Incrociatori da battaglia - Gran Bretagna: libri di storia illustrati

British and German Battlecruisers : Their Development and Operations

In questo libro, i veloci e formidabili incrociatori da battaglia di Gran Bretagna e Germania, sviluppati prima e durante la Prima Guerra Mondiale, vengono messi a confronto e analizzati con un livello di dettaglio mai tentato prima.
Gli autori iniziano esaminando il rapporto e la rivalità tra Gran Bretagna e Germania e come la politica estera, le considerazioni strategiche e tattiche, gli sviluppi economici, industriali e tecnologici e le politiche navali abbiano portato all'avvio dei programmi per gli incrociatori da battaglia in entrambi i paesi.

I capitoli sono quindi dedicati allo sviluppo del tipo di nave in ciascun paese, alla sua progettazione e costruzione, alla protezione, agli impianti di propulsione, all'armamento, al controllo del tiro e ai sistemi di comunicazione, concentrandosi in particolare sugli aspetti innovativi dei progetti, sui loro punti di forza e di debolezza.

Queste navi si scontrarono infine nel Mare del Nord, presso il Dogger Bank, nel gennaio del 1915, e sebbene nessuna delle due parti subì perdite, le differenze nella progettazione e nella manovrabilità furono evidenti, differenze che sarebbero state messe in luce in modo ancora più netto un anno dopo a Jutland, quando tre navi britanniche furono distrutte.
Queste azioni, e altre a cui hanno partecipato, sono descritte e valutate dagli autori, che concludono analizzandone punti di forza e di debolezza. Si tratta di un'opera fondamentale per gli appassionati di storia navale di tutto il mondo.

Dettagli del libro

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

The rival battlecruisers first clashed in January 1915 at Dogger Bank in the North Sea and although the battle was a British tactical victory with neither side losing any of its battlecruisers, the differences in the designs of the British and German ships were already apparent.

The two sides responded very differently to this first clash; while the Germans improved their ammunition-handling procedures to lessen the risk of disabling explosions, the British drew the opposite lesson and stockpiled ammunition in an effort to improve their rate of fire, rendering their battlecruisers more vulnerable.

These differences were highlighted more starkly during the battle of Jutland in May 1916. Of the nine British battlecruisers committed, three were destroyed, all by their German counterparts. Five German battlecruisers were present, and of these, only one was sunk and the remainder damaged.

Fully illustrated with specially commissioned artwork, this is the gripping story of the clash between the rival battlecruisers of the Royal Navy and the Kaiserliche Marine at the height of World War I.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Dettagli del libro