Product Description

For the first 40 years of the twentieth century, the battleship - or rather, the idea of the battleship - ruled the high seas. Britain and Germany, America and Japan, France, Italy and Russia: all invested hugely in the power and prestige which these behemoths could project. But long before the end of the Second World War, the battleship was dead in the water - either literally, most often sunk by carrier-borne aircraft, or metaphorically, deprived of a raison d'etre in the war at sea. It was an extraordinary and, for many, entirely unexpected reversal of fortunes. HP Willmott traces the story of the battleship from start to finish. He points out the fallacies underlying the Anglo-German naval race in the years before the First World War. He takes issue with the orthodox view of Jutland and claims it as the greatest British naval victory. He reassesses the interwar Washington and London treaties and looks closely at the vessels which resulted from their strictures. He contrasts the plans navies then made for their battlefleets, and gives a comprehensive account of the triumphs and disasters that attended the deployment of battleships during the Second World War. "Battleship" is an elegy for a magnificent class of warship. It is also a fascinating and often controversial analysis of how these ships came to be, and why ultimately they failed.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #84235 in Books
• Published on: 2002-11-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

Review
'Battleship is an elegy for a magnificent type of warship. It is also a fascinating and closely-argued, often controversial analysis of how these ships came to be, and why ultimately they failed. The author presents new ideas in th

About the Author
H P Willmott is the author of THE GREAT CRUSADE and THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE EAST. He has written extensively on modern naval and military subjects. He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and until recently worked for the Naval Historical Branch of the Ministry of Defence.

Customer Reviews

Well researched, well written history book
H.P.Willmott has written a brillant account of the steel behemoths which changed the face of naval fighting equally thoroughly as the rise of the aircraft carrier or the submarine did half a century later. He shows the interested reader through the fifty years between the battles of Manila Bay and the Japanese surrender at Tokio Bay - the singular events he makes out as the start and finish point of the era of the capital ship.

He doesn't just give the account, though, he also presents it before the political, economic and military background of the time. In an analysis of outstanding brillance he explains, for example, how Japan walked into national desaster, and how inevitable this development was before a fabric of service rivalry, nationalism and largely unmitigated economic failure.

The author is no disciple of the theory that history is the history of great men and so he does away with the loving reverence we've come to accept for several men who influenced the history of the battleship, for its better or worse. For instance, he portrays Sir John Fisher as "the subject of some of the most extravagant praise, blatant sycophancy and vituperative disparagement, and it is difficult to know which he sought and liked the most." The author does away with the myth that HMS 'Dreadnought' was Fisher's brainchild (it was, in fact, anticipated by the US Navy in their vastly superior 'Michigan' class and by the Japanese Navy's 'Satsuma', both laid down even before the 'Dreadnought') and shows how the whole idea of this type of ship had been around for quite a while. The Battlecruiser, however, which truly was Fisher's brainchild, is referred to as "an utterly disastrous idea", and in this context, the author's judgement of Sir John Fisher is really terminal: "The great tragedy was that Fisher was retained as First Sea Lord after 1906, when he had clearly outstayed his welcome, and thereafter contributed nothing of value but was a profoundly disruptive and negative influence." This is definitely not the mainstream way Fisher is seen, and there are other people earning (perhaps deservedly) similar treatment, among them Admiral Sir David Beatty ("Of Beatty it could be truly said that the surest way to make his eyes light up was to shine a beam of light into one of his ears.") whose bad performance he blames for the British losses at Jutland (again, different from 'official' history) and Admiral William F. Halsey (who "was never noted for his cerebral capacity and indeed was well-known for his lack of it") whom he blames with turning the US Navy's complete superiority on all counts into near defeat at Surigao Strait.

The inner flap text states that the author "takes issue with the orthodox view of Jutland and claims it as a great British victory" but readers looking for such heart-warming be warned that he, in fact, admits that the Germans - holding the advantage of position for most of the day - laid their guns better and maneuvered much more expertly than had been anticipated. He admits that the Germans escaped their annihilation (which would have taken place for sure the next morning) and thus were able to exact a tactical draw from the Royal Navy, albeit after a battle that had occurred in the first place because the High Sea's Fleet was searching a tactical solution to a strategic cause already lost. This Jutland has been looked at for at least three decades now, and Willmott has not really to add something new, at least not on this count. What he sheds new light on is the assessment of John Jellicoe's and David Beatty's performances, respectively, and he finally does justice to Sir John Jellicoe's leading of the battle.

I found one flaw in the book, and it is in the author's description of the battle of Tsushima. In the last paragraph on p. 36, it is, of course, the 'Oryol', not the 'Oslyabya' who was severely damaged at the end of the day - the 'Oslyabya' having been the first ship to be sunk in the action.

What I didn't like about the book is the fact that it already starts to lose its binding, the book coming apart, literally, and this despite my using only paper bookmarks. A hardbound book should do better.

In my conclusion I rate this book full anyway, the errors likely to be corrected in a revised edition hopefully due to follow. The book makes great reading and it educates the interested auditory with quite some new information and insight. Recommended!

Very informative.
5 years ago i was lectured by H.P (Ned) Willmott whilst at University in England, and once i decided to purshase a book on Battleships of the 20th Century,there was no question which book i was going to buy. Willmott was an exceptional lecturer, with an abundance of knowledge, and this is the same for this book. I am actually only two-thirds through this book but his analysis so far is first class. The book is accompanied by an apendix with every 20th Century Battleship included, and a description of the various powers plans on future Battleship design. The analysis of the battle of Jutland combined with the German strategic position is excellent. This is the 3rd book, written by Willmott that i own, and it wont be the last.