Warship 2021

The Warship annual series can be relied upon to deliver a series of well-researched and informative essays on ship designs and their service and this year’s annual is no exception. In his editorial, John Jordan sums up one of the major selling points of this series – “paper designs or might-have-beens have an enduring fascination for naval enthusiasts”. The first essay entitled ‘Stalin’s Super Battleships’ is a good example of this policy. The 1936 design showed a ship of some 41,000 tonnes which evolved through to the 1941 design for a class of 4 ships weighing some 65,000 tonnes armed with 9 x 16” guns. The evolution of the design also took place when Stalin had a purge of the Navy and executions and real threats of imprisonment in the Gulags! A mixture of poor quality material, German occupation and political interference meant that the project never got anywhere near completion and they were scrapped. An article on pre-WWII Italian aircraft carrier projects covers Mussolini’s directive after the Battle of Matapan to convert the liner Roma into a carrier, Aquila. By August 1943, Aquila was basically complete, including a cumbersome German catapult cradle launch system, but with the Italian surrender, she was seized and stripped by the Germans and never went to sea. Would she have made a successful carrier? Her machinery and protection were to Staff requirements, but her aviation fit was weak. At a time when rumours abound about a possible replacement for HMY Britannia, ‘Warship’ provides a cautionary tale in recounting the problems building the Victoria and Albert (111). The ship ended up top heavy, mainly due to additional accommodation fits demanded by the Royal Household and, with a negative metacentric height, she nearly sank when first floated in a dry dock. The French Naval Programme of 1890 produced some bizarre designs and Philippe Caresse continues his look at the battleships that were built and focuses on the Carnot – by general agreement one of the least successful ships of the Programme. A more successful French ship was the La Fayette light stealth frigate of the 1990s. With their modular construction and using GRP for superstructure, they have had considerable export success. The French ships have suffered from a “fitted for but not with policy” but they have proved reliable with excellent seakeeping. An article on the use of RN Fleet destroyers of the O and P Classes in Escort Groups aimed at bolstering convoy close escorts in the crucial months of Spring 1943 in the Battle of the Atlantic highlights the vital role played by these highly experienced ships. Their presence harassed U-boats and with the advent of escort carriers, the tide was turned in the Battle of the Atlantic. A rather depressing article on post-war RN sonar development states that although there has been some “outstanding research and development”, bureaucratic dictates and loss of platforms mean that ASW expertise has been severely eroded. Other articles cover the Japanese submarines of the I-15 Class designed to operate as Fleet submarines, the Japanese Chitose Class of seaplane tenders, the 1950s French Duperre escorts, German small cruisers of WW1 and photo gallery of the last Type IXC U-boats . The mix of articles is first class and published to a very high standard with excellent photos and is a fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable read. Very highly recommended.