British Warships & Auxiliaries 2015/16

By Steve Bush

The fully revised and updated well respected guide to the ships,aircraft and weapons of the fleet. Over 80 colour photos. Complete with pennant numbers and silhouettes. Now expanded to include Royal Marine Craft and Border Agency vessels.
This book, published annually, is the best reference tool available on the Royal Navy and is edited by LCDR Steve Bush RN (Ret'd). The latest issue, as usual, contains glossy high resolution images of ships and aircraft and should be on the bookshelf of naval personnel as well as those with an interest in the Royal Navy. 

Order your copy today.

British Warships & Auxiliaries 2014/15

British Warships & Auxiliaries 2014/15

The Complete Guide to the Ships & Aircraft of the Fleet

By Steve Bush

Maritime Books navybooks.com 120 Pages Softcover 2014

One of our yearly treats is the release of the latest edition of British Warships and Auxiliaries and this year’s version by Steve Bush lives up to the standards. Profusely illustrated with almost all color photographs, a description of all current and planned warships, submarines, aircraft and auxiliaries are listed with their particulars. In addition, the book covers British Army and Border Force vessels. This books is a must for naval bookshelves.

British Phantoms: FG.1 and FGR.2 (F-4 K/M) in Royal Navy and RAF Service, 1966-78 (The Ultimate F-4 Phantom II Collection, Volume 4)

By Patrick Martin 978-3-935687-84-3 2012 Double Ugly Hardback; 160 pages , B&W and Color Illustrations plus Color Plates

Reviewed by Jim Bates

One of the early kits that remains in my memory is the Matchbox British Phantom.  As a young boy, nothing seemed cooler, and I've had a slight obsession with the Spey-engined Phantom ever since.  With such wonderful memories, what a great treat it was to open Patrick Martin's new book.  The 160-page hardcover has everything one needs on the topic.  Chapters include design and development, operational use, colors and markings, and squadron data.  Every page is well illustrated with many photos, most in color, with some black and white shots interspersed.  Also included among the text are color side-view drawings of some of the interesting markings that the Spey Phantoms have carried as well as an appendix illustrating the FG.1 and FGR.2 camouflage schemes with four view drawings.  Carrier operations with the Fleet Air Arm, and land based reconnaissance, strike, and finally air defense use by the RAF of the F-4 are covered, including a short segment on the Phantoms that participated in the 1969 Daily Mail Atlantic race.  While the book is more a general history of the type and not a detail oriented modelers book,  detail of interest to modelers can be observed in many of the photos.  About the only flaw I can see is that I need to wait for the second book that will cover the service after 1979.  Highly recommended to both the F-4 modeler and the Phantom fan.

British Warships and Auxiliaries 2013/14

Maritime Books 2013 

The annual welcomed edition from Maritime Books, British Warships and Auxliaries is now available. Nobody has a better grasp on the current Royal Navy than the editor of Warship World, Steve Bush. Fully illustrated in color (with the exception of the author's portrait picture) and detailed, this book is a must for the bookshelf of navy professionals and enthusiasts alike.

C Class Destroyers

Maritime Books 2012

40 ships of the C Class were planned for the Royal Navy in World War II with 32 completed and the last eight cancelled in favor of newer designs. The class was broken down into five groups of eight, with each octet being given CA, CH, CO, CR and CE names. The Royal Canadian Navy was to receive the who CH group (something I did not know) but due to manning considerations this was deferred to the later CR group. In any event the war ended before the CRs entered service and only two went to the RCN, four to Norway and two to Pakistan.
Each variant of the C Class incorporated improvements over the previous batch with later ships having a large dual purpose gun director which necessitated the removal one of bank of torpedo tubes.
The CA group were given a partial modernization in the 1950s and HMCS Crescent was the only member of the class to receive a Type 15 style modernization. Coming in 1955-56, Crescent's modernization was far and away the best Type 15 style modernization of any navy.
Profusely illustrated in the Maritime Books manner, this book is an entertaining read.

Town Class Cruisers

2012 Maritime Books

After reading this book right after completing C Class Destroyers from the same publisher, I can tell you that reading of both was enjoyable.
Other works to date have focused on the technical history of these famous cruisers, but this one details their operational service.
Conceived in the 1930s as a response to the growing size and capability of cruisers, these ships were the British response. Four of these ships were lost in action, Edinburgh, Gloucester, Manchester & Southampton. Six served in the postwar fleet with one preserved by the Imperial War Museum in London, HMS Belfast/
Three small errors noted in the text:

• Plumper blocks called plummer blocks
• Type 279 numbers transposed as Type 297
• Confusion on Saint John, New Brunswick and St John's. Newfoundland

Profusely illustrated, this book is highly recommended. 

Flightline Series 1: de Havilland Sea Vixen 1 and 2

by Roy Sutherland

Subtitled as an in-depth photographic study, this book does what it says on the cover.  After an eight page short history of the Sea Vixen by Chris Bucholtz, the remaining hundred pages of this book include clear and detailed colour photographs of every inch of this unique British naval fighter.  No more than three photos are included on any one page and some technical drawings are interspersed where appropriate.  As expected, the photos are of preserved museum aircraft and the one remaining flying Sea Vixen.  Cockpit, landing gear, and airframe details are all here.  Highly recommended for anyone wanting to super-detail the new Airfix or Cyberhobby Sea Vixens. (Jim Bates)

Naval Warfare 1914-1918: From Coronel To The Atlantic And Zeebrugge

By Tim Benbow Amber Books 9781906626167

At the start of the war, the German Empire had cruisers scattered across the globe, some of which were subsequently used to attack Allied merchant shipping. The British Royal Navy systematically hunted them down, though not without some embarrassment from its inability to protect Allied shipping. However, the bulk of the German East-Asia squadron did not have orders to raid shipping and was instead underway to Germany when it encountered elements of the British fleet. Soon after the outbreak of hostilities, Britain initiated a naval blockade of Germany. The strategy proved effective, cutting off vital military and civilian supplies. The 1916 Battle of Jutland developed into the largest naval battle of the war, the only full-scale clash of battleships during the war. The Kaiserliche Marine's High Seas Fleet, commanded by Vice Admiral Reinhard Scheer, squared off against the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet, led by Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. The engagement was a standoff, as the Germans, outmaneuvered by the larger British fleet, managed to escape and inflicted more damage to the British fleet than they received. Strategically, however, the British asserted their control of the sea, and the bulk of the German surface fleet remained confined to port for the duration of the war. German U-boats attempted to cut the supply lines between North America and Britain. The nature of submarine warfare meant that attacks often came without warning, giving the crews of the merchant ships little hope of survival. The U-boat threat lessened in 1917, when merchant ships entered convoys escorted by destroyers. With the last few men who served in World War I now dying out, and the 90th anniversary of the Armistice coming in November 2008, there is no better time to reevaluate this controversial war and shed fresh light on the conflict. With the aid of numerous black and white and color photographs, many previously unpublished, the World War I series recreates the battles and campaigns that raged across the surface of the globe, on land, at sea and in the air. The text is complemented by full-color maps that guide the reader through specific actions and campaigns.
Profusely illustrated, this book is written in an easy to read format.

Abandon Ship! The Post-War Memoirs of Captain Tony McCrum RN

By Tony McCrum 9781848846661 2012 Pen and Sword Books

Captain Tony McCrum’s naval career started in 1932. He survived the sinking of HMS Skipjack at Dunkirk and went on to serve on minesweepers and at sea during the landings at Salerno. His wartime experiences were recently published as Sunk by Stukas.

This book covers the second part of his naval career between 1945 and 1963. Having arrived back in Plymouth from Trincomlee as a lieutenant aboard the destroyer Tarter in November 1945, his first appointment was as senior instructor at the RN Signals School in Devonport. There then followed two appointments as Flag Lieutenant; first to Admiral Pridham-Wippell, CinC Plymouth Command and then Admiral Sir Rhoderick McGrigor, CinC Home Fleet, where he was also Deputy Fleet Communications Officer. He was based on the admiral’s flagship, the battleship HMS Duke of York which he joined in 1947. The fleet exercised in the Atlantic and Mediterranean and ‘showed the flag’ in various ports in the USA, Caribbean Islands and the Baltic. In May 1948 he was promoted Lt. Commander. In 1950 he instructed at the main Naval Signals School at Leyedene House near Petersfield.

Promoted Commander, now 32 years of age, he was surprised to be appointed to accompany King George VI on a state visit to Australia and New Zealand. This was to be aboard the liner SS Gothic as there was no Royal Yacht at that time. However after months of preparation the voyage was cancelled because of the King’s terminal illness and the coronation of Britain’s new Queen.

In November 1954 he took his first command, HMS Concord, a destroyer in the 8th Destroyer Squadron based in Hong Kong. During his eighteen month captaincy of this ship he saw action off the coast of Malaya and a lengthy visit to Australia to assist in the aftermath of a hurricane. After a spell ashore as Training Commander at HMS Ganges and after promotion to Captain in 1958, he was sent to Norway on the staff of the CinC Northern European Command. In November 1960 he was again given a seagoing command. He was to skipper HMS Meon and responsibility for the Amphibious Warfare Squadron in the Persian Gulf. The squadron composed of Meon, two tank-landing ships, four tank-landing craft and a Rhino (a pontoon-like vessel for the shallow-water landing of tanks). He was ordered to cover an area extending from the East African coast, the Red Sea and to the Persian Gulf. Having worked-up this mixed bunch of vessels and their crews, plus army personnel he was confronted with the defence of Kuwait when it was threatened by the Iraqi dictator General Kassem in 1961. He was charged with landing the twelve tanks in his squadron to defend Kuwait’s main port of Shuwaikh. This was successfully carried out under difficult circumstances and the Iraqi invasion was defeated. After 42 years in the RN, Tony retired to be with his wife and young family.

The book is reasonably well written and covers a period that has not been covered in depth, the early years of the Cold War and Royal Navy amphibious operations in the Middle East.  A few errors were noted in the manuscript, which are probably faulty recollection from the time elapsed, HMS Barham was sunk by the Germans - the Italians and HMS Concord has 4.5 inch guns not 4.7. One other error if the flyleaf spells HMS Tartar TARTER.

The book is well worth reading and kudos to the author and publisher for bringing out this book.

THE ROYAL NAVY IN FOCUS 1980-89

Maritime Books ISBN 9781904459484

Steve Bush, Editor of Warship World Magazine, has done a credible job since assuming the authorship of this popular pictorial histories from company founder Mike Critchley. 
The 1980s was a period the began with the infamous John Nott cuts which were about to be implemented when the Falklands War broke out in 1982. Most of the remainder of the decade was an upbeat period of the future of the Royal Navy until the end of the Cold War in 1989 when cuts continuing to this day have reduced this proud service to a mere shadow of its former self.
The book contains about 150 full color photographs of ships of the  Royal Navy, Royal Fleet Auxiliary, Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service and Ships Taken Up From Trade (STUFT).
This book makes a fine addition to the bookshelf of any ship lover.

Profiles of Flight: Vought F4 Corsair Carrier and Land-based Fighter

Profiles of Flight: Vought F4 Corsair Carrier and Land-based Fighter 

Dave Windle

9781848844087 Pen & Sword Books $39.95

Beautifully illustrated with color profile artwork and black and white photos with the photos of deck landing training on training carrier USS Charger which spend most of the Second World War undertaking this duty off the Virginia Capes. This book would be an excellent addition to the collection of aviation fans and modelers. Well done to Mr Windle on what was obviously a labor of love.