Cruisers - USA: Books - History, Ships and Deployment (1/2)

US Cruisers 1883-1904 - The birth of the steel navy (Osprey)

By the end of the Civil War the US Navy was the most advanced in the world, but in subsequent years America's naval might dwindled. However, in the 1880s a 'New Navy' was born and at the forefront of its fleet were the mighty cruisers.
Naval historian Lawrence Burr details how these cruisers allowed America to rebuild their navy, exploring the design and development of these ships. Placing these advances in context, through vivid accounts of how US cruisers performed in the Spanish-American War of 1898, notably at Manila Bay and Santiago, he investigates the emergence of the US Navy as a major power.
Illustrated with early photographs and full-colour artwork, this is a concise history of the birth and development of a modern navy that was the precursor to the development of modern steel fleets around the world.

Contents: Introduction - A Naval Renaissance - Design and Construction - The Ships - Cruisers in Action - Pointing the Guns - USS Olympia - Conclusion - Select Bibliography - Appendix - Index.

US Navy Protected Cruisers 1883-1918 (Osprey)

NEW

After the American Civil War, the powerful US Navy was allowed to decay into utter decrepitude, and was becoming a security liability. In 1883, Congress approved four new steel-constructed vessels called the "ABCD" ships.
The three protected cruisers Atlanta, Boston, and Chicago were the first steel warships built for the US Navy, whose 1880s-1890s technological and cultural transformation was so total it is now remembered as the "New Navy". This small fleet was joined by a succession of new and distinctive protected cruisers, culminating in the famous and powerful Olympia.

These 11 protected cruisers formed the backbone of the early US steel navy, and were in the frontline of the US victory in the 1898 Spanish-American War. It was these warships that fought and won the decisive Battle of Manila Bay. These cruisers also served faithfully as escorts and auxiliaries in World War I before the last were retired in the 1920s.

Written by experienced US naval researcher Brian Lane Herder, and including rare photographs, this book explores the development, qualities, and service of these important warships, and highlights the almost-forgotten Columbia-class, designed as high-speed commerce raiders, and to mimic specific passenger liners.
All 11 protected cruisers are depicted in meticulously researched color illustrations with one depicting the Olympia deploying her full sail rig.

US Navy Armored Cruisers 1890-1933 (Osprey)

At the dawn of the "Steel Navy" era, the rapidly expanding US Navy's fleet of capital ships consisted not only of battleships but also armored cruisers, the forerunner of the battlecruiser.
Armored cruisers sacrificed the battleship's superlative firepower and protection for superior speed and range but, as this study shows, their role was not always easy to define. Controversial because they were as large and expensive as battleships but not able to withstand a battleship in battle, contemporary strategists pointed out that, "naval wars are not won by running away from stronger ships."

Despite being produced at great expense, tactically they never really had a legitimate mission-traditional deployments were commerce raiding and protection, but despite this, author Brian Lane Herder illustrates how successful the use of armored cruisers was for the US Navy.
After 1906, some replaced US battleships in the Pacific, functioning as oversized gunboats, most notably, the modified armored cruiser Pennsylvania which witnessed the first landing of an airplane on a ship.
On November 5, 1915, North Carolina became the first cruiser to launch an aircraft from a catapult while underway. After the war, surviving US armored cruisers represented the US Navy on their Asiatic station until the final cruiser was scuttled in 1946.

Using detailed, color artwork and photos, this fascinating book describes the development and deployment of these controversial but intriguing ships, providing examples of the key service they played in the US Navy in a variety of defensive and escorting roles.

USS Olympia - Herald of Empire

The USS Olympia is the oldest extant steel-hulled warship in the world. Constructed as part of a congressionally mandated program to build a modern fleet prior to the turn of the 19th century, she became famous as Adm. George Dewey's flagship at the Battle of Manila Bay. Today she is part of a naval shrine at Penn's Landing in Philadelphia.

This is a flesh-and-steel history of a pivotal warship that straddled the eras of commerce raiding and battle fleet confrontation in naval warfare. From her conceptual beginnings on drawing boards in Washington to the battle to protect her against age, scrapping, and the advent of big-gun battleships, this landmark study celebrates one of America's classic historic ships.