Croiseurs de combat - Grande Bretagne : beaux livres - histoire et navires

British and German Battlecruisers : Their Development and Operations

Les croiseurs de bataille rapides et redoutablement armés de Grande-Bretagne et d'Allemagne, développés avant et pendant la Première Guerre mondiale, sont comparés et mis en contraste dans cet ouvrage d'une manière et avec un niveau de détail jamais tentés auparavant.
Les auteurs commencent par examiner la relation et la rivalité entre la Grande-Bretagne et l'Allemagne, et la manière dont la politique étrangère, les considérations stratégiques et tactiques, les développements économiques, industriels et technologiques, ainsi que les politiques navales ont conduit au lancement des programmes de croiseurs de bataille dans les deux pays.

Les chapitres suivants sont consacrés au développement du type de navire dans chaque pays, à sa conception et sa construction, sa protection, ses systèmes de propulsion, son armement, ses systèmes de conduite de tir et de communication, en mettant l'accent particulièrement sur les aspects novateurs des conceptions et sur leurs points forts et leurs points faibles.

Ces navires finirent par s'affronter en mer du Nord, au Dogger Bank, en janvier 1915, et bien qu'aucun des deux camps n'ait subi de pertes, les différences dans leur conception et leur maniabilité étaient évidentes, différences qui seraient mises en évidence de manière plus flagrante un an plus tard au Jutland, lorsque trois navires britanniques furent détruits.
Ces actions, ainsi que d'autres auxquelles ils ont participé, sont décrites et évaluées par les auteurs, qui concluent en analysant leurs points forts et leurs limites. Il s'agit d'un ouvrage majeur pour les passionnés de la marine du monde entier.

Caractéristiques

British Battlecruisers 1905 - 1920

The brainchild of Admiral Sir John Fisher, battlecruisers combined heavy guns and high speed in the largest hulls of their era. Conceived as 'super-cruisers' to hunt down and destroy commerce raiders, their size and gun-power led to their inclusion in the battlefleet as a fast squadron of capital ships.

This book traces in detail the development of Fisher's original idea into first battlecruiser Invincible of 1908, through to the 'Splendid Cats' of the Lion class, and culminating in HMS Hood in 1920, the largest warship in the world for the next twenty years. The origins of the unusual 'light battlecruisers' of the Courageous type are also covered.

The well-publicised problems of British battlecruisers are examined, including the latest research throwing light on the catastrophic loss of three of the ships at the Battle of Jutland.
The developmental history is backed by chapters covering machinery, armament and armour, with a full listing of important technical data.
The comprehensive collection of illustrations includes the author's superb drawings and original Admiralty plans reproduced in full colour.

This revised and updated edition of the classic work first published in 1997 will be welcomed by anyone with an interest in the most charismatic and controversial warships of the dreadnought era.

Caractéristiques

British Battlecruiser vs German Battlecruiser - 1914-16 (Osprey)

Les croiseurs de bataille rivaux s'affrontèrent pour la première fois en janvier 1915 à Dogger Bank, en mer du Nord, et bien que la bataille ait été une victoire tactique britannique, aucun des deux camps ne perdant de croiseurs de bataille, les différences de conception entre les navires britanniques et allemands étaient déjà évidentes.

Les deux camps réagirent très différemment à ce premier affrontement ; tandis que les Allemands améliorèrent leurs procédures de manutention des munitions pour réduire le risque d'explosions paralysantes, les Britanniques tirèrent la leçon inverse et accumulèrent des munitions afin d'améliorer leur cadence de tir, rendant ainsi leurs croiseurs de bataille plus vulnérables.

Ces différences furent mises en évidence de façon plus flagrante lors de la bataille du Jutland en mai 1916. Sur les neuf croiseurs de bataille britanniques engagés, trois furent détruits, tous par leurs homologues allemands. Cinq croiseurs de bataille allemands étaient présents ; parmi eux, un seul fut coulé, les autres endommagés.

Entièrement illustré d'œuvres d'art réalisées spécialement pour l'occasion, voici le récit captivant de l'affrontement entre les croiseurs de bataille rivaux de la Royal Navy et de la Kaiserliche Marine au plus fort de la Première Guerre mondiale.

Caractéristiques

Grand Fleet Battlecruisers 1906-1915 (Ship Craft)

The 'ShipCraft' series provides in-depth information about building and modifying model kits of famous warship types. Lavishly illustrated, each book takes the modeller through a brief history of the subject class, highlighting differences between sister-ships and changes in their appearance over their careers. This includes paint schemes and camouflage, featuring colour profiles and highly-detailed line drawings and scale plans.
The modelling section reviews the strengths and weaknesses of available kits, lists commercial accessory sets for super-detailing of the ships, and provides hints on modifying and improving the basic kit. This is followed by an extensive photographic gallery of selected high-quality models in a variety of scales, and the book concludes with a section on research references - books, monographs, large-scale plans and relevant websites.

This volume includes illustrations of the many different designs, from the Invincible of 1906 to the Renowns of 1915, and including the hybrid 'large light cruisers' Courageous, Glorious and Furious.

Caractéristiques

HMS Hood - Pride of the Royal Navy

The sinking of the battlecruiser HMS Hood on 24 May 1941, dealt a major blow to the British Royal Navy. Like Titanic years before, Hood had seemed invincible and much of the hopes of the Navy rested with her as the nation entered the war with Germany. The epitome of British naval power, the 48,360-ton Hood boasted eight 15-inch and eight 4-inch guns - a formidably armed vessel that the Royal Navy had hoped could match German battleships such as the Bismarck.
But in just eight minutes, after an encounter with Bismarck and her consort Prinz Eugen, HMS Hood blew up and sank to the bottom of the Alantic, taking the lives of 1,418 men with her. Her sinking was met with disbelief both in England and around the world; the formerly invincible Royal Navy now seemed very vulnerable.

Author Dr Andrew Norman explores the events leading up to the disaster and the legacy left in its wake. His research includes reports from both the Royal Naval Museum and German naval records, and many of the photographs included are previously unpublished. In "HMS Hood: Pride of the Royal Navy", he reassesses the possible reasons for Hood's sinking, in the light of the discovery of her wreckage in July 2001.

Caractéristiques

British Battlecruisers 1914-1918 (Osprey)

Early British battlecruisers were not a failed design as is so often claimed, but a very successful and revolutionary one that was critical to, and instrumental in, Britain winning the naval war of 1914-18.

This book contains new information on these innovative ships, using previously untapped evidence from the wrecks of the sunken battlecruisers and detailed analysis of admiralty records to show why Admiral Fisher's famous battlecruiser concept was a revolution that drew together technological breakthroughs, global communications and intelligence gathering to create the first worldwide rapid-response task force.

Contents: Introduction - Admiral Fisher and the Transformation of the Navy - Committee on Designs, 1904 - British Battlecruisers - Construction - Modifications - Battlecruisers at War - Conclusion - Select Bibliography - Colour Plate Commentary - Index.

Caractéristiques

British Battlecruisers 1939-1945 (Osprey)

When war broke out in 1939, only three true battlecruisers remained in the Royal Navy including HMS 'Hood', the world's largest and fastest capital ship for much of her life, which would be destroyed in action against the German battleship 'Bismarck'.
Out of the remaining two battlecruisers ('Repulse' and 'Renown') one was sunk by Japanese aircraft off Singapore, whilst the other served with distinction until the end of the war.

This book traces the pre-war development of these spectacular warships, then describes their wartime exploits, using this to demonstrate their operational and mechanical performance. It examines what life was like on these wartime battlecruisers when they sailed into action.

Contents: Introduction - Design and Development - Operation History - Variants - Colour plate commentary.

Caractéristiques

Schlachtkreuzer der Royal Navy - 1908-1945 (Typenkompass)

The Royal Navy developed the world's first battlecruiser before the First World War and thus also provided the operational concept for this new class of ship. Faster than large battleships, but less armored, they were intended to take care of all smaller warships.
Because the theory did not prove itself in practice, the battlecruiser class of ship was discarded after the First World War.

Pages du livre "Schlachtkreuzer der Royal Navy - 1908-1945"

Ingo Bauernfeind portrays all the battlecruisers that the United Kingdom commissioned between 1909 and 1920 in this richly illustrated Typenkompass. Each type is presented with a photo, a historical description and a technical data sheet.

Caractéristiques