Does anyone know what has been published over the years on the subject of the Royal Navy's Destroyers of the 1900-1919 era? I have no reference books other than "Warships of WWI" Ian Allen, that cover design and operational history of the Royal Navy's World War One Destroyers. Is there anything considered definitive out there?
For operational history, I do have the old "Endless Story" by Taffrail and "Flotillas" by Capt. Dawson, plus all the usual books on WWI Naval History. I need a design and construction history and reference book.
Bob B.
Royal Navy's WWI Destroyers
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bengtsson
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RickF
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JIM BAUMANN
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Hi Bengtsson
click here
there are a number of the Burt books for sale here
--at a wide strata of prices!
I just bought one!
http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/Searc ... 0&sortby=3
Good luck
Jim Baumann
click here
there are a number of the Burt books for sale here
--at a wide strata of prices!
I just bought one!
http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/Searc ... 0&sortby=3
Good luck
Jim Baumann
....I buy them at three times the speed I build 'em.... will I live long enough to empty my stash...?
http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.html
IPMS UK SIG (special interest group) www.finewaterline.com
http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.html
IPMS UK SIG (special interest group) www.finewaterline.com
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JIM BAUMANN
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Hi Begtsson
If your pockets are deep..
This volume is reckoned to be worth its weight in gold..?
Edgar March--British Destroyers
http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/Searc ... 3&sortby=2
The cheapest one in Europe( UK) is � 145.00
Good luck
Jim Baumann
If your pockets are deep..
This volume is reckoned to be worth its weight in gold..?
Edgar March--British Destroyers
http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/Searc ... 3&sortby=2
The cheapest one in Europe( UK) is � 145.00
Good luck
Jim Baumann
....I buy them at three times the speed I build 'em.... will I live long enough to empty my stash...?
http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.html
IPMS UK SIG (special interest group) www.finewaterline.com
http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.html
IPMS UK SIG (special interest group) www.finewaterline.com
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RickF
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- Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2005 4:52 pm
- Location: Norfolk, UK
Jim,
Re Edgar March, do you think the pros of his book outweigh the cons.
I have to confess that I am only interested in the early chapters, but trying to build a model from one of his "tracings" (Torpedo Boat No 80) has shown up quite a lot of sloppy draughtsmanship.
I have heard him described as "a law unto himself", with very firm opinions and unwilling to consider the views of others.
What do you think?
Rick
Re Edgar March, do you think the pros of his book outweigh the cons.
I have to confess that I am only interested in the early chapters, but trying to build a model from one of his "tracings" (Torpedo Boat No 80) has shown up quite a lot of sloppy draughtsmanship.
I have heard him described as "a law unto himself", with very firm opinions and unwilling to consider the views of others.
What do you think?
Rick
Black, white and buff - not grey!
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wr
I never knew or met March, but I know people who did. I ever heard anything bad about him as a person, but as the author of the destroyer book I would give his work only three or four out of ten.
His area of interest was NOT in warships but in coastal sailing ships of the UK. It is evident that he unfortunately did not understand the subject of destroyers or to write well in terms of putting the material together.
He was a personal friend of Mountbatten and this friendship allowed him access to material that was still very much closed to everbody else.
At the time of his death in the late sixties he had written part of the volume on cruisers, which I saw. What had been completed was totally unpublishable.
British destroyers from conception up to World War Two still awaits it's author.
His area of interest was NOT in warships but in coastal sailing ships of the UK. It is evident that he unfortunately did not understand the subject of destroyers or to write well in terms of putting the material together.
He was a personal friend of Mountbatten and this friendship allowed him access to material that was still very much closed to everbody else.
At the time of his death in the late sixties he had written part of the volume on cruisers, which I saw. What had been completed was totally unpublishable.
British destroyers from conception up to World War Two still awaits it's author.
RickF wrote:Jim,
Re Edgar March, do you think the pros of his book outweigh the cons.
I have to confess that I am only interested in the early chapters, but trying to build a model from one of his "tracings" (Torpedo Boat No 80) has shown up quite a lot of sloppy draughtsmanship.
I have heard him described as "a law unto himself", with very firm opinions and unwilling to consider the views of others.
What do you think?
Rick
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Laurence Batchelor
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- Location: Warwickshire, England
Ah good day gents, just got home and I see the usual book fellows have already posted 
Right then early destroyers....
I would recommend David Lyon's excellent book which John Roberts helped with also, its fairly recent and is still very well priced:-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Destroyer ... F8&s=books
Furthermore a good book I have on these early destroyers, and what it was like to serve on one, is the out-of-print Peter C. Smith one, Hard Lying : the birth of the destroyer 1893-1913:-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hard-lying-birt ... F8&s=books
If you desire a good photo book, there's none better the Ray A Burt's Warships Illustrated 7 British Destroyers In WW1 which is on my RN Destroyer book reference list here:-
As mentioned above the Edgar J March book is the single best book ever published, but its old (1963) and expensive. It has many fold out detailed plans traced off the Admiralty 'As fitteds' though it has much problems such as coverage e.g. early destroyers there's a wealth of info on, whereas there's much less on the late WW2 destroyers for example (mainly accounted for too much source material was still classified back in the early 1960s).
The other weakness stems from the fact March mainly wrote about small sailing boats and for some silly reason Selley, the publishers, got him to do one on British Destroyers, probably because Dr Oscar Parkes British Battleships book, which came out a few years earlier, was a good success, but they would have been better if they chose someone more atune to destroyers or the Royal Navy in general. Still its the best book ever published, and badly in need of reprinting or revision. I'd hoped Friedman's recent work would have sorted this gap out, oh well we shall wait and see when his Volume 1 book comes out in the near future.
For an overview type of book there's these also:-
Right then early destroyers....
I would recommend David Lyon's excellent book which John Roberts helped with also, its fairly recent and is still very well priced:-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Destroyer ... F8&s=books
Furthermore a good book I have on these early destroyers, and what it was like to serve on one, is the out-of-print Peter C. Smith one, Hard Lying : the birth of the destroyer 1893-1913:-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hard-lying-birt ... F8&s=books
If you desire a good photo book, there's none better the Ray A Burt's Warships Illustrated 7 British Destroyers In WW1 which is on my RN Destroyer book reference list here:-
As mentioned above the Edgar J March book is the single best book ever published, but its old (1963) and expensive. It has many fold out detailed plans traced off the Admiralty 'As fitteds' though it has much problems such as coverage e.g. early destroyers there's a wealth of info on, whereas there's much less on the late WW2 destroyers for example (mainly accounted for too much source material was still classified back in the early 1960s).
The other weakness stems from the fact March mainly wrote about small sailing boats and for some silly reason Selley, the publishers, got him to do one on British Destroyers, probably because Dr Oscar Parkes British Battleships book, which came out a few years earlier, was a good success, but they would have been better if they chose someone more atune to destroyers or the Royal Navy in general. Still its the best book ever published, and badly in need of reprinting or revision. I'd hoped Friedman's recent work would have sorted this gap out, oh well we shall wait and see when his Volume 1 book comes out in the near future.
For an overview type of book there's these also:-
Last edited by Laurence Batchelor on Sat Jan 27, 2007 11:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Laurence Batchelor
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wr
In the seventies I was asked to do some drawings for a book, the name of which I have forgotten. The forward was written by Mountbatten who wanted a profile of the Kelly shown. I refused to do this for some reason, which caused the publisher to almost beg me to reconsider otherwise Mountbatten was NOT going to co-operate. So I relented.
Laurence Batchelor wrote:Yes your right, ego perhaps forcing only 1 destroyer type to be shown from the 50 or so classes the book covers!wr wrote:The dust cover shows Mountbatten's influence with the book.
Its such a shame you & John stopped at cruisers a DD book in your style would have been popular.
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Laurence Batchelor
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wr
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Laurence Batchelor
- Posts: 1376
- Joined: Sun Jan 23, 2005 6:20 am
- Location: Warwickshire, England
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wr
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Laurence Batchelor
- Posts: 1376
- Joined: Sun Jan 23, 2005 6:20 am
- Location: Warwickshire, England
This was published 1970? There can only be so many with a foreword from him 
This one 1979
This one 1979
Last edited by Laurence Batchelor on Sat Jan 27, 2007 1:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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wr
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Laurence Batchelor
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bengtsson
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Thanks fellows! I am glad to hear about the book by March, I was tempted to go in for that one, but hearing the expert comments on it, I'll not take the bait! I will take wr's advice and wait for someone to do the definitve book on RN Destroyers. Seems a subject waiting for an author 
. I'de have come on board sooner, but the influensa has got me and I dragged myself out of my death bed to see the replies I admit I have taken a great interest in how the RN went about getting their destroyers built in the early years and WWI. Was it not just a set of requirements put out for bid, and the bidding shipbuilders did all the real design work. Thus many Destroyers of the same general class had alot of differences depending on the ship builder's decisions as how best to meet Admiralty requirements? When or was this done away with by the time of the V-Ws? They seem quite standard types.
Anyone know where I could get more information on the Botha class leaders built for Chile and taken over for the war? The famous Broke being one of my favorite RN WWI destroyers?
Bob B.
I will take wr's advice and wait for someone to do the definitve book on RN Destroyers. Seems a subject waiting for an author . I'de have come on board sooner, but the influensa has got me and I dragged myself out of my death bed to see the replies I admit I have taken a great interest in how the RN went about getting their destroyers built in the early years and WWI. Was it not just a set of requirements put out for bid, and the bidding shipbuilders did all the real design work. Thus many Destroyers of the same general class had alot of differences depending on the ship builder's decisions as how best to meet Admiralty requirements? When or was this done away with by the time of the V-Ws? They seem quite standard types.Anyone know where I could get more information on the Botha class leaders built for Chile and taken over for the war? The famous Broke being one of my favorite RN WWI destroyers?
Bob B.
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wr
If you are a model maker you will find the traced "as fitted" plans just up your street. The relatively small number of photos are of generally high quality. I gave my copy away years ago. Suggest that you ask someone on this board to list the "as fitted" plan sets and only those, no others.
Then make a choice.
quote="bengtsson"]Thanks fellows! I am glad to hear about the book by March, I was tempted to go in for that one, but hearing the expert comments on it, I'll not take the bait! I will take wr's advice and wait for someone to do the definitve book on RN Destroyers. Seems a subject waiting for an author . I'de have come on board sooner, but the influensa has got me and I dragged myself out of my death bed to see the replies I admit I have taken a great interest in how the RN went about getting their destroyers built in the early years and WWI. Was it not just a set of requirements put out for bid, and the bidding shipbuilders did all the real design work. Thus many Destroyers of the same general class had alot of differences depending on the ship builder's decisions as how best to meet Admiralty requirements? When or was this done away with by the time of the V-Ws? They seem quite standard types.
Anyone know where I could get more information on the Botha class leaders built for Chile and taken over for the war? The famous Broke being one of my favorite RN WWI destroyers?
Bob B.[/quote]
Then make a choice.
quote="bengtsson"]Thanks fellows! I am glad to hear about the book by March, I was tempted to go in for that one, but hearing the expert comments on it, I'll not take the bait!
I will take wr's advice and wait for someone to do the definitve book on RN Destroyers. Seems a subject waiting for an author . I'de have come on board sooner, but the influensa has got me and I dragged myself out of my death bed to see the replies I admit I have taken a great interest in how the RN went about getting their destroyers built in the early years and WWI. Was it not just a set of requirements put out for bid, and the bidding shipbuilders did all the real design work. Thus many Destroyers of the same general class had alot of differences depending on the ship builder's decisions as how best to meet Admiralty requirements? When or was this done away with by the time of the V-Ws? They seem quite standard types.Anyone know where I could get more information on the Botha class leaders built for Chile and taken over for the war? The famous Broke being one of my favorite RN WWI destroyers?
Bob B.[/quote]