Aircraft Carriers (up to 1945) - Great Britain: Books
A book on aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy? Explore here illustrated books on the history and types of aircraft carriers from Great Britain up to 1945.
British Aircraft Carriers - Design, Development & Service Histories
A meticulously detailed history of British aircraft-carrying ships from the earliest experimental vessels to the Queen Elizabeth class, currently under construction and the largest ships ever built for the Royal Navy. Individual chapters cover the design and construction of each class, with full technical details, and there are extensive summaries of every ship's career.
Apart from the obvious large-deck carriers, the book also includes seaplane carriers, escort carriers and MAC ships, the maintenance ships built on carrier hulls, unbuilt projects, and the modern LPH. It concludes with a look at the future of naval aviation, while numerous appendices summarise related subjects like naval aircraft, recognition markings and the circumstances surrounding the loss of every British carrier.
As befits such an important reference work, it is heavily illustrated with a magnificent gallery of photos and plans, including the first publication of original plans in full colour, one on a magnificent gatefold. Written by the leading historian of British carrier aviation, himself a retired Fleet Air Arm pilot, it displays the authority of a lifetime's research combined with a practical understanding of the issues surrounding the design and operation of aircraft carriers. As such "British Aircraft Carriers" is certain to become the standard work on the subject.
Information
Author:
David Hobbs
Details:
384 pages, 29 x 24.5 cm / 11.4 x 9.7 in, hardback
Illustrations:
profusely illustrated
Publisher:
Seaforth Publishing (GB, 2013)
ISBN:
9781848321380
British Aircraft Carriers - Design, Development & Service Histories
With war against Germany looming, Britain pushed forward its carrier program in the late 1930s. In 1938, the Royal Navy launched the HMS Ark Royal, its first-ever purpose-built aircraft carrier. This was quickly followed by others, including the highly-successful Illustrious class. Smaller and tougher than their American cousins, the British carriers were designed to fight in the tight confines of the North Sea and the Mediterranean. Over the next six years, these carriers battled the Axis powers in every theatre, attacking Italian naval bases, hunting the Bismark, and even joining the fight in the Pacific.
This book tells the story of the small, but resilient, carriers and the crucial role they played in the British war effort.
Information
Author:
Angus Konstam
Details:
48 pages, 24.5 x 18.5 x 0.4 cm / 9.7 x 7.3 x 0.16 in, paperback
This is the story of British naval flying from aircraft carriers, from its conception in World War One to the present day. It includes the types of aircraft and the men who flew them, the carriers and the evolution of their designs, the theatres of war in which they served and their notable achievements and tragedies. It traces navy flying from the early days of the biplane, through the rapid developments during World War Two to the post-war introduction of jet-powered flight.
The British inventions of the angled flight deck and later vertical landing jets revolutionised sea warfare and allowed the carrier to play a vital part in many recent land wars when naval aircraft flew in support of Allied land forces.
Although the British carriers have always been smaller than their American counterparts, the Royal Navy and its aircraft have always been in the van of the development of ships and aircraft. This is the proud history of British Naval flying and ships such as HMS Eagle, HMS Hermes, HMS Glorious, HMS Ark Royal and many more.
Information
Author:
Kev Darling
Details:
352 pages, 24 x 16 x 3.2 cm / 9 x 6.3 x 1.26 in, hardback
In 1941, as the Battle of the Atlantic raged and ship losses mounted, the British Admiralty desperately tried to find ways to defeat the U-Boat threat to Britain's maritime lifeline. Facing a shortage of traditional aircraft carriers and shore-based aircraft, the Royal Navy, as a stopgap measure, converted merchant ships into small 'escort carriers'. These were later joined by a growing number of American-built escort carriers, sent as part of the Lend-Lease agreement.
The typical Escort Carrier was small, slow and vulnerable, but it could carry about 18 aircraft, which gave the convoys a real chance to detect and sink dangerous U-Boats. Collectively, their contribution to an Allied victory was immense, particularly in the long and gruelling campaigns fought in the Atlantic and Arctic.
Illustrated throughout with detailed full-colour artwork and contemporary photographs, this fascinating study explores in detail how these adaptable ships had such an enormous impact on the outcome of World War II's European Theatre.
Information
Author:
Angus Konstam
Details:
48 pages, 24.5 x 18.5 x 0.3 cm / 9.7 x 7.3 x 0.12 in, paperback
Geleitflugzeugträger - USA, England, Japan 1939-1945 (Typenkompass)
During the Second World War, a small auxiliary aircraft carrier supplemented the existing carrier fleet. This was called an escort aircraft carrier or simply an escort carrier. The USA built by far the largest number, but England and Japan also converted existing ships - often merchant ships - into escort and auxiliary carriers.
Each type is presented in this book with a photo, a historical description and a technical data sheet.
Information
Author:
Ingo Bauernfeind
Details:
112 pages, 20.5 x 14 cm / 8.1 x 5.5 in, paperback
Illustrations:
153 b&w and 5 colour photos, 8 drawings
Publisher:
Motorbuch Verlag (D, 2013)
Series:
Typenkompass
ISBN:
9783613035973
Geleitflugzeugträger - USA, England, Japan 1939-1945
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