent set of technical descriptions.

Twenty-three very short accounts of leaders from the major participants. Rather desultory coverage.

Thirty-one short accounts of leaders from the high command and the battlefield; 9 British, 4 German, 15 American, and 3 Japanese. The 26 contributors provide accounts ranging from the balanced to the vitriolic, from the authoritative to the impressionistic.

Brief biographies of some 19 of the major Allied naval figures of the war.

Some one hundred post-1980 obituaries, including a sprinkling of non-British entries.

An account of their development, deployment and successes.

Contains a miscellany of information on equipment procurement and production.

A detailed guide.

Includes all the major designs that flew in the First and Second World Wars. It looks at how the aircraft evolved and how the warships were modified to accommodate the aircraft and the catapult system.

A comparative study of British and US destroyer equipment and design. Hodges describes British destroyers from Amazon and Ambuscade to the Battle Class in the first half of the book, while Friedman looks at the American side in the second half.

The enormous shipbuilding effort which built almost 2,800 of these ships in four years was critical in winning the battle of the Atlantic.

A major review of the theory and performance of seaborne radar systems, which catalogues every piece of major equipment to have seen service.

A curious but engaging work. Part history, part personal memoir, part one or two paragraph comparisons of the likely outcome of combats between aircraft types, it manages to hang together as an enjoyable and different perspective from a noted pilot.

A guide compiled by US Naval Intelligence, republished with an introduction by Andrew Mollo.

An immensely readable scholarly history of the battleship in the twentieth century, covering WW1, the inter-war years and WW2 in equal measure

Arranged by country and class, this comprehensively illustrated study is a model work by an expert.

Arranged by country and class, this comprehensively illustrated study is based on the proven style of his earlier work on destroyers.

Arranged by country and class, there are over 250 photographs and drawings. A good modern work.

An illustrated technical guide to the classes of battleship of the principal belligerent countries.

TALBOT-BOOTH, E. C. All the World's Fighting Fleets. 3rd ed. xix, 738p., illus. London: Sampson Low, [1940].

The first two editions were prewar; three other editions were published during the war. A rival to Jane's Fighting Ships and full of technical information.

JORDAN, John. Warships After London: The End of the Treaty Era in the Five Major Fleets, 1930-1936. 320p., bibliog., illus., index Barnsley: Seaforth, 2020. ISBN: 9781526777492.

A sequel to his earlier work on the Washington Treaty, this considers the impact on design of the quantitative limits on cruisers, destroyers and submarines, imposed by the London Treaty. Again arranged by warship type.

LAMBERT, John, & ROSS, Al. Allied Coastal Forces of World War II. 2 vols., illus. London: Conway, 1991–93; Annapolis: NIP, 1994. ISBN: 0851775195 (Vol.1); 0851776027 (Vol.2).

A comprehensive guide to the Fairmiles, Subchasers, Vospers, and Elcos. Reprinted by Seaforth with some new colour drawings in 2018-19. (ISBN: 152674449X, Vol.1, ISBN: 1526747553, Vol. 2).

CAMPBELL, John. Naval Weapons of World War Two. [10], 403p., illus., index. London: Conway; Annapolis: NIP, 1985. ISBN: 085177329X.

An encyclopaedic, country-by-country, detailed, technical reference work. Reprinted in 2002, ISBN: 0851779247.

MITCHELL, W. H., & SAWYER, L. A. Empire Ships of World War II. viii, 120p., illus., index. Liverpool: Journal of Shipping and Commerce Telegraph, 1965. ISBN: 0715349147.

Ships requisitioned by or built for the Ministry of Shipping were named with the prefix “Empire”. This lists and classifies all such ships - over 1,300 of them - and gives a brief history of each to 1964. A second edition was published in 1990, ISBN: 1850442754.

SAWYER, L. A., & MITCHELL, W. H. The Liberty Ships: The History of the Emergency Type Cargo Ships Constructed in the United States during World War II. 238p., bibliog., illus., index. Newton Abbot: David & Charles; Cambridge, Mass.: Cornell Maritime, 1970. ISBN: 0715349074.

A catalogue of the ships and their individual fates, as well as general construction details. A revised edition was published in 1973. A second edition was published by Lloyd’s of London Press in 1985 (ISBN: 1850440492).          

IRELAND, Bernard. Collins/Jane’s Warships of World War II. 255p., illus. Glasgow: HarperCollins, 1996. ISBN: 0004708725.

A pocket sized guide to the major vessels of the major powers – France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and USA. Gives a brief description and specification for each class.

BAGNASCO, Erminio. Submarines of World War II. 256p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Arms & Armour; Annapolis: NIP, 1977. ISBN: 085368331X.

A  full technical account of the submarines of all the belligerents of WWII, whether operational or not. The boats are discussed by country and class and the whole is profusely illustrated. A new edition was published by Seaforth in 2018, ISBN: 9781526744531.

FRIEDMAN, Norman. Carrier Air Power. 192p., bibliog., illus., index. Greenwich: Conway; Annapolis: NIP, 1981. ISBN:  0851772161.

A major review of the evolution and performance of carriers and their aircraft. Has useful comparative data.

FRIEDMAN, Norman. Battleship Design and Development, 1905–1945. 176p., illus., index. Greenwich: Conway, 1978; New York: Mayflower, 1979. ISBN: 0851771351.

A technical rather than operational book, concerned with the ability of designers to meet the various requirements of politicians and admirals.

Covers every class of cruiser operated or planned by the Allies, with some discussion of design and notes on the fate of individual ships.

Profusely illustrated. Although a general history, it is dominated by WW2.

The merchant marine equivalent of Jane's Fighting Ships.

The US built successors to the Liberty ships, most of which survived the war. Gives details of the building programme and of the fate of each ship.

How Merchant Navies operate. A guide for laymen which pays scant attention to the fact of war.

A catalogue of the merchant ships built in the US and Canada, including the escort carriers built on merchant hulls.

A listing of the ocean going fleets at the start of the war, arranged by country and company along with a section listing on wartime losses. An excellent reference work.

A stunningly comprehensive reference work listing details of all 2710 Liberty ship from name to fate. A basic reference tool.

A good history, describing both how and why they were built, as well as their exploits.

"This book is intended to be everyman's handy guide to those characteristics which a warship is called upon to employ when she works."

A photographic record of all capital ships built in the period, with detailed accompanying captions. Arranged by country then class.

A brief text with the leading details of the ships accompanied by some excellent photographs. .

Largely consists of line drawings of the warships of the major combatants and details of uniform of 16 countries.

An excellently illustrated and exhaustive guide. Reissued by Peerage in 1983 as Badges and Insignia of World War II.

Aims to provide a reasonably comprehensive picture of some representative ships and planes and to describe their employment. Published as three annual volumes.

PRESTON, Antony. An Illustrated History of the Navies of WWII. 224p., illus. London: PRC, 1989.

Although there is some account of campaigns this focuses heavily on the make-up and equipment of the protagonists. Notably well illustrated. Reprinted on several occasions, including Bison Books in 1979 and 1982 (ISBN: 0861240715), Gallery books in 1985 (ISBN: 0831763396), PRC in 1988 and 1998 (ISBN:1856484718).

Photographs and drawings of some of the major units of the major wartime Navies, arranged by country and then by type. There is a general accompanying critique of changes in design.

Some well-known stories of individual ships.

The Washington Treaty of 1922 agreed to legally binding limits on the numbers and sizes of the principal warship types. In doing so, it introduced a new constraint into naval architecture and sponsored many ingenious attempts to maximise the power of ships built within those restrictions. The approach of this book is novel in combining coverage of the political and strategic background of the treaty and the subsequent London Treaty of 1930 with analysis of exactly how the navies of Britain, the USA, Japan, France and Italy responded.

A review with brief details of the actual and planned aircraft carriers of all the belligerents, arranged by country and class. Only fleet carriers are included.

The first volume in a 12-volume series with the ambitious aim of becoming the standard reference work on ship technology. Each chapter covers a different type of ship and is written by a well-known expert. Profusely illustrated and encyclopaedic.

An unfortunate title for a series of 12 essays on various operations, mainly involving Britain and Germany, from the war at sea. Relies heavily on photos and artwork from Purnell's eight-volume History of the Second World War.

Some 71 colour plates are followed by descriptions of the ships and their careers. The ships were chosen as being representative of the ships or classes of ships of all the combatant nations.

Fully illustrated short histories of Rodney, Warspite,USS Washington,USS South Dakota, Scharnhorst,and Gniesenau.

An overall technical view. First published in 1936 as Warships Today.

Essentially a reprint of the 1946-47 edition but with addenda and corrigenda integrated and in portrait format.

The standard guide to the warships of the world.

A single volume covering every warship from the Washington Treaty to the end of the wartime construction programmes, plus surviving earlier ships. Over 1,000 photographs and drawings are combined with information from reliable modern sources, covering all the Navies of the world.

A good general primer, but with an inevitable American bias.

A sparse work arranged by country with representative boats of each class a good photo and some sparse details.

The ultimate battleship reference book detailing designs, technical data, and histories. A second edition was published in 1996. A third, larger and much more heavily revised edition was published as Conway's Battleships in 2008 by Conway and also the Naval Institute Press.

A well illustrated popular history which covers well worn ground. It looks at British, US and Japanese development in turn before considering carrier based actions.

An evocative study of these specially constructed ships which contributed enormously to the winning of the Atlantic Battle.

A country by country review of the ten thousand ton 8" cruisers which sprang from the Washington Treaty of 1921.

A good and well illustrated general guide.

A design history with some operational details.

A short popular history based on television series of the same name. Good WW2 coverage.

Silhouettes with brief descriptive notes. Several editions with minor amendments appeared throughout 1940. The seventh added the Italian Navy.

A detailed technical history of the design, construction and operation of all battleships and battlecruisers of vintage subsequent to 1930, including ships completed, laid down and projected. Includes operational histories with a comprehensive technical examination of the sinking of Prince of Wales. The ships are examined by class and there are companion volumes on the US Navy and on Spain and the Axis. US title: Battleships: Allied Battleships in World War II . (ISBN: 0870211005.)

The author continues his exploration of warship design and development with much of relevance to WWII.

This large volume covers all the Navies which developed such boats. It is profusely illustrated. Originally published in Germany, there is an emphasis on German boats.

The Danube has always been hugely significant to Europe. This book describes the low-cost, high-powered, riverine, armoured vessels which could support land forces. It gives plans and histories of all vessels the authors can identify. Soviet, German, and Rumanian monitors all saw action in WWII.

Gives a brief technical description of the torpedo boats of all the principal belligerents.

A well-illustrated guide arranged by country then chronologically by class. Dominated by the WWII carriers. A revised edition was published in 1992 and a new edition by Brockhampton Press in 1998.

A good but very limited illustrated pocket guide. Classes are described in three to five pages in country order, but only the major operational types are included.

A good but very limited illustrated pocket guide. Classes are described in three to five pages in country order, but the British list is limited to the Hood, Nelson,and King George V classes for example.