From the 16th century until World War II, big gun battleships were the core fighting component of the world’s navies: the more battleships a country possessed, the greater power they could project around the world.Organized chronologically, this book includes 50 of the greatest battleships to have sailed. Find out about the 17th century Vasa, built by Gustavus Adolphus, the legendary king of Sweden; learn about the actions of Mikasa, the flagship of the Japanese fleet that defeated the Russian navy at the battle of Tsushima in 1905; and find out why the German battleship Tirpitz proved an omnipresent threat to Allied shipping across the North Atlantic, despite spending most of World War II stationed in the Norwegian fjords.Battleships also features 12 large-scale gatefolds of key ships, including the ironclad warship Italia, which broke with tradition by valuing speed over armour; the super- dreadnought Nagato, the only Japanese battleship still afloat at the end of hostilities in 1945; and HMS Rodney, famous for its unique “all-forward” main battery arrangement and its pivotal role in sinking the German battleship Bismarck. Each entry includes a dozen annotations detailing aspects of the type’s technology, from powerplant and armament to crew and speed.Featuring the greatest battleships from history, this book is the perfect gift for naval enthusiasts and military modellers.
