Warship 2023

I have reviewed the Warship series for a number of years and they never disappoint. This latest edition is a fascinating eclectic mix of articles on subjects ranging from bizarre designs to modern weapons systems and current naval thinking. The editor John Jordan is to be congratulated on editing such a heady mix from authoritative contributors. The opening article covers the loss of the battleship Audacious in October 1914 off Malin Head to a mine. The explosion caused rapid flooding and loss of all auxiliary machinery and electrical power. Despite efforts including counter flooding, the ship capsized and sank, with the loss of only one life. A postscript to this story which is not included is that the wardroom had just stored wine and spirits and all were lost with the bill outstanding. Harveys Wine sellers on the Hard at Portsmouth waived the bill and the Admiralty presented them with a lifebelt from Audacious as “payment” which was still displayed in the offices in the 1970s! An article on the post-war French carriers, Foch and Clemenceau, which came into service in the early 1960s highlights the post-war French efforts to get back into the carrier game with jets evolving from the French built Sea Venom to the Etendard and Crusader. An article on the 12 x 12” guns from a scrapped Russian dreadnought which were acquired by Finland to defend their coast against the Soviets is certainly unusual. Some of the guns were seized on their way to Finland by the Germans in a Norwegian port and eventually ended up on Guernsey; 3 of the Finnish guns were used as railway guns before being handed over to the USSR. The bizarre is covered by an article on the French 1890s battleship Massena. With significant design defects, she never fired a shot in anger, and ended up sunk as a breakwater at Gallipoli. An article on post- war RN EW systems brings us back to modern reality, covering everything from array identification to SIGINT with the reassuring conclusion that the RN retains some “world beating capabilities”. With the current concerns about Chinese intentions towards Taiwan, there is an article on how the USN is rising to the challenge of retaining maritime supremacy in the region. The PLAN’s rapid growth both numerically and qualitatively has led to the development by the USN of Distributed Maritime Ops – a drive to use the US superiority in command and control to achieve the best use of resources in the Pacific, including the increased use of un-manned vessels. The USN also has the challenge of making further technological advances and increasing platform capabilities whilst the Chinese aren’t standing still. Interesting times to quote an appropriate Chinese curse! Other articles include the “odd collaboration” between Fascist Italy and the Soviet Navy on battleship design studies ranging from a 75,000 ton ship armed with 12 x 17.7” to a 35,000 ton design not dissimilar from the Italian Littorio Class, German WWII flak ships, and Japanese 8” cruisers of the 1896 Ten Year Naval Expansion programme. Stimulating articles, beautifully produced and published, yet again this series has delivered a wonderful collection which is also great fun to read. I look forward to Warship 2024!