The Battleship Book

By the author of Grounded: The Case for Abolishing the United States Air Force


"Farley deploys an incisive and brutally direct style" --Warships: International Fleet Review


From the moment when the launching of HMS Dreadnought made every capital ship in the world obsolete overnight, we have been fascinated with these powerful surface combatants. Here Robert M. Farley looks at the history and folklore that makes these ships enduring symbols of national power-and sometimes national futility. From Arizona to Yamato, here are more than sixty lavishly illustrated accounts of battleships from the most well-known to the most unusual, including at least one ship from every nation that ever owned a modern battleship. Separate essays and sidebars look at events and lore that greatly affected battleships.


Ships profiled include: HMS Victoria, USS Oregon, HIJMS Mikasa, SMS Schleswig-Holstein, Danton, HMS Dreadnought, HMS Invincible, Sao Paulo, USS Michigan, SMS Ostfriesland, SMS Goeben, RN Dante Alighieri, USS Utah, Espana, HMS Lion, Sevastopol, USS Arkansas, SMS Friedrich Der Grosse, HMS New Zealand, HMAS Australia, Giulio Cesare, SMS Viribus Unitis, ARA Rivadavia, Volya, USS New York, Almirante Latorre, HIJMS Kongo, USS Oklahoma, HMS Iron Duke, HMS Warspite, SMS Lutzow, SMS Szent Istvan, Bretagne, HMS Barham, HIJMS Yamashiro, SMS Baden, HMS Royal Sovereign, USS Arizona, USS Mississippi, HMS Renown, HIJMS Hyuga, HMS Hood, USS California, USS Maryland, HIJMS Nagato, HIJMS Kaga, USS Lexington, HMS Rodney, Admiral Scheer, RN Littorio, Strasbourg, Scharnhorst, Tirpitz, Jean Bart, HMS Prince of Wales, HIJMS Yamato, USS Washington, USS Massachusetts, USS Wisconsin, HMS Vanguard, USS Guam, RFS Pyotr Velikiy