book review BritishTown Class Cruisers: Design, Development & Performance

[ccoyle]

Town Class Cruisers: Design, Development & Performance

 

Conrad Waters

Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing, 2019

25 x 29.5 cm format, hardback, 320 pages

363 B&W and color illustrations, appendices, bibliography, index

MSRP £40.00

ISBN: 978 1 1885 3

 

In my previous book review, I observed that the title undergoing scrutiny at that time had a lot of illustrations, but it didn't have very many visual elements -- the two things are not synonymous. This book, British Town Class Cruisers, has a variety of visual elements -- and in spades. But before getting into that, let's take a quick look at the table of contents. The nine chapters cover:

 

1. Class Origins

2. The Design Process

3. From Construction to Delivery

4. Design Description

5. Wartime Improvements

6. Wartime Operations & Performance

7. Post-War Requirements & Repair

8. Post-War Operations & Disposal

9. Evaluation

 

Now let's get some of the basics out of the way. This is a book about WWII cruisers, so all of us ship nuts naturally want to know some essential tid-bits of information, such as what did the ships look like? what were their performance specs? and what kinds of armament did they carry? Trust me, Conrad Waters does an absolutely top-notch job of giving the reader all of those particulars in exquisite detail. Where this book excels, though, is in the details you might not expect. For example, the Town-class were built under the restrictions of the London Naval Treaty of 1930, which restricted the total tonnage of light cruisers the British could build. That and the particular need of Britain to protect a far-flung trade empire had a profound influence on British naval designs of the 1930s. Waters does an exemplary job, in a very readable fashion, of how these considerations were reflected in the eventual design and construction of the class's members.

 

Here's another example of a something extra you'll find in this volume. We arm-chair historians of course want to know what the ships we're reading about did during the war, and Waters does indeed provide that information, including details of the class's service in Korea and well into the Cold War. But one nice and unexpected perk is the detailed descriptions (including diagrams) of every bomb and torpedo hit suffered by the class, based on historical damage and after-action reports. These provide interesting details on the survivability of the class, as well as an examination of improvements made to both construction and damage control methods as a result of lessons learned in combat. In a similar vein, Waters also describes developments within the class such as the evolution of AA armaments, even at the expense of main guns, brought about by the need to defend against faster, more modern aircraft. We're also treated to discussions of improving radar capabilities and how that played into various combat successes at sea.

 

Okay, let's get down to the good stuff -- the eye candy. This book is a visual treat. There are plenty of diagrams, tables, and cut-away drawings. There are several hundred very crisp B&W photos, including some that are single- and even double-page spreads. There's even a few color photos. There are also seven color plates that feature 14 paint and camouflage schemes. The best of all of these though is two pull-out pages featuring three color plates of original design drawings. These include rigging diagrams for both the Southampton- and Belfast-subclasses and a longitudinal profile of Southampton. Even if you're considering the book only as a visual reference, you won't be disappointed.

 

British Town Class Cruisers wraps up with three nice appendices that are well-worth reading in themselves. Appendix I covers camouflage & appearance, Appendix II is a treatment of the class's Supermarine Walrus scout planes, and Appendix III lists the class's battle honors. This is, in all respects, an exceptionally written and illustrated volume. It has enough detail to appeal to hard-core fans of WWII naval vessels, but is also written in a style that will keep casual fans engaged. It is well-worth the asking price in this reviewer's opinion and a great addition to anyone's nautical library.

 

Thanks are due to Seaforth Publishing for providing a review copy. You can click here to purchase British Town Class Cruisers directly from Seaforth.

 

CDC

[thibaultron]

Thanks for the review! I just ordered a copy from Amazon for ~$19 US.

[ccoyle]

9 hours ago, thibaultron said:

I just ordered a copy from Amazon for ~$19 US.

A steal of a deal!