Battleship cruiser destroyer

What was it like to be there? In this combined volume of three titles in the ‘At War’ series, the authors evoke the atmosphere of life on board for captain and crew, above and below deck. Eyewitness accounts describe the sudden hectic intensity of action, as a climax to generally long and tedious periods of inaction.

BATTLESHIP
The firing of a battleship’s guns was literally deafening - claps of thunder, accompanied by brilliant flashes of orange and red flame, and followed by black and grey smoke.
In both World Wars, and to an extent in the waters off Korea and Vietnam, the life was always physically hard, and sheer weight of armaments and armour accorded no absolute protection.
Of the battleships featured here, most are British, although French, German and US operations are covered, as are Japanese and Italian battleships at war. The reader, in an imaginary position on the bridge or in the gun turret, can relive the famous naval engagements of yesteryear.

CRUISER
The direct descendant of the frigate of Nelson’s day, the second World War cruiser ranked between the battleship and the destroyer in terms of weight and armament. It relied for its safety on speed and manoeuvrability rather than armoured protection like the destroyer but with greater capacity for independent operation, greater endurance and more antiaircraft weaponry.
These versatile maids of all work were able to undertake a great variety of essential tasks in every ocean on the globe - almost every major cruiser action is mentioned here, and the detailed appendix lists the statistics of all RN and RAN cruisers fighting in the war, as well as details of their ultimate fates.

DESTROYER
Sleek, deadly and supremely seaworthy, the destroyers of the Second World War have been romanticised often in film and fiction. They seem to typify above all other ships the excitement and exhilaration of sea warfare.
The apparently ubiquitous destroyer hunted U-boats in the Atlantic, escorted convoys through the Arctic Circle, and fought - often against the odds - in the Pacific and the Mediterranean.
Fascinating stories of action are placed here in a structured historical framework which includes the development of the destroyer from its inception as a torpedo-boat catcher. Detailed notes on the data and demise of Commonwealth destroyers in the Second World War are included.