USS Kidd is the best preserved example of the iconic Fletcher class of destroyers, which played a crucial role in the Second World War. USS Kidd (DD-661) is the only Fletcher-class destroyer preserved in WWII configuration. With 175 total ships launched, the Fletchers were the most numerous and most impactful class of destroyers in the US Navy ......
USS Lexington (CV-2) was just the second US Navy aircraft carrier produced. This Legends of Warfare illustrated history is the perfect companion to the authors earlier work on USS Lexington (CV-16). When commissioned on December 14, 1927, USS Lexington and her sister ship, USS Saratoga, were the worlds largest aircraft carriers. The ......
An illustrated history of one of the US Navys earliest aircraft carriers. USS Saratoga and her sister ship USS Lexington were the two largest aircraft carriers in the world until 1944. The keel of the battle cruiser USS Saratoga (CC-3) was laid by New York Shipbuilding in Camden, New Jersey, on September 25, 1920. Work on the fast, formidably ......
A study of the design, development and eventual fates of the uncompleted super-battleships intended to be built before and during World War II. At the start of World War II the battleship was still king, and all the major powers were designing even mightier battleships to surpass their most modern and powerful classes. But when ......
The Norman Friedman Illustrated Design History series of U.S. warships books has been an industry standard for three decades and has sold thousands of copies worldwide. To mark and celebrate this achievement, the Naval Institute Press is proud to make these books available once more. Digitally remastered for enhanced photo resolution and ......
Building upon the expertise of the authors and historians of the Naval Institute Press, the Naval History Special Editions are designed to offer studies of the key vessels, battles, and events of armed conflict. Using an image-heavy, magazine-style format, these Special Editions should appeal to scholars, enthusiasts, and general readers ......
The Soviet Unions first successful atomic bomb detonation in August 1949 was a wakeup call for US Navy planners. The possibility of a single Soviet aircraft wiping out an entire convoy of merchant ships with a nuclear weapon had suddenly become very real. With military budgets having shrunk prior to the Korean War, it was simply not possible to ......
This is the fully revised and updated edition of the first comphrensive account of every peacetime submarine disaster from 1774 to the present day. By examining many of the sinkings in considerable detail, analysing what went wrong and describing the attempts made to rescue the crew and the vessel, Edwyn Gray traces the development of the ......
Drawing on rare, historical photography and specially commissioned artwork, Matthew Willis explores the heroic feats of the few Royal Navys obsolescent biplanes that stood between the state-of-the-art Axis warships and their objectives. Focusing on the technical specifications of both opponents, using original records, and ......
The Type 82 Destroyer HMS Bristol was born in a blaze of glory as lead ship in a proposed class of four - designed to escort a new generation of super carriers for the Royal Navy. The carriers never materialized and neither did the other Type 82s, leaving Bristol literally in a class of her own.
Completed as a trials ship for new ......
A history of the enduring Essex-class ships, the US Navys finest and most numerous fleet carrier during World War II, which were modernized repeatedly and served with distinction. The Essex class was the USNs war-winning ship class of the Pacific War. Of the 24 ships completed, 14 saw action, making the Essex class the largest ......
This illustrated history explores the cruiser forces of the Italian and British Royal navies, the jack-of-all trades warships of the Mediterranean Naval War. In 1940, when Italy entered World War II, the Royal Navy was badly overstretched, and its Mediterranean Fleet had to face both the Italian Navy and the German and Italian ......
For more than 400 years, the big-gun warship stood as the supreme naval war machine. It was not only a major instrument of warfare, but a visible emblem of a nations power, wealth and pride. Battleships features 52 of the greatest warships to have sailed in the last 500 years. Beginning with English king Henry VIIIs flagship, Henry ......
A visual history of USS Intrepid, one of the most visited museum ships in the world. USS Intrepid, the "Fighting I," was one of Americas longest-serving aircraft carriers. Launched during WWII, Intrepid and her crews weathered kamikazes, torpedoes, and typhoons throughout three years of heavy combat. Decommissioned after WWII, Intrepid was ......
A wargaming ruleset for epic pre-WW1 battles in the sky. Its the dawn of the 20th Century and the Great Powers turn to war. Since the development of the air screw, leading to the creation of flying warships, the navies of the world have comprised an ever-growing number of these aerial ironclads. So fire up the turbines, ready ......