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Battleships of the U.S. Navy in World War II.
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August 5, 2023
A generally good guidebook on every class of US Navy battleship that served during World War 2. As such, this book comes down into that class of books I consider as "militaria" --- very much a niche book for aficionados of a very specific field of study in military matters and history.
The photos and illustrations are top notch. Most battleships during their service evolved as the Navy removed features and systems either obsolete or unnecessary, replacing them with updates to new threats or fleet requirements. The author provides good illustrations showing this development with each battleship. Regarding the photos, there are photos of many of these great warships that I've seen nowhere else.
In general, most US Navy battleships, constructed prior to WW2, were built with the expectation of squadrons of battleships facing similar squadrons of enemy battleships. As such, they had torpedo tubes and relatively light antiaircraft (AA) defenses. As WW2 progressed and how other combatants' battleships were used and fought, we see that the US Navy changed how it utilized battleships, ridding them of the torpedo tubes, installing more AA defenses, and better sensors like upgraded radars --- in response to battleships variously being used for task group air defense, naval gunfire support, and even as oil tankers in teamwork with destroyers, cruisers, carriers, and auxiliary support ships.
Regarding the text, in some ways, it tends to get very "inside baseball". For example, the author frequently mentions either the installation of some radar system on a battleship or else its replacement by an update model. To his credit, he describes what the antenna of each radar looks like; however, he doesn't describe what the operational capability of each radar is, making it mystifying to the average reader as to grasping the significance of this information.
Another gripe or comment I have regarding the book is that the author is keen on battleship technical details --- like describing a robot or some mechanical weapons system. But battleships were these, but much more that, they were communities of men working very hard to make be able to do the missions they were called upon to do. Consequently, it would not have taken much for the author to, at least, throw in some operational highlights or anecdotes, breathing some life into the stories of each of these great ships of the line. For example, you wouldn't know from reading this book any of the great stories behind the Washington, Missouri, South Dakota, Alabama, and others --- you would have to find those elsewhere, and, unfortunately, there's not much here in this book that would spur the average reader to dig deeper into these ships' war histories.
So, an adequate book for most readers, an ok read, but not great for most. However, an excellent resource for hardcore battleship fans.
The photos and illustrations are top notch. Most battleships during their service evolved as the Navy removed features and systems either obsolete or unnecessary, replacing them with updates to new threats or fleet requirements. The author provides good illustrations showing this development with each battleship. Regarding the photos, there are photos of many of these great warships that I've seen nowhere else.
In general, most US Navy battleships, constructed prior to WW2, were built with the expectation of squadrons of battleships facing similar squadrons of enemy battleships. As such, they had torpedo tubes and relatively light antiaircraft (AA) defenses. As WW2 progressed and how other combatants' battleships were used and fought, we see that the US Navy changed how it utilized battleships, ridding them of the torpedo tubes, installing more AA defenses, and better sensors like upgraded radars --- in response to battleships variously being used for task group air defense, naval gunfire support, and even as oil tankers in teamwork with destroyers, cruisers, carriers, and auxiliary support ships.
Regarding the text, in some ways, it tends to get very "inside baseball". For example, the author frequently mentions either the installation of some radar system on a battleship or else its replacement by an update model. To his credit, he describes what the antenna of each radar looks like; however, he doesn't describe what the operational capability of each radar is, making it mystifying to the average reader as to grasping the significance of this information.
Another gripe or comment I have regarding the book is that the author is keen on battleship technical details --- like describing a robot or some mechanical weapons system. But battleships were these, but much more that, they were communities of men working very hard to make be able to do the missions they were called upon to do. Consequently, it would not have taken much for the author to, at least, throw in some operational highlights or anecdotes, breathing some life into the stories of each of these great ships of the line. For example, you wouldn't know from reading this book any of the great stories behind the Washington, Missouri, South Dakota, Alabama, and others --- you would have to find those elsewhere, and, unfortunately, there's not much here in this book that would spur the average reader to dig deeper into these ships' war histories.
So, an adequate book for most readers, an ok read, but not great for most. However, an excellent resource for hardcore battleship fans.
Displaying 1 of 1 review