Gradually evolving from the masted steam frigates of the mid-nineteenth century, the first modern cruiser is not easy to define, but for the sake of this book the starting point is taken to be Iris and Mercury of 1875. They were the RN's first steel-built warships; were designed primarily to be steamed rather than sailed; and formed the basis of a line of succeeding cruiser classes. The story ends with the last armoured cruisers, which were succeeded by the first battlecruisers (originally called armoured cruisers), and ...
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Gradually evolving from the masted steam frigates of the mid-nineteenth century, the first modern cruiser is not easy to define, but for the sake of this book the starting point is taken to be Iris and Mercury of 1875. They were the RN's first steel-built warships; were designed primarily to be steamed rather than sailed; and formed the basis of a line of succeeding cruiser classes. The story ends with the last armoured cruisers, which were succeeded by the first battlecruisers (originally called armoured cruisers), and with the last Third Class Cruisers (Topaze class), all conceived before 1906. Coverage, therefore, dovetails precisely with Friedman's previous book on British cruisers, although this one also includes the wartime experience of the earlier ships.rn The two central themes are cruisers for the fleet and cruisers for overseas operations, including (but not limited to) trade protection. The distant-waters aspect covers the belted cruisers, which were nearly capital ships, intended to deal with foreign second-class battleships in the Far East. The main enemies contemplated during this period were France and Russia, and the book includes British assessments of their strength and intentions, with judgements as to how accurate those assessments were.rn As would be expected of Friedman, the book is deeply researched, original in its analysis, and full of striking insights - another major contribution to the history of British warships.
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A. D. Baker III (Ship Plans) Very good in Very good jacket. Format is approximately 10 inches by 11.75 inches. 352 pages. Illustrators Notes. Bibliography. Notes. Data List (specifications). List of Ships. Abbreviations. Index. Norman Friedman, Ph.D., is an American author and naval analyst. He has written over 30 books on naval matters, and appeared on television programs on PBS and the Discovery Networks. From 1973 to 1984, he was at the Hudson Institute, becoming Deputy Director for National Security Affairs. He worked for the United States Navy as in-house consultant. From 2002 to 2004, he served as a futurologist for the United States Marine Corps. This splendid book looks at the development of the Royal Navy's cruisers from the wooden frigates of the 1840s to the turret armed armored turbine warships of 1906. This is a much more thoughtful book than many titles on warships. The introduction looks at the strategic, political and technological developments of the period-what threats each generation of cruisers was designed to meet, how advances in technology caused problems for naval officers and ship designers, the results of the navy's annual exercises, and the impact of political changes and funding on naval developments. We discover why a class of fast frigates or long range sloops was ordered in a particular year (often to deal with a particular threat-an announcement of naval construction in France or the United States, a war scare or even a public campaign that forced the government to increase funding).
