Battlecruiser Invincible: The History of the First Battlecruiser, 1909-1916

by V.E. Tarrant

Book by Tarrant, V. E.

Genres: Naval History

158 pages, Hardcover

First published December 31, 1986

About the author

V. E. TARRANT (South Wales, Great Britain) is a military and naval historian and author of several books on World War II.

Reviews

[Edwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short read (how could be be otherwise?), but but excellent nevertheless. It starts with a scathing examination of the design criteria that lead to Invincible's destruction - contrasting Fisher's misconception that 'speed is the best protection' and 'hitting is the thing' (at a time when the Germans were building faster ships and when Invincible's turrets didn't work properly and she was supplied with dud shells) with von Tirpitz's view that a ship 'must, what ever else, be able to remain afloat and stay in action'. There follows excellent accounts of the battles of the Falklands and Jutland as well as the rest of Invincible's short carrier, drawing heavily on diaries and eye-witness accounts. Of particular note are the 14 pages of maps (out of a total of 1558pp), which must be the envy of longer, more 'authorative' works.