British Destroyers 1892 to 1953

By March, Edgar J
2003,

Descripton: The monumental and definitive account of Royal Navy Destroyers from 1892 to 1953, based on official records and plans. In this the most detailed history of British destroyers in print, the author examines in great depth their development from 1892 to 1953 and provides the reader with a vast amount of hitherto undisclosed official information. Admiralty co-operation enabled Edgar March to carry out research and to examine every aspect of official policy, technical problems of specialized shipbuilding, and captain's reports from sea during both wartime and peacetime conditions. The author also received invaluable assistance from the great destroyer builders - Thornycroft, Yarrow, Samuel White, John Brown and others. The highly detailed narrative is enhanced by the inclusion of 175 photographs reproduced to a high standard, and 100 large building plans drawn to scale with detail not found elsewhere. A chapter is devoted to each class of destroyer beginning with the Victorian 27-knot vessels of 1892, going right through the history of Royal Naval destroyer development in and around the two World Wars up to the early 1950's and the introduction of the handsome Daring class. There is information on service, sea-going qualities and battle experience for each class. Also design and construction data, machinery development, the organization of torpedo craft and their bases, destroyers purchased from other navies, and vessels built under the war emergency programme.