PDF British Destroyers and Frigates: The Second World War and After by Norman Friedman in History

Review

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Highly detailed design histories of the destroyers; escorts; and so forth from the 1930s through the 2000s.By Bayard B.Extraordinarily detailed discussions of the design histories of all the ships in the WW II and post-WW II periods. There are also numerous black and white period photos. The text also describes the political and financial environments in which the RN ships were designed and constructed. Cost was always a major consideration. Unfortunately for the ships' performance; things were worst in the 1950s and 1960s. At least in the 1930s and during WW II; decisions were made pretty much by people who understood that warships ultimately had to fight battles and that there was a limit to penny-pinching. This was all lost by the 1950s. Politicians arbitrarily imposed limits on ship construction costs with little regard to what they had to accomplish. This affected both the numbers that could be constructed and the capabilities of the individual classes of ships. A favorite political tactic was to prepare a "White Paper" that inevitably defined the needed number and capabilities of the ships downward.While the design histories are outstanding; I felt there were a couple of annoyances. There are few tabulations of ship design and performance characteristics in the text. You have to turn to an Appendix for such information. Also; I frequently found it difficult to determine which design alternative was actually constructed.The book includes the ASW escorts of WW II as well as the various destroyer classes.After WW II; it was fascinating to read about all the permutations and combinations of ship designs that attempted to combine (usually conflicting) naval requirements onto a single hull while still being cheap to construct. Predictably; the efforts usually failed. Chapters 10 through 14 are littered with designs that were eventually cancelled by the political leadership for financial reasons.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. The Evolution of The British Navy From 1936By Tony Marquise Jr.This book goes into the drsign of British destroyers from 1936 to the most modern designs. The book goes into extreme detail and is an essentail book for thosr interested in this subject.1 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Norman Friedman; a favorite author.By Mumblin' MarkI have read all of Norman Friedmans' ship design histories and own several; as well as works on other topics. I was curious to compare British and United States destroyer designs with respect to machinery; armament and fire control. I own the updated "U.S. Destroyers" so purchasing this item was a natural choice. I haven't finished it yet (such detail takes time to absorb) but I'm happy with the purchase.My only gripe is a wish for more detailed wartime performance analysis of each design.Other recommended books: "Naval Firepower"; a study of big-gun fire control; "Desert Victory"; the best technical analysis of the 1990-1991 Gulf War; "Network Centric Warfare"; a history of naval communications.