Paul H. Silverstone

This is one of those books of which it is safe to say, "If you need it, you need it."

Of course, what you need it for might be a reference -- or a sleep aid.

The book is a pure and simple reference, with no real narrative at all. For hundreds of ships, it gives name, brief construction details, tonnage, dimensions, machinery, complement, armament, and weight of armor if appropriate. There may be a few sentences of construction notes. This is followed by a brief "service record," listing both show more the regions where it served and battles fought. For a great many ships, there are also photographs.

Still, all of this is so brief that some pages contain the records for three or four whole classes of ships. You will know where the ships served, you'll know their capabilities, but you won't really know their stories. Nor will you find references to consult for sources or histories of the ships.

This is sometimes a bit problematic. Take, for example, the Confederate raiding ram Stonewall, which I happen to know about because it was involved in a court-martial against a Union officer. The description tells us her armament (ram bow, medium speed to drive it, heavily armored, three heavy guns). It does not tell us that one of the guns was fired from a forward citadel with very little ability to aim it, while the other two were in a turret. Nor does it reveal her structural defects: She had a permanent leak and the whole construction was shoddy. She looked strong on paper, and so the Union officer (Thomas Craven) avoided battle with her -- but her Confederate captain though the Union navy could have sunk her, because she was so badly built. Nowhere does Silverstone give a hint of this.

Also, it would have been really nice to have a list of the ship's captains insofar as they were known. This would not have added much to the bulk of the book.

So: As a reference, this is really useful within its limits, but those limits are strict. And it is only a reference. Some reference works can be interesting reading. This is, emphatically, not such a reference. You might want to look at the pictures. You probably won't want to look at the text. show less

Always nicely arranged and concise. I like this series as the books always have little tidbits and pictures you don't see in the more comprehensive books such as Jane's or Conway's.

An interesting book, with reasonable photographs. The introductory essays are quite short, and the armour details extend only to the Battle Line and the Armoured Cruisers. There are no cruising radii, and while many ships are mentioned, there is little coverage of the purpose of the more obscure vessels.