book review British Naval Weapons of World War Two, Vol. 1: Destroyer Weapons

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BRITISH NAVAL WEAPONS OF WORLD WAR TWO, The John Lambert Collection Vol. 1: Destroyer Weapons

Edited by Norman Friedman

Seaforth Publishing, 2019

25 cm by 29.5 cm format

240 pages

Suggested retail GBP 40.00

 

Verdict: Building any British destroyer models soon? Get this!

 

John Lambert, who passed away in 2016, was one of those men with a singular passion that only a small number of people will ever appreciate, but that small group will really appreciate his work. Lambert's passion was creating draughts (English spelling retained as a nod to this volume's English roots) of British naval vessels and weaponry, and he drew a LOT of them. British Naval Weapons Vol.1: Destroyer Weapons (BNW1) is the first volume in a series of books that will eventually be released by Seaforth, and if the first volume is any indication, modelers will want to keep a sharp-eyed lookout for subsequent editions.

 

The first 63 pages of this BNW1 are a narrative that covers the development of British destroyer weapons from World War 1 through the end of World War 2, along with a survey of the changing realities of naval warfare that dictated that development. As the role of the destroyer evolved, so did the types of weapons they carried and the manner in which they were arranged aboard ship. This is described by editor Norman Friedman in an engaging style and accompanied by many black and white period photos.

 

 

The heart of BNW1 though, without doubt, is the immense number of highly detailed draughts done by Mr. Lambert. The first twelve of these are of ships and include shipbuilder's drawings of common weapons. Naturally, a drawing of every British destroyer that ever served, including the ever-changing armament of each, is beyond the scope of practically any book. The twelve pages of ships' draughts are intended to be representative of the group as a whole and give an overview of how destroyer armaments changed during the time period covered. The drawings range from HMS Whitehall 1924 to HMS Caesar 1944.

 

The remainder of BNW1 consists entirely of drawings of the weapons carried by British destroyers, beginning with main guns, e.g. the 4 in QF Mk IV of 1916, and on down to AA weapons, torpedoes, mines, depth charges, and other equipment including paravanes, range finders, and fire controls. It's all there -- and in extraordinary detail.

 

The subject of the 2-pdr quad Mk VII M came up in a recent post here at MSW, and to demonstrate just how much information is packed into this book, there are six plates of drawings for this weapon and mount combination alone. There are over 30 individual drawings of the Mk VII M, including front, rear, left side, and right side elevations; plan view; oblique views; details of wiring; and detail views of just about every subsystem -- sights, training and elevation gearing, ammunition trays, you name it -- that formed part of the weapon. There seems to be no stone left unturned.

 

And that's just one system. For anyone wishing to super-detail any British destroyer of this era, this book looks to be a real must-have. Highly recommended!

 

CDC