Books
on Ship
Modeling
Reference Books on Warships
Warship Videos
Music to build
Warships
By!
Tools and Books on
Tools
Other fun things that
Kurt
really likes - an admittedly eclectic gathering of odds and ends
The vast majority of these books are in my own library!
The Yard - Follows the building
of an Arleigh Burke
Class Destroyer from first metal to delivery. A fantastic book
that
gives a lot of insight into how a modern warship is created. The
chapter
launching a ship from the building ways is particularly interesting.
Very
readable and highly recommended.
Warship
Boneyards by Kit Bonner - a look at the reserve fleets and naval
storage
yards around the US
Battlestations:
American Warships of WWII by Nicholas A. Veronico, Armand H.
Veronico,
Nick Veronico
U.S.
Battleships : An Illustrated Design History A very technical and
informative
description of the design process, with fantastic illustrations and
clear,
useful photographs. See the author, Norman Friedman, other books
below
U.S. Cruisers: An Illustrated Design History
U.S.
Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History
U.S.
Aircraft Carriers :An Illustrated Design History
U.S.
Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History
U.S.
Submarines Since 1945 : An Illustrated Design History
U.S.
Amphibious Ships and Craft: An Illustrated Design History - the
latest
in Friedman's books, very well received.
U.S. Small Combatants, Including Pt-Boats, Subchasers, and the Brown-Water Navy: An Illustrated Design History
All are probably the definitive design histories of the subjects, covering the earliest origins to late developments.
Battleships
: United States Battleships - a great technical history of US
Battleship
design.
Iowa
Class Battleships: Their Design, Weapons and Equipment by Robert F.
Sumrall,
Tom Walkowiak. Invaluable resource to the modeler of this
class
Battleship
Missouri: An Illustrated History by Paul Stillwell
Battleship
Arizona: An Illustrated History by Paul Stillwell
Battleships
by Paul Stillwell - an overview of mostly US Battleships with some very
nice
photos
American Cruisers of World War II: A Pictorial Encyclopedia by Steve Ewing - a nice softbound volume on all cruisers that saw action during the war.
Electronic Greyhounds: The Spruance-Class Destroyers by Michael C., Capt. Potter - a very good reference for Spruance and Ticonderoga class ships of the US Navy.
Modern
U.S. Navy Destroyers - a nice softbound picture book with lots of
views
of an Arleigh Burke class destroyer
Sumner-Gearing-Class Destroyers: Their Design, Weapons, and Equipment by Robert F. Sumrall An outstanding reference, but availability might be limited
Fletcher Class DDs in Action (Warships, No 8) by Jerry Scutts One of the Squadron in Action Series
U.S. Navy Destroyers of World War II by John C. Jr. Reilly A truly excellent overview of the various classes of Destroyers that the US used during the war. Want to tell a Sumner from a Sommers? Here is a great reference.
The
Buckley-Class Destroyer Escorts by Bruce Hampton Franklin - a great
reference
for this common class of Destroyer Escorts, which included the famous
England
(DE-635). Photos of every ship in the class, and a nice design
history,
along with useful detail photos.
Flush Decks and Four Pipes by John D. Alden - the best reference for the War Emergency destroyers built during World War I that served as the backbone of the US Navy destroyer fleet until well into the 30's; indeed many served throughout World War II as well.
Run
Silent by Philip Kaplan - Oversized coffee table book which covers
the
history of submarines as well as the modern US sub fleet.
Cold
War Submarines: Us & Soviet Design & Construction by
Norman Polmar,
Kenneth J. Moore
The
Compete Idiot's Guide to Submarines by Michael DiMercurio, Michael
Benson
- what a great book, so much detail on the operation of a submarine in
a
highly readable format. Very highly recommended.
German
Capital Ships of World War Two by M. J. Whitley
The
Battleship Tirpitz by Gerhard Koop, Klaus-Peter Schmolke
Battleships
of the Scharnhorst class Excellent English language
translation
of the German Original, highly recommended for those with an interest
in
the class.
Battleship
Scharnhorst (Conway Maritime Modellers)
Pocket
Battleships of the Deutschland Class by Gerhard Koop
Heavy
Cruisers of the Admiral Hipper Class: The Admiral Hipper, Blucher,
Prince
Eugen, Seydlitz and Lutzow by Gerhard Koop, Klaus-Peter Schmolke
German
Light Cruisers of World War II: Emden, Konigsberg, Karlsruhe, Koln,
Leipzig,
Nurnberg by Gerhard Koop, Klaus-Peter Schmolke
Battleships : Axis and Neutral Another great
battleship
reference series. This book covers the Axis battleships built
just
before and used during World War II. Other volumes in the series
cover
Battleships
: United States Battleships and
Battleships
: Allied Battleships. The trio makes a very useful study on
fast
battleship design.
German Destroyers of World War II by Gerhard Koop, Klaus-Peter
Schmolke
Japanese
Cruisers of the Pacific War by Eric Lacroix A big, expensive
reference,
worthwhile if you are a serious IJN researcher or modeler
The Heavy Cruiser Takao (Anatomy of the Ship) by Janusz Skulski One of the excellent Anatomy of the Ship Series.
The Battleship Yamato by Janusz Skulski Another of the Anatomy of the Ship
The
Battleship Fuso: Fuso (Anatomy of the Ship Series) by Janusz
Skulski
The
Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World 2002-2003:
Their
Ships, Aircraft, and Systems - serious about warships? Really,
really
serious about warships? This is the reference you need to plan
your
next move against NATO, or simply to assess maritime strength in your
neighborhood. Definitely not pocket sized at over 1100 pages, and
still
a fraction of the cost of
Jane's
Fighting Ships.
The
Naval Institute Guide to the Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet (Naval
Institute Guide to the Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet, 17th Ed)
by
Norman Polmar
The
Eclipse of the Big Gun: The Warship, 1906-45 (Conway's History of
the
Ship) by Robert Gardiner
Navies
in the Nuclear Age: Warships Since 1945 (Conway's History of the
Ship)
by Robert Gardiner
Fleets
of World War II by Richard Worth
Destroyers
of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia by M. J. Whitley -
A
nice survey of World War II destroyers.
Destroyer Weapons of World War Two by Peter Hodges- a nice book that covers US and British DD weapons. Out of print, but you might get lucky and find a used copy here.
Naval Weapons of World War Two by John Campbell - don't buy a collector priced version of this book, it is being reissued by the US Naval Insttitute at $ 65.00 list, so if you see a higher price, check back later
Useful searches on Amazon for warships:
Battleship Cruiser Destroyer Submarine each of these will generate a lot of hits
Anatomy of the Ship - this will get you hits on the excellent series by Conway and US Naval Institute
US Naval Institute Books - large publisher of naval books
USS - gets books with "USS" in the name
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Version 1.1 06/17
Battleships
of the Bismarck Class: Bismarck and Tirpitz, Culmination and Finale of
German
Battleship Construction by Gerhard Koop