British Sloops and Frigates of the Second World War

Author: Les Brown
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 1526793881
Category : Crafts & Hobbies
Languages : en
Pages : 197

Book Description
The ‘ShipCraft’ series provides in-depth information about building and modifying model kits of famous warship types. Lavishly illustrated, each book takes the modeler through a brief history of the subject, highlighting differences between ships and changes in their appearance over their careers. This includes paint schemes and camouflage, featuring color profiles and highly detailed line drawings and scale plans. The modeling section reviews the strengths and weaknesses of available kits, lists commercial accessory sets for super-detailing of the subjects, 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 covers the majority of British wartime escort classes, from the inter-war ASW and minesweeping sloops that culminated in the superb Black Swan class, to the wartime designs that were originally known as ‘twin-screw corvettes’ but were eventually classed as frigates – the ‘River’ class, and their derivatives of the ‘Loch/Bay’ classes that were modified for prefabricated construction. Also included are the American-built destroyer escorts which became RN ‘Captains’ class frigates and the earlier ex-US Coast Guard cutters that were listed as sloops. With its unparalleled level of visual information – paint schemes, models, line drawings and photographs – this book is simply the best reference for any model-maker setting out to build any of these numerous escort types.

British Escort Destroyers of the Second World War

Author: Les Brown
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 1399081764
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 193

Book Description
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, highlighting differences between ships and changes in their appearance over their careers. This includes paint schemes and camouflage, featuring color 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 subjects, 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 covers the many variations of Royal Navy wartime escort destroyers, both the purpose-built ‘Hunt’ class and the conversions from older fleet destroyers. The ‘Hunts’ were built in four groups (Types I to IV), while the old ‘V&W’ classes were modified to Long Range Escort, Short Range Escort and ‘Wair’ (anti-aircraft) variants. Also included are the fifty ex-US ‘flush-deckers’ that became the ‘Town’ class. With its unparalleled level of visual information – paint schemes, models, line drawings and photographs – this book is simply the best reference for any modelmaker setting out to build any of these numerous escort types.

British Frigates and Escort Destroyers 1939–45

Author: Angus Konstam
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472858093
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 49

Book Description
A history of the small, mass-produced warships that defended the Atlantic convoys from U-boats and secured Britain's lifeline to the United States. As the Battle of the Atlantic grew fiercer, Britain and the Commonwealth needed large quantities of new warships to defend their shipping which could be produced cheaply. The two largest type of ship produced were the escort destroyer and the frigate. Escort destroyers were essentially small destroyers optimized for anti-submarine warfare, with speed and anti-surface weaponry sacrificed, while frigates were simpler, designed so they could be built quickly in civilian shipyards. Nearly 200 were built. These warships were key to protecting convoys in the Atlantic Ocean where their range and seagoing qualities made them well-suited for operations. They were also used to form hunting groups, and collectively accounted for the destruction of scores of German U-boats. Their arrival came at a critical time for the Royal Navy, when the Battle of the Atlantic was reaching its climax, and losses among both merchant ships and escorts were mounting. In this book, naval expert Angus Konstam outlines the history of the Hunt-, Loch-, Bay-, and River-class escort destroyers and frigates, revealing how crews fought, and what life was like on board. Using archive photos, detailed colour profiles, a Hunt-class cutaway, and battlescenes of the ships at war, he explores the key role played by these small but deadly escorts.

British Lend-Lease Warships 1940–45

Author: Angus Konstam
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472861264
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 49

Book Description
An illustrated history of the American-built destroyers and frigates supplied to the Royal Navy under Lend-Lease, which played a crucial role in Britain's war in the Atlantic. As U-boat attacks on Britain's vital sea lanes increased in ferocity, and Royal Navy warship losses mounted, the United States passed the Lend-Lease Act, the cornerstone of America's wartime role as armourer to the Allies. Naval historian Angus Konstam here offers an account of the Royal Navy's Lend-Lease destroyers and escorts. The first batch were 50 World War I-era 'four-stacker' destroyers, in a deal sealed by the transfer of several global British bases to the USA. These warships were immediately recrewed, refitted and pressed into service in the Battle of the Atlantic. These ageing destroyers were followed by over a hundred more Lend-Lease warships, many of which were built especially for British service in American shipyards. Their arrival helped tip the balance in the hard-fought war against the U-boats, while others were used to fulfil other crucial wartime missions. With detailed ship profiles of the major classes, a cutaway of HMS Campbeltown (of Saint-Nazaire raid fame) as it appeared in 1941, and superb battlescene artwork, this is a comprehensive look at a crucial aspect of the Battle of the Atlantic.

British and Commonwealth Warship Camouflage of WWII

Author: Malcolm Wright
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 1848322720
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 949

Book Description
During the Second World War navies developed low visibility camouflage for their ships, on both the vertical and horizontal surfaces, in order reduce visibility by blending in with the sea, or confuse the identity of a ship by applying more obtrusive patters. In this new book by maritime artist Mal Wright both the official and unofficial paint schemes that adorned ships of the Royal Navy and Commonwealth are depicted in detail, along with discussion on changes of armament and electronics that effected the outward appearance of each ship.Starting with destroyers from WW1 still in service during WW2, the book progressively covers ships below cruisers, class by class, to provide a detailed and easy-to-use guide to paint schemes in use. In some cases individual ships are shown in the several schemes they wore thus providing a source that covers various periods of service. With 740 full colour illustrations, all of named vessels, this book concentrates information into a single volume to provide a one-stop reference source, and, for the first time in a single volume, it covers not just the well-known ships, but also escort vessels, minesweepers, trawlers, coastal craft and auxiliaries in sequential format. Many schemes would be difficult for the reader to have found other than with the most intensive research so that historians, collectors, modelmakers and wargamers will find this unique reference source absolutely invaluable.

British Destroyers & Frigates

Author: Norman Friedman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
ISBN:
Category : Destroyer escorts
Languages : en
Pages : 360

Book Description
Traces the development of destroyers, sloops, frigates and corvettes, beginning from the mid 1930s and continuing through the post-war era.

The Great Ships

Author: Peter C. Smith
Publisher: Stackpole Books
ISBN: 0811735141
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 498

Book Description
Military historian Smith offers an authoritative study of British battleships in World War II, highlighting stirring episodes of naval combat around the globe.

British and Commonwealth Warship Camouflage of WWII

Author: Malcolm George Wright
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 9781399024860
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
In this work by maritime artist Mal Wright, both the official and unofficial paint schemes that adorned ships of the Royal Navy and Commonwealth during World War II are depicted in detail. During the Second World War navies developed low visibility camouflage for their ships, on both the vertical and horizontal surfaces, in order reduce visibility by blending in with the sea, or confuse the identity of a ship by applying more obtrusive patters. In this now classic work by maritime artist Mal Wright both the official and unofficial paint schemes that adorned ships of the Royal Navy and Commonwealth are depicted in detail, along with discussion on changes of armament and electronics that effected the outward appearance of each ship. Starting with destroyers from WW1 still in service during WW2, the book progressively covers ships below cruisers, class by class, to provide a detailed and easy-to-use guide to paint schemes in use. In some cases individual ships are shown in the several schemes they wore thus providing a source that covers various periods of service. With 740 full color illustrations, all of named vessels, this book concentrates information into a single volume to provide a one-stop reference source, and, for the first time in a single volume, it covers not just the well-known ships, but also escort vessels, minesweepers, trawlers, coastal craft and auxiliaries in sequential format. Many schemes would be difficult for the reader to have found other than with the most intensive research so that historians, collectors, modelmakers and wargamers will find this unique reference source absolutely invaluable. "A book that all steel navy fans will want in their library. The book is heavily researched and I doubt that anyone else but the author knows more about this subject...All I can say is 'Wow' to all of the information packed into this small book. It is perfect for the WWII researcher, and the model maker." - Bob Friedman, Ship Modellers Forum

British Light Cruisers

Author: Les Brown
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 1399037544
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 158

Book Description
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, highlighting differences between ships and changes in their appearance over their careers. This includes paint schemes and camouflage, featuring color 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 subjects, 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 is the second of two volumes covering Royal Navy 6-inch cruisers of the 1930s and later, this one devoted to the second generation designs armed with triple mountings. The Southampton class marked a return to large cruisers, but the urgent requirement for numbers led to the smaller Colonies from which all the later RN 6-inch cruisers were derivatives. These ships formed the backbone of British cruiser forces during the Second World War. With its unparalleled level of visual information paint schemes, models, line drawings and photographs this book is simply the best reference for any modelmaker setting out to build one of these famous cruisers.

British Destroyers

Author: Les Brown
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 1848321805
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 67

Book Description
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 sisterships 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 survey 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.??A follow-up to ShipCraft 11 on inter-war destroyers, this new volume deals with the later classes which were the most modern British destroyers of the Second World War. Marked by a common single-funnelled silhoutte, they were actually very varied, ranging from the large and powerful J to N flotillas, via the austere 'War Emergency' classes that were built in large numbers, to the radically different 'Battle' class, designed with a powerful AA armament for service in the Pacific.