Category: Battleships

SIMKINS, Peter J. Battleships: the Development and Decline of the Dreadnought. 80p., bibliog., illus. London: Imperial War Museum, 1979.

A short but well researched and well-illustrated study offering a useful overview.

JOHNSTON, Ian & FRENCH, Mick. Battleship Ramillies. 256p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2014. ISBN: 9781848322073.

A lovingly crafted ship history created from diaries, records and oral histories.

PEARSE, Anthony. From Stormy Seas to Calmer Waters: Sailor At Sea, Salesman Ashore. 68p., illus. Studley: Brewin, 2008. ISBN: 1858584272.

Brief memoir by a seaman officer who after Pangbourne served in Warspite as a midshipman which he joined on the west coast of Canada before she proceeded via Australia to join the Eastern Fleet.  He was with her at Salerno when she was struck by a German glider bomb.  After a navigation course at Dryad he served in Bermuda and West Africa before being sent home for his sub's courses.  As a Lieutenant he joined the Battle Class destroyer Gravelines, building at Cammell Laird's in Greenock.

BALLANTYNE, Iain. H.M.S. Rodney (Warships of the Royal Navy.) xvi, 304p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2008. ISBN: 1844154068.

A well illustrated popular general operational history full of the reminiscences of those who served on her. Reissued in paperback in 2012 as HMS Rodney: Slayer of the Bismarck and D-Day Saviour (ISBN: 1848848706).

PEARS, Randolph. British Battleships 1892–1957: The Great Days of the Fleets. xiii, 201p., illus., index. London: Putnam, 1957. ISBN: 0906223148

A description of the various classes of ship and their careers. Reprinted in 1979 by Cave Associates.

RAVEN, Alan, & ROBERTS, John. British Battleships of World War II: The Development and Technical History of RN Battleships and Battlecruisers 1911–46. 436p., illus. London: Arms & Armour; Annapolis: NIP, 1976. ISBN: 0853681414.

A comprehensive and lavishly produced work which went through several impressions. It includes many designs which never left the drawing board. Gives details of each occasion when ships saw action. An excellent work.

BROOKS, Waite. The British Pacific Fleet in World War II: An Eyewitness Account as Seen From the Bridge Deck of the Flagship, HMS King George V. 277p., illus. Bloomington, IN; Authorhouse,2013. ISBN: 9781481740357.

He joined the RCN in 1942 aged seventeen and after officer training was sent to the RN as a midshipman in 1944. He was part of the air defence team on KGV, abaft the bridge and recorded all he saw in a journal.

LEWIN, Terry. He Who Would Valiant Be: the Wartime Diary of Midshipman T. T. Lewin, HMS Valiant, 1940. [c 370p., illus. e-book]; London: Lewin of Greenwich Organisation Limited – Kindle edition, 2016. ISBN: 9781783018680.

An excellent example of such a journal is edited by Tim Lewin, the son of the author.  This journal describes his service as a midshipman aboard Valiant ranging from the bombardment at Mers-el Kebir to deck hockey tournaments. The events are described with some clarity.

McCART, Neil. Nelson & Rodney 1927-1949: The Big Battleships. 144p., illus. Liskeard: Maritime Books, 2005. ISBN: 1904459161.

Gives good basic detailed operational histories.

Another of these good technical surveys.

FRIEDMAN, Norman. The British Battleship 1906-1946.Barnsley: Seaforth, 2015. ISBN: 9781848322257.

Covers the development of Royal Navy capital ships, including battlecruisers, from the pre-history of the revolutionary Dreadnought of 1906 to the last of the line, HMS Vanguard in 1946. A good work from an expert.

LEVIN, Steven. Battlewagon Stoker 1938-1947. [2], 322p., illus. n.p., CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015. ISBN: 9781517299934.

A biography of his grandfather, Eric Levin. It is written in the first person, recreated from post-war memories and some written notes. He enlisted in 1938 then served on Malaya until 1941, Delhi until 1944, before joining Coastal Forces, notably in the Mediterranean.

CLARKE, Bob. War and Peacey.  [224p]., illus. [n.p., author], 2018. ISBN: 9780992760113.

Aged 15, Chris Peacey joined the RN on the outbreak of war as a boy seaman. His first ship was Prince of Wales, where he served through the Bismarck hunt and on until her sinking in the Far East. He was quickly transferred to Danae and spent some time with her in the Indian Ocean before returning to the UK. He then went to the USA where he joined the newly acquired LST 163, nicknamed Rose Marie by her crew. With her he took part in allied assault landings in North Africa, Sicily, Anzio, Normandy and Malaysia. Also describes his post-war career in submarines. A fascinating and very personal tale as told to the author.

BROWN, Robert. Battleship Warspite: Detailed in the Original Builders’ Plans. 144p., bibliog., illus. Barnsley: Seaforth, 2017. ISBN: 9781526719379.

Another in the series based on the original drawings preserved in the National Mari-time Museum. Covers her entire technical history from 1912 to 1947 with full details of repairs, additions and reconstruction.

BURT, R. A. British Battleships 1919-1939. 414p., bibliog., illus, index. London: Weidenfeld Military, 1993. ISBN: 1854090682.

Covering British warships during the interwar years, this book examines what was learnt during World War I and the new ideas put forward to produce seminal battleship designs. All classes' design and construction are thoroughly described as well as individual ship's histories. A revised edition entitled British Battleships 1919-1945 was published by Seaforth in 2012 (ISBN: 1848321309).

BUXTON, Ian & JOHNSTON, Ian. Battleship Duke of York: An Anatomy from Building to Breaking. 256p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth 2021. ISBN: 9781526777294.

The core of the book is a complete set of as-fitted plans of the ship, including many details and close-ups. There is also a set of plans of the major refit in March 1945, showing all the modifications undertaken to prepare the ship for service alongside the US Navy in the Pacific. There are many photographs of her during building. The book concludes with an illustrated chronology of the breaking up.

WRIGHT, Matthew. Britain’s LAST Battleships. 52p., bibliog. Wellington, NZ: Intruder Books, 2018. ISBN:    9780908318223.

A short monograph by a leading New Zealand historian covers the political, economic and technical background to battleship design and construction in the 1930s. A second edition was published in 2020, ISBN: 9780908318285.

BLUNDELL, W. D. G. Royal Navy Battleships 1895-1945. 96p., illus., index. London: Almark, 1973. ISBN: 085524092X.

A small but important book with line drawings, excellent photographs and a brief account of each class.

The 'Old Lady' was arguably the most famous British capital ship of the two world wars. This well-crafted account includes valuable personal reminiscences from the men who served on her.

A very well illustrated popular general history concentrating on the seventh of name.

A useful summary of previously published data. There are almost 1,000 illustrations and the plans are beautifully drawn.

A largely technical account of this famous class, and more concerned with WWI than WWII. Brief operational histories are given.

Almost entirely concerned with WWII, when she was mined and torpedoed, but saw service with the Home Fleet, on Club Runs with Force H, at D-Day, and finally in the Far East.

One of the junior officers of Prince of Wales, assisted by his father, gives a personal account of the short life of the ill-starred battleship.

A biography of the ill-fated battleship sunk with heavy loss of life in the Mediterranean in 1941. She saw 25 years of very active service, from Jutland to Matapan.

Over forty brief reminiscences from the lower deck in an economically produced book from the ships association members.

For many years the standard technical work on this subject. A second edition was published in 1966.

A record of her commission, which is a mixture of articles, poems, cartoons, and newspaper accounts.

57p., illus. London: Arms & Armour; New York: RSV, 1979. A technical and operational history of these two distinctive ships. Profusely illustrated.

A well-illustrated volume with good descriptions and brief operational details.

The usual mixture of technical and operational details.

Roskill served on Warspite and this full history covers her entire career which envelops almost the entire gamut of Royal Navy experience for half a century. She saw action from Jutland to Walcheren via Narvik and Matapan and witnessed the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet in 1918 and the Italian Fleet in 1943. The author packs a great deal into a relatively small space.

The author's usual mix of fact and reminiscence, concentrating on WWII. Apart from Royal Oak, sunk in 1939, they all saw active and arduous service but survived the war. A routine, workmanlike study.

A mainly operational history, well-illustrated and full of statistics in a spare style.

A handsomely produced and illustrated volume which is a straightforward operational narrative.

"A friendly description rather than an official account" collected by the chaplain. She worked from Murmansk to Malta and from the Bismarck hunt to D-Day.