Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1860-1905 (Conway's naval history after 1850) [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905 is the first in a series of 4 books which, as the title suggests, lists all the worlds fighting ships built in that period between the first ironclad warship and the Dreadnought battleship. This was a time when the world's first great arms race was running a full speed - in short, as one country built a big battleship - so another would simply design one that was even bigger.

Conway Maritime Press are well known for their factual books on ships - especially warships, in which they provide the finest technical documentation. "All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905" is hard-back measuring 12" x 8" with 440 pages of detailed and factual information. After a brief foreword and an explanation of abbreviations used, the navies of the world are divided into three main headings; The world's great powers, coast defence navies and minor navies. Under each of these headings all the relevant ships are then listed by country. Displayed by "class," each section then commences with the largest battleships and progresses all the way down to the smallest torpedo boats (or whatever) with the oldest vessels mentioned first. For each class there is one or more of those profile line drawings which have become Conway's trademark. These are followed by all the usual technical details such as; Displacement, dimensions, machinery, armour, armament and complement followed by the names of each ship within that class - it's builder, date laid down, date completed and fate. These are accompanied by a very "readable" text from which we learn of the political intrigue of the day, variations between vessels, refits, new equipment, whatever defects or other problems that beset either the class or a specific ship and a short résumé of the fate of each vessel.

Altogether, the book is well illustrated with an excellent selection of historic black and white original photographs throughout with at least one picture on almost every page.

In summary, this is an excellent technical work of reference and one which will continue to stand the test of time. Put another way, this is one of those books you will wish you had bought - after it becomes out of print.

NM

Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905 is--without a doubt--the most detailed and complete reference for warships in the Civil War, ironclad, and pre-dreadnought eras.

Covering ships built just before the Civil War to the end of the Russo-Japanese war, this book contains information that you just won't find anywhere else. Each ship class built in this period, from torpedo boats to battleships, is detailed with an average of a half to one page per class. The stats for the ship (length, width, draught, speed, armour thickness, gun configuration, etc.) are complemented by a brief history of the vessels in question and a listing of modifications within the class.

At the beginning of the book is an indepth discussion of ship building of the era, including such things as discussions on magazine design, armour design, and other hard-to-find information.

The ships are listed alphabetically by nation for easy reference. This is a must for serious researchers, military historians, and naval wargamers.

This remains among the best single volume reference works on naval materiel for the ironclad up through the pre-dreadnaught era and a worthy kick-off to the rest of the "All the World's" series. This was especially true in 1979 when systematic coverage of ironclad and pre-dreadnaught capital ships, much less other naval units, was virtually lacking unless one had access to old editions of Brassey's, Jane's, or Parkes and even then illustrated coverage of the first 20 years of this period was scant. One might hope that Conway would have followed through on its promised update to correct some omissions and increase the number of line drawings. Additionally, a promised volume on the first half of the 19th century's naval materiel to address the transition from sail to steam and shell gun has never emerged. A must-have for any collection on 19th century naval materiel and history.