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Cockburn and the British Navy in Transition.   Admiral Sir George Cockburn 1772 - 1853.  By Roger Morriss.

Cockburn and the British Navy in Transition documents the experience of service under Nelson during the French Revolutionary War, diplomacy and combined operations during the Napoleonic War and War of 1812 with the United States, and administrative, political and technological change during the first half of the nineteenth century.  It focuses on Sir George Cockburn who, while maintaining the interests and professionalism of the officer corps, presided over much of the British Navy's transition from sail to steam.  Sir George Cockburn emerged from the Napoleonic War as the best known British admiral, renowned for his part in the attack on Washington in 1814 and for escorting Napoleon to St Helena.  But his greatest impact was at the Admiralty between 1818 and 1846 where, more than any man, he steered the British Navy through some of the most disruptive periods of political and technological change it has ever faced.  This book examines Cockburn's attitude to the development of more seaworthy sailing warships and his key role in the introduction of the screw propeller, placing these developments alongside the decline of flogging, impressment and personal patronage in the management of the navy.  Though Cockburn was regarded as a reactionary, this book reveals the liberalism that enlightened his policies in the navy; this enlightenment is revealed in his own earlier experiences.  By providing a unique insight into a deeply influential figure and into the many facets of Admiralty administration Roger Morriss makes a valuable new contribution to naval history. 

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For Europe £7.00 (each plus one charge of £3.00 recorded fee per total shipment)

Book serial number BK5262.  

Published Price £46

Special price £26. 

 Hard back with 338 pages.

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German Navy Handbook 1939 - 1945 by Jak P Mallmann Showell

Synonymous with such infamous Second World War battleships as the Bismarck, Scharnhorst and Tirpitz, the German Navy (or Reichsmarine) was renamed the Kriegsmarine in 1935 shortly after the mergence of the Nazi state, and went through a major re-organisation in 1939.  During the Second World War it became a much feared adversary both on and beneath the high seas, with its marauding U-boat 'wolf packs' coming close to defeating Britain in the Battle of the Atlantic.  In German Navy Handbook 1939 - 1945 Jak Mallmann Showell examines the different roles of the Fleet, its organisation and training activities during the war years.  Incidents and operations are also described, together with technical data for ships, U-boats and their weaponry.  A useful guide to German Navy uniforms and insignia is included, together with full details of rank structure and specialist trades.  Fully illustrated with photographs, maps and diagrams, this authoritative study of the formidable Kriegsmarine in the Second World War will appeal to all with an interest in the armed forces of the Third Reich.

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Book serial number BK5564B. Book price £25.  Illustrated hard back with 275 pages.

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The Royal Navy.  An Illustrated Social History 1870 - 1982 by Captain John Wells

From 1870 to 1982 the lives of the men and women employed by the Royal Navy have been affected by more critical events and unforeseen changes than in any comparable period. This book is the first attempt to record the social history of the Royal Navy during this time of transformation, covering everything from recruitment and training to behaviour in battle, discipline, food and drink, pay and clothing.  This unique study begins with the imperial splendour of Queen Victoria's ships and concludes with the professional fighting force that saw service in the Falklands campaign of 1982 - seen by many as the last gasp of empire.  Captain John Wells CBE, DSC, who saw service in the Royal Navy from 1929 to 1964, describes how the Navy has reflected the social attitudes of the day in the character and behaviour of its people.

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Book serial number BK8337. Book price £14.99.   306 pages.

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Midget Submarines of the Second World War by Paul Kemp

The history of midget submarines, submersibles and human torpedoes is one of the most fascinating areas of naval warfare in the Second World War.  Originating with the Italian Mignatta human torpedo of the First World War, designed to attack enemy ships lying in defended harbours, by 1945 almost all the major combatants had made some use of craft of this type, ranging from the British X-Craft, which crippled the German battleship Tirpitz in a Norwegian fjord and sank the Japanese cruiser Takao, to the Japanese Kaiten suicide weapon, the equally desperate German submersibles the Neger and Marder, and the slightly more successful Seebund midget submarine.  This book deals with each type of craft separately, dividing them into human torpedoes, submersibles, and true midget submarines.  The author examines the reasons why the belligerents engaged in midget submarine construction and operations, and details all the classes of craft that were built, also examining postwar developments.  Together with its superb plans and drawings, this book is essential reference for all naval historians, enthusiasts and modelmakers with an interest in one of the most daring and dangerous forms of naval warfare.

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For Europe £9.00 (each plus one charge of £3.00 recorded fee per total shipment)

Book serial number NMP6806. Book price £30. Large format illustrated hard back with 125 pages.

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The Grand Fleet.  Warship Design and Development 1906 - 1922 by D K Brown

The launch of HMS Dreadnought in 1906 ushered in one of the most rapid periods of warship development in history, and only ten years after the world's first all-big-gun, turbine powered battleship was completed, two entire fleets of dreadnoughts would meet in battle at Jutland, where the work of the prewar ship designers was to meet its ultimate test.  David Brown examines the development of British warships up to 1914, the responses to the demands of the First World War, and finally how the lessons of wartime experience affected warship development in the immediate postwar period.  As well as the battleships and battlecruisers, for the first time the developmental history of smaller vessels such as minesweepers, monitors and escort vessels, built as direct responses to wartime needs, is described, as is that of the submarine and the aircraft carrier.  A detailed study is made of battle damage, including the role played by ammunition explosions in the loss of three British battlecruisers at Jutland.  Also described are the postwar capital ship designs, killed off by the Washington Treaty, which are among the most fascinating 'might have beens' of naval history.

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Book serial number NMP6804. Book price £35. Large format illustrated hard back with 204 pages.

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The First Destroyers, The Turtleback TBDs of the 1890s by David Lyon

The Torpedo Boat Destroyers (TBDs) of the 1890s - the first destroyers - were among the most glamorous naval vessels ever built.  With their remarkable speed, thei connotations of David and Goliath, and their initial deployment against the Royal Navy's traditional enemy, the French, they caught the public imagination, while the command of one was coveted by all young naval officers.  Drawing on Admiralty documents and plans; the author has compiled a brilliant collection of data on the early development of these vessels up to the River class of 1900.  He also looks at the German response and the developments in the US, particularly the Bainbridge class with its distinct raised forecastle.  With its superb plans and drawings and entirely original research, this book is essential reference for all naval historians, enthusiasts and model makers with an interest in the evelopment of one of the twentieth century's most exciting warships.

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Book serial number BK3647. Book price £30. Illustrated hard back with 127 pages.

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The Long Arm of Empire.  Naval Brigades from the Crimea to the Boxer Rebellion by Richard Brooks.

This is the first full history of Naval Brigades - the intrepid sailors of the Royal Navy who brought their unique skills ashore in support of the army in a wide variety of 'small wars' and larger campaigns.  Since there were no major ship-to-ship actions during the period of Pax Britannica, Naval Brigades were at the heart of the action in the Victorian period, providing heavy artillery and machine gun support as well as an opportunity for Royal Navy officers to gain combat experience and earn promotion.  The Brigades constituted a flexible means of imperial intervention wherever the navy could take its ships or gunboats.   Richard Brooks analyses the strategic importance of Naval Brigades drawing on first hand accounts to evoke the experiences of the officers and men who formed them.  He vividly describes the reckless daring of Sir William Peel who led Brigades in both the Crimea (where they won ten Victoria Crosses) and the Indian Mutiny as well as the dogged courage and sense of humour that was to characterise Naval Brigades in Zululand, Egypt, the Second Boer War, the Boxer Rebellion in China, and other conflicts.  This highly readable book, accompanied by maps and illustrations, not only throws much light on how the Victorian Navy functioned as a fighting service, but also provides a new and refreshing angle on a remarkably popular period of British imperial history.

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Book serial number BK8404. Book price £25. Hard back with 330 pages.

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Seapower Ashore, 200 years of Royal Navy Operation on Land edited by Captain Peter Hore.

For most of the age when the Royal Navy dominated the world's oceans, it actually did much of its fighting ashore.  From supporting the army during the Napoleonic Wars with its heavy guns, to shore bombardments such as at Acre in 1840 and Sweaborg during the Crimean War, to the landing of naval brigades of marines and bluejackets in Queen Victoria's myriad 'little wars', the nineteenth century saw the Royal Navy playing a major part in land warfare.  This extended into the twentieth century, with the Royal Naval Division fighting on the Western Front in the First World War, the men of HMS Hood landing their ship's field gun in the ill fated Norwegian Campaign of 1940, and, very recently, when the submarine HMS Splendid fired Britain's first Tomahawk cruise missiles at land targets in the former Yugoslavia in 1999.  A group of eminent naval historians has been assembled to describe this vital element of the Royal Navy's role which has so often been overshadowed by the fleet actions of Nelson's time, and of the First and Second World Wars.  In the contemporary world, where the concept of littoral warfare dominates naval thinking, this wide ranging and authoritative work is a timely reminder that the Royal Navy has successfully pursued such a strategy for at least two hundred years.

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Book serial number BK1552. Book price £25. Illustrated hard back with 290 pages.

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To Sail No More by Ian Buxton and Warlow

Part One of the 'To Sail No More' series, featuring a collection of photographs, with extended captions, showing the Royal Navy's Reserve Fleets at home and abroad, mainly in the post WWII period.  These books also include pictures from UK scrapyards depicting the sad end for many of the giants of WWII as well as ships being sunk as targets. 

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Book serial number BK1552. Book price £15.95.  96 pages with over 90 photos. (SB)

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German Navy Handbook 1939- 1945 by Jak P Mallmann Showell

Synonymous with such infamous Second World War battleships as the Bismarck, Scharnhorst and Tirpitz, the German Navy (or Reichsmarine) was renamed the Kriegsmarine in 1935 shortly after the emergence of the Nazi State , and went through a major re-organisation in 1939.  During the Second World War it became a much feared adversary both on and beneath the high seas, with its marauding U-boat 'wolf packs' coming close to defeating Britain in the Battle of the Atlantic.  In German Navy Handbook 1939 - 1945 Jak Mallamann Showell examines the different roles of the fleet, its organisation and training activities during the war years.  Incidents and operations are also described, together with technical data for ships, U-boats and their weaponry. A useful guide to German Navy uniforms and insignia is included, together with full details of rank structure and specialist trades. 

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For Europe £7.00 (each plus one charge of £3.00 recorded fee per total shipment)

Book serial number BK1552. Book price £25. Illustrated hard back with 275 pages.

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The Battleships by Ian Johnston and Rob McAuley

Before the nuclear bomb, no weapon on earth had evoked so much fear, veneration and passion as the battleship.  In destructive power it had no equal.  Accompanying a four-part Channel 4 series of the same name, The Battleships unveils the epic saga of power, international politics, and one-upmanship that led to the titanic wars of the twentieth century.  It is a story involving rulers, war lords and admirals who all became intoxicated by the grandeur, majesty and sheer power of these floating fortresses.

Enriched with eye-witness accounts and contributions from naval experts around the globe, The Battleships explores the rapid evolution of firepower and battleship design from canvas to steam, timber to steel, muzzle-loading cannon to 18-inch guns, and beyond, to rocket launchers and missiles.  As the spearhead of colonial expansion and in defence of the great empires the battleship reigned supreme, and in the wake of World War 1, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and the US competed in an arms race which focused on building maritime muscle.

It was a reign, however, that could not offset the technological advancements taking place in the way wars were fought.  In the face of submarines and air warfare, the battleship would have to fight to prove itself an effective weapon.  Crippling defeats during World War 2, such as the loss of the famous British ship Hood and all but three of its crew by the guns of the German ship Bismarck and the destruction wrought by a Japanese air attack on the US fleet in Pearl Harbor, were turning points for the battleship.  With the major powers rethinking their arsenals, only the four US Iowa class battleships would survive to play a significant role in the wars of the latter part of the twentieth century.

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Book serial number BK8472. Book price £20. Illustrated hard back with 190 pages.

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 Fleet Battle and Blockade - The French Revolutionary War 1793 - 1797    by Chatham Pictorial Histories

Forgetting the setbacks of the American Revolutionary Wan, in 1793 the Royal Navy embarked on an almost unprecedented era of victories at sea, producing a considerable appetite for pictures of every incident, great or small.  A thriving trade in prints and engravings grew up, supplemented by watercolours and oils by celebrated artists.  Besides these 'public' works, many officers - and indeed members of the lower deck - kept personal journals and sketchbooks, illustrated with surprisingly accomplished drawings and watercolours, often depicting the everyday aspects of wartime life at sea that were ignored in the more celebratory media.  These sources form a rich vein that have been barely touched in previous publications, but which this book uses to full effect.  

Despite numerous defeats, the French navy continued to dispute command of the sea in the period 1793 - 1797, and the early years of the war abound with fleet engagements, including dramatic victories against the Spanish at St Vincent and the Dutch at Camperdown, between which the navy endured the shocking events of the Great Mutiny, potentially the most dangerous moment of the whole war.

This volume is the first of five covering the whole of the French Revolutionary, Napoleonic and 1812 Wars based on contemporary images , a series depicting the reality of warfare under sail in a depth never previously attained.

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Book serial number BK0180. Book price £30. Illustrated hard back with 190 pages.

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Tiger, Lion and Blake 1942-1986 - The Royal Navy's Last Cruisers by Neil McCart

For 20 years between 1959 and 1979 the cruisers Tiger, Lion and Blake took their place in the fleet as the last big gun warships. This is the first book to tell the full stories of all three ships in detail. In-depth research has allowed the author to cover their careers through each year of their operational service, and the story is enlivened by memories from ex-members of their ships' companies from senior officers to junior seamen.

There are 125 photographs covering the careers of the three cruisers from their early days at the ship building yards, to their departure for the breakers' yards.

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Book serial number BK5038. Book price £21.50. Illustrated hard back with 160 pages.

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The Royal Navy 1790-1970 by R Wilkinson-Latham & Gerry Embleton

Book serial number Osprey MA65. Price £8.99. 

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For Europe £3.00 (each plus one charge of £3.00 recorded fee per total shipment)

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War at Sea 1939-1945 by Jürgen Rohwer

This superb illustrated history of the naval operations of the Second World War recounts the events which took place in the Baltic and north Seas, in the Arctic, the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. It covers strategies of the British, American, German, Italian and Japanese navies and also deals with the naval efforts of the smaller belligerents.

250 photographs from the archives of all the countries involves, many of them rare, bring new insight into events of 50 years ago. But this book is far more than a pictorial chronology of the War; the author, who was a witness to the terrible events of 1930-45, has created a stark picture of the realities of war at sea and one of his purposes in writing this book was to give succeeding generations - amongst them future historians- some idea of how the conflict was enacted and how it affected the men who took part in it.

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Rest of World £12.00 (each plus one charge of £3.00 recorded fee per total shipment)

Book serial number BC3. Price £28.99.

Band of Brothers - Boy Seamen in the Royal Navy 1800-1956 by David Phillipson

This book is a revealing history of the boy seaman rating in the Royal Navy, beginning with its evolution from the 18th century 'Officer's Servant' through to its abolition in 1956. It tells of an astonishing Victorian Naval tradition which continued right into the modern age. HMS Ganges, a byword on the lower deck of the Royal Navy for rigorous - not to say harsh - discipline, was the hardest of the boy seaman training establishments.

The tradition, for which Ganges was widely regarded as the archetype, lasted almost to the threshold of the permissive society of the 1960s. Throughout those years the Royal Navy was a supremely conservative and traditionalist institution, and never more so than in its attitude to and treatment of its lower deck people - its boys in particular. This led a future First Sea Lord to describe HMS Ganges as late as the 1950s as 'the most feudal of the Navy's institutions.'

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Book serial number BS3. Price £10.99. Fully illustrated paperback with 253 pages.

Naval Battles of the Twentieth Century by Richard Hough

The major naval powers: Britain, America, Russia and Japan have all played a part in the theatre of war at sea over the last 100 years. This book is a detailed study of the bloody and tragic battles that took place and of the shifting pattern in the status of the naval powers and its effect on our history today.

'He who controls the sea has command of everything', Themistocles was supposed to have uttered in about 500 BC; thus the principles of sea power have remained unchanged from century to century, right back to the Spanish Armada of 1588 and beyond. Principles unchanged aside, of course, from the revolutions in material, from wood and sail to iron and steam, and those in strategy and tactics.

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Book serial number BC1. Price £28.99.

The Anglo-Dutch Naval Wars 1652-1674 by Roger Hainsworth & Christine Churches

During the course of the 17th century, England and the Netherlands three times found themselves at war in the North Sea. The first war, between 1652 and 1654, came about as a result of a mixture of causes: the rejection by the Dutch state of the English government's fledgling ideas of political union, the collusion of the Dutch Orangists with the exiled English royal family and the huge growth of English naval power during the Commonwealth; but, perhaps, chiefly the competition over trade, not only in the North Sea but across the world. In this, and the subsequent wars, both sides battled for control of the southern North Sea. Political changes in England brought about the end of the first war but in just over ten years' time war broke out again.

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Book serial number BS1. Price £20.00.

Shiny Sheff - The Story of Sheffield's Fighting Ships by Alistair Lofthouse

In 1937 a new cruiser entered service with the Royal Navy. One of the highly successful Southampton Class it was the first Royal Navy ship to bear the name Sheffield. During her 30 year career she distinguished herself in some of the most important battles of the Second World War, gaining 12 battle honours.

The second Sheffield was not so lucky. Entering service in 1975 she was to be the first Royal Navy vessel sunk in action since the Second World War. Many will remember the day well, May 4th 1982, during the Falklands War.

This book tells the story of the Shiny Sheff's from 60 years ago to today's third HMS Sheffield.

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Rest of World £8.00 (each plus one charge of £3.00 recorded fee per total shipment)

Book serial number BAL1. Price £8.95.

The Navy At War 1939-1945 by Stephen Roskill

Captain Roskill has long been recognised as the leading authority on the Royal Navy's part in the Second World War. His official history for HMSO, the three volume The War at Sea presents a detailed history that is unlikely to be superseded, and this book sets out the broad outline of the policies, successes and failures of the British and Dominion navies in the worldwide struggle.

The author writes with the same simplicity and ease whether he is describing the movement of ships in a single action or the relation of a whole campaign to the strategy of total war. The narrative is thrilling and the analysis clear: Roskill describes the major sea battles such as the River Plate and Matapan as well as the characteristic convoy actions of the Battle of the Atlantic, Murmansk and Malta. He covers the contribution made by British technology in the shape of Asdic and Radar but the story is, above all, about the courage and skill of the officers and men who made the victory possible.

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Book serial number W49. Price £4.99. Fully illustrated paperback with 480 pages.

RN Destroyers in Focus, Since 1945 by Lt Cdr Ben Warlow RN

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Book serial number BK1753. Book price £9.95.  96 pages with over 90 photos. (SB)

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The Royal Navy in Focus, 1960 - 69 

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Book serial number BK1333. Book price £8.95.  159 pages with over 100 photos. (SB)

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The Royal Navy in Focus, 1970 - 79 

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Book serial number BK1661. Book price £8.95.  160 pages with over 100 photos. (SB)

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The Royal Navy in Focus, 1930 - 39 

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Book serial number BK1043. Book price £8.95.  134 pages with over 100 photos. (SB)

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The Royal Navy in Focus, 1940 - 49 

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Book serial number BK1111. Book price £8.95.  176 pages with over 120 photos. (SB)

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Royal Navy Minor war Vessels in Focus

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Book serial number BK1814 Book price £8.95.  96 pages with over 80 photos. (SB)

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The Devil's Device, Robert Whitehead and the History of the Torpedo by Edwyn Gray

With the invention of the self-propelled underwater torpedo, Robert Whithead exerted greater influence over naval warfare and the design of warships than all the world's top admirals and naval architects put together. This book tells the absorbing story of Whitehead's life and traces the development of the torpedo from its birth to its place in today's missile age.

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Book serial number BK68. Price £25.

Midway: The Incredible Victory by Walter Lord

They had no right to win. Yet they did, and in doing so changed the course of the war. More than that, they added a new name - Midway - to that small list that inspires men by example - Marathon, the Marne, the Somme and Rorke's Drift. Even against the greatest odds there is something in the human spirit - a magic blend of skill, faith and valour that can lift men from certain defeat to incredible victory.

As Winston Churchill wrote, 'This memorable American victory was of cardinal importance, not only to the United States, but to the whole Allied cause ... At one stroke, the dominant position of Japan in the Pacific was reversed ... The annals of war at sea present no more intense, heart-shaking shock ... the qualities of the united States Navy and Air Force and the American race shone forth in splendour.'

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Book serial number W1. Price £4.99. Fully illustrated paperback with 220 pages.

Convoy! Drama in the Arctic Waters by Paul Kemp

Some of the most hard fought naval actions of World War Two took place in the most northerly waters of the world - the Arctic Ocean. Ships progressively covered in ice, their crews steadfast in the bitter cold, battled through heavy seas, all the while under threat from German submarines, aircraft and surface ships, as they braved the route from Britain to northern Russia.

The PQ/QP convoys began in late September 1941 and continued throughout the war. Despite pre-war ambivalence between Britain and Russia, the danger of the common enemy in Germany clearly dictated that all aid possible be provided - but the greatest challenge was yet again that of limited Allied naval resources being over-committed.

German forces were initially slow to react to the vulnerability of the regular, heavily laden convoys but quickly concentrated aircraft, submarines, destroyers and heavy ships in Norwegian bases. It was there, in her northern fiord lair, that Bismarck's powerful sister ship Tirpitz waited for the opportunity to intercept and prey upon the slow-moving convoys. Thus Britain was forced to retain large capital ship superiority close at hand to counter the threat of a heavy strike by these Kriegsmarine units.

Weather conditions made service on the PQ routes a constant battle to survive against the bitter wind, hard packed ice and sub-zero temperatures. Nevertheless, the supplies kept going through. And the cost to the Allies was high. For supplying the Russians with close on £600,000,000 worth of vital weapons, transport and ammunition, 18 warships and 104 merchant vessels were sunk. The material losses resulting from the debacle of Convoy PQ17 alone were the equivalent of a major land battle.

The Arctic convoys still exert a special fascination for the historian, and the exciting nature of the actions is well delivered in this new study by a popular naval writer. Paul Kemp sets the scene for the history of the convoys before a lively narrative covering their entire history. Highlights include a full section on PQ17 alone and a stirring account of the Battle of the North Cape. Meticulously researched from original operational orders and reports, this is an authoritative history as well as am entertaining narrative account of a fascinating period of naval history.

Book serial number BK55. Price £18.99. Fully illustrated hardback with 256 pages.

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The Battle of Jutland by Geoffrey Bennett

'There seems to be something wrong with our ships today, Chandler' remarked Admiral Beatty to his Flag Captain at the height of the Battle of Jutland as yet another British ship blew up. At the end of May 1916 a chance encounter with Admiral Hipper's battlecruisers enabled Beatty to lead the German Battle Fleet into the jaws of Jellicoe's greatly superior force, but darkness had allowed Admiral Scheer to extricate his ships from a potentially disastrous situation. Though inconclusive, at the Battle of Jutland the German Fleet suffered so much damage that it made no further attempt to challenge the Grand Fleet, and the British blockade remained unbroken.

Captain Bennett has used sources previously unavailable to historians in his reconstruction of this controversial battle, including the papers of Vice-Admiral Harper explaining why his official record of the battle was not published until 1927, and the secret Naval Staff Appreciation of 1922 whose criticisms were so scathing that it was never issued to the Fleet. There are numerous battle plans, photographs and a new introduction by the authors son.

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Book serial number W9. Price £4.99. Fully illustrated paperback with 220 pages.

Jutland, The German Perspective by V E Tarrant

On only one occasion during the four years of the First World War did the world's largest and most powerful navies meet in full battle. For so long the main indicator of the arms race between Britain and Germany - and according to some theories a major argument in the inevitability of the war itself - these two navies had long competed in construction, design and armament with each other and planned for that final battle which would decide the war at sea.

The reality of the naval war was far different to the single, decisive conflict strategists had hoped for. Instead a series of bold hit-and-run raids by German warships to bombard British coastal towns stung Royal Navy pride, and apart from fleeting chance encounters between isolated units of both fleets and the failed opportunities of Dogger Bank and Heligoland Bight the single, ultimate battle remained elusive. Until Jutland.

The Battle of Jutland took place on 31 May to 1 June 1916 as a plan to concentrate the German High Seas Fleet precisely against the numerically superior British Grand Fleet at a time and place of German choice, having lured the bulk of the Royal Navy into a trap in German waters. Bad luck, bad weather and the perennial weakness of such Great War battles - poor communications- meant the battle became a confused, rambling but desperately hard fought conflict. It also became a pyrrhic victory for Germany since although the Royal Navy suffered higher losses in men and ships, the German fleet never ventured out of harbour to seek battle again. The decisive battle that was claimed by each side as a victory was in reality a defeat of the German High Seas Fleet. 

Amazingly, this classic sea battle has never been studied from the enemy's view. Now for the first time in the English language a balanced and unique assessment of the German view of Jutland is possible. Drawing on many official sources, archives and translations of documents about the Battle of the Skaggerak (as Jutland is known to the Germans), the historian V E Tarrant has created this superb new study of the classic battle.

The author provides a complete review of Jutland using hitherto unseen German naval records: an inter-war appreciation by the German Office of Naval History, High Seas Fleet War Diaries, Chief of the High Seas Fleet Operations Staff papers plus action reports from individual commanders involved in the battle and the letters and papers of Tirpitz, Scheer and Hipper. As well as this wealth of untapped original source material on German views and accounts, the author also discusses the technical and material inferiority of the Royal Navy ships plus a unique revelation of the German code-breaking and signal interception played in their conduct of the battle.

Illustrated with detailed action charts representing ship movements and dispositions hour-by-hour throughout the battle, and with accurate scale drawings and silhouettes of all major warships and classes from both sides, Jutland: The German View fills an important gap in the history and understanding of this great action.

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Battleships and Carriers by Steve Crawford

Battleships and Carriers contains 300 of the most important and influential capital ships to have sailed the seas since the age of sail.  These include such famous battleships as the Admiral Graf Spee, Bismarck, Iowa and Dreadnought. The book also includes the greatest aircraft carriers that served during World Wars I and II, and those that are still in service, fighting vessels such as HMS Hermes, George Washington, Enterprise and Ark Royal.

Each of the 300 vessels featured in Battleships and Carriers is illustrated with the aid of a superb side-view artwork. In addition, the artwork is accompanied by a detailed specifications table giving displacement, dimensions, performance, date of launch and armament, plus accompanying text that summarises the career of the ship and its eventual fate.

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Aircraft Carriers of the World by Roger Chesneau

Aircraft Carriers of the World is the first comprehensive reference work to detail in one volume - with data, line drawings and photographs - the 360- plus carriers designed or projected by the world's navies. Although only five (and until recently only four) nations have ever completed the building of aircraft carriers, such vessels have seen service in twelve of the world's navies. Depending upon precisely how one defines the term 'aircraft carrier', some 329 ships of this type have been operated throughout the world, more than half by the US Navy; in addition, scores of carriers have been projected. All of these vessels are catalogued in Aircraft Carriers of the World, arranged chronologically according to country. Each basic design is discussed, and appearance notes and career summaries are presented for each individual carrier. In addition, each main entry is accompanied by a table giving design specifications, by a pair of constant-scale general arrangement line drawings, and by a selection of photographs carefully chosen to give as far as possible a comprehensive picture of each class and the variations within it.

The catalogue section of the book is preceded by a detailed narrative tracing the origins and evolution of the aircraft carrier as a viable fighting unit, with particular emphasis on the conflicting design requirements of, on the one hand, the ship, and, on the other, her aircraft - a problem that has proved to be one of the most taxing ever to face naval constructors. Flight deck operations and carrier tactics are also discussed, and an insight into the political argument that has continually accompanied carrier development is offered.

Containing over 400 photographs and line drawings, Aircraft Carriers of the World provides the reader with all the essential information he may wish to seek concerning what has become the largest and most complex fighting machine devised by man.

Book serial number BK22. Price £30. Hard back with 288 pages.

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The British in the Mediterranean by Peter Dietz 

Why did Britain seize or acquire bases in the Mediterranean, and for what reasons did she decide to give them up or keep them? As British power and interests changed so did her interests in the Mediterranean. Why were some bases retained rather than others? What is the future for Gibraltar and the sovereign bases in Cyprus? The British in the Mediterranean provides a brief description of the British military and naval involvement in such places as Tangier, Gibraltar, Malta and Cyprus. Peter Dietz gives an account of the gradual occupation of bases from west to east and the reasons for their acquisitions.

Historical in the main, this book also includes some account of the impact of the area on literary and social consciousness of the British visitors and settlers and the growth of British tourism in the Mediterranean is also examined. Filled with information on military architectural/archeological remains the British in the Mediterranean provides a novel approach for the tourist or the general reader, as well as for the military historian.

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Book Serial number BK11. Hardback 228 pages. Black and white photographs. Book price £29.95

British and Empire Warships by H T Lenton

British and Empire Warshps of the Second World War is the culmination of 37 years work by an experienced naval officer. The data accumulated far exceeds anything held in official records and has been painstakingly put together by a dedicated naval expert pre-eminent in his field. The book catalogues in encyclopaedic detail, the navies of Great Britain and what was its empire. No similar work exists, as other books tend to concentrate on particular classes of ships or a selection of warships from the navies.

In this comprehensive and definitive reference work H. T. Lenton has detailed all the warships of the British, Dominion and Colonial naval forces that participated in the Second World War. The background history of each category of warship is given, with extensive tables for the individual units, specifying the name, builder, engine manufacturer, building dates and ultimate fate of each vessel, where known. For each class of warship dimensions, displacements, armament and armour thicknesses are detailed. There are 634 photographs, some of which are unique, to provide the reader with a complete view.

A vast fleet came into existence under the powerful stimulus of war, and underwent a dramatic and sudden demise at the end of the conflict. British and Empire Warships of the Second World War covers all of the major surface warships, flotilla vessels, minelayers, minesweepers, trawlers, whalers, amphibious forces, coastal forces and miscellaneous vessels. In addition there are detailed appendices on radar, sonar equipment and pendant numbers, adding to the value of this magnificent and breathtaking study, destined to be the standard reference work on the subject for many years to come.

Book serial number BK30. Published price £100. Hard Back with 766 pages. Special price £85.

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Dreadnoughts in Camera by Roger D. Thomas and Brian Patterson

The construction of British Dreadnought warships between 1905 and 1920 was an enormous financial and industrial undertaking which involved all the major ship builders in Great Britain and two Royal Navy Dockyards. The speed at which these warships could be built became a matter of national importance as Britain was inexorably drawn into an accelerating naval race with Germany.

The massive dreadnought construction programme had to be mediated through the craft skills and working practices of a wide range of dock and shipyard workers. These leviathans of the sea were built at Portsmouth and Devonport naval dockyards and in the private shipyards of Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth, Elswick; William Beardmore, Dalmuir; John Brown, Clydebank; Cammell Laird, Birkenhead; Harland and Wolff, Belfast; Palmers, Jarrow; Scotts, Greenock; the Thames Ironworks, Blackwall; and Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness.

A selection of more than 130 rare and carefully researched illustrations have been drawn from the archives of Beardmore, John Brown and Vickers, and support the authoritative text. Many of these photographs have come from the archives of the Business Record Centre at the University of Glasgow. They depict the various stages of dreadnought construction and are complemented by images of the gun and turbine shops and rolling mills of the major armament manufacturers employed in the dreadnought programme. Dreadnoughts in Camera provides a timely and important insight into this defining period in British naval history.

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Book serial number BK31. Price £19.99. Hard back with 180 pages.

The Eclipse of the Big Gun

The Warship 1906-1945

Edited by D. K. Brown

This volume takes as its central theme the decline in the significance of the all-big-gun battleship, and describes the development of all the warship types of the period, from the aircraft carrier down to the smallest coastal forces vessels.

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Order number B5667, price £28. 224 page hardback. 275 photographs and drawings. 

Navies in the Nuclear Age

Warships since 1945

Edited by Dr Norman Friedman

By 1945 the threat to warships from above and below the surface had become to dominate the naval and strategies planning. Attempts to deal with the problem of aircraft and underwater weapons, the novel possibility of wartime operations in a nuclear environment, and the advent of more capable electronics, all helped to shape the development of the naval vessels which are described in detail in this volume.

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Order number B 5683, price £28. 224 page hardback. 260 illustrations. 

Defiance at Sea - 

Stories of Dramatic Naval Warfare

by Jon Guttman 

Defiance at Sea presents fourteen true-life stories of 'last stands' afloat - valiant sea fights in the face of daunting odds. Here are tales of heroism and hard fighting, spanning the centuries of sea warfare from the sixteenth century to the present.

For this volume the author has chosen dramatic examples of such warfare, beginning with the Elizabethan age of sail, the daring of Nelson two hundred years later, through to the present century with underwater and surface events vividly described. Included are:

Grenville's Revenge at Flores, 1591

Barfleur and LA Hogue in 1692

Nelson at Cape St Vincent in 1797

USS Constitution, 1812-15

CSS Arkansas, 1862

SMS Emden, 1914

HM Submarine B11, 1914

The pocket battleship Admiral Scheer, 1940-1

Badoeng Strait, 1942

SS  Stephen Hopkins, 1942

HMIS Bengal in the Cocos Islands, 1942

Tassafaronga, 1942

Samar, 1944

ARA San Luis in the Falklands, 1982

In selecting these battles, the author, Jon Guttman, has borne in mind the various forms of daring and resolution needed by a naval commander when the situation is desperate - the tenacious obstinacy of Grenville in the Revenge, the sheer aggressiveness of Jervis and Nelson, counter-balancing the odds at St Vincent; the daring of other commanders while operating deep in enemy controlled waters - as exemplified in the stories of the Constitution, Emden, B11 and others.

He also explores just how the situations arose in which the ships were trapped or forced into the final defence - some by calculated risk, others by sheer bad luck. The principal thread running through all these stories, however, is the courage of the participants in the face of adversity.

Book price £16.99

Hardback book of 228 pages. Black & white photos. Book serial no. BK11  sold out.

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The 50-Gun Ship by Rif Winfield

By the end of the sailing era the 50-gun ship had come to be regarded as a hybrid - too small to stand in the line of battle, but lacking the speed and handiness of the frigate - so was often dismissed as a naval architectural dinosaur left over from an earlier age. This prejudiced view has gone unchallenged in modern naval history, but this new book reveals the crucial role of the 50-gun ship in the development of both the battleship and the frigate, and explains the enduring role which ensured the survival of the type into the nineteenth century. True to the intentions of the ShipShape series, it is the first extended study of a type which is both technically interesting and historically undervalued.

Features include a separate set of large scale plans for modelmakers; these and the cutaway depict the Leopard of 1790, famous in history for her assault on USS Chesapeake and as well known in fiction as the 'horrible old Leopard' of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey novels.

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Book serial number BC4. Price £30. Fully illustrated hardback book with 128 pages.

Fleet Battle and Blockade - The French Revolutionary War 1793-1797 by Nicholas Tracy, Dr Roger Morriss, David Lyon and Robert Gardiner

Forgetting the set backs of the American Revolutionary War, in 1793 the Royal Navy embarked on an almost unprecedented era of victories at sea, producing a considerable appetite for pictures of every incident, great or small. A thriving trade in prints and engravings grew up, supplemented by watercolours and oils by celebrated artists. Besides these 'public' works, many officers - and indeed members of the lower deck - kept personal journals and sketchbooks, illustrated with surprisingly accomplished drawings and watercolours, often depicting the everyday aspects of wartime life at sea that were ignored in the more celebratory artistic media. These sources form a rich vein that have been barely touched in previous publications, but which this book uses to full effect.

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Book serial number BC5. Price £30.00.

The Naval War of 1812 by Dr Lambert, Dr Morriss, Robert Malcomson & Robert Gardiner

Regarded by many at the time as an unnecessary conflict, the War of 1812 was provoked by mutual misunderstandings and prosecuted without conviction on either side. It was also a war of surprises: the hitherto omnipotent Royal Navy suffered a series of humiliating losses at sea, while the American invasion of Canada, regarded as merely 'a matter of marching', was defeated by a makeshift force of colonial militia, native Indians and a handful of regulars. But in almost every aspect, it was a naval war, even the Canadian campaign or the burning of Washington depending entirely on seapower.

The United States went to war under the slogan 'Free Trade and Sailor's Rights', but at the peace had gained concessions on neither issue. Embroiled in the titanic struggle with Napoleon, at first the British had no war aims beyond preserving Canada and forcing the Americans to make peace. However, by 1814 the defeat of France allowed Britain to embark on a far more aggressive strategy, but this in turn foundered on Lake Champlain and before New Orleans, and the fighting ended without either side obtaining any strategic goal. But the war was not without significance - in fact, it has been described as 'a defining moment in the destiny of North America', from which emerged the modern states of Canada and the USA. It also marked the coming of age of the US Navy, which not only won morale boosting victories at sea, but intervened to crucial effect on the Great Lakes.

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The Golden Age of Shipping

The Classic Merchant Ship 1900-1960

Edited by Ambrose Greenway

This volume takes up the story of the merchant ship with the success of the steam turbine at the beginning of the 20th century. Each of the chapters is an in-depth history of a major category of ship including the great ocean liners, the sleek packet vessels and the elegant cargo carriers of the period.

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The Shipping Revolution

The Modern Merchant Ship

Edited by Professor Alastair Couper

Since 1945 the pattern of international trade shipping has changed dramatically. The postwar rehabilitation of the world's merchant fleets initially involved traditional ship types, but this volume charts the accelerating pace of change from about 1960 onwards and describes the hundreds of diverse ship types which have been developed. It also pints to political, economic and social reasons for these, and looks at likely developments for the future.

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German Destroyers 1939 - 45 by Gordon Williamson

The German Destroyer fleet of World War II consisted of nine classes: the Diether von Roeder class, the Leberecht Maas class and the wartime classes Z23, Z35, Z37, Z40, Z43, Z46 and Z52.  These vessels, though fewer in number than the British destroyer fleet, tended to be much bigger and more powerful than their Allied counterparts.  They served their country well throughout operations in the Channel, North Sea, the Far North and in the rescue of civilians from East Prussia during the final days of the war.  This title describes their design, development and operational use from the fjords of Narvik through to the end of the war

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British Battlescruisers 1939 - 45 by Angus Konstam

When war broke out in 1939, only three true battlecruisers remained in the Royal Navy.  One of these was HMS Hood.  Although the world's largest and fastest capital ship for much of her life, she was destined to be destroyed in action against the German battleship Bismarck.  The remaining two battlecruisers were HMS Repulse and HMS Renown.  Repulse was sunk by Japanese aircraft off Singapore, whilst Renown served with distinction until the end of the war.  This book traces the pre-war development of these spectacular warships, through to their wartime exploits, whilst using this information to demonstrate their operational and mechanical performance.  It also examines what life was like on these battlecruisers when they sailed into action.

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British Battlescruisers 1939 - 45 by Angus Konstam

When war broke out in 1939, only three true battlecruisers remained in the Royal Navy.  One of these was HMS Hood.  Although the world's largest and fastest capital ship for much of her life, she was destined to be destroyed in action against the German battleship Bismarck.  The remaining two battlecruisers were HMS Repulse and HMS Renown.  Repulse was sunk by Japanese aircraft off Singapore, whilst Renown served with distinction until the end of the war.  This book traces the pre-war development of these spectacular warships, through to their wartime exploits, whilst using this information to demonstrate their operational and mechanical performance.  It also examines what life was like on these battlecruisers when they sailed into action.

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