British Battleships 1939–45 (1) Queen Elizabeth and Royal Sovereign Classes New Vanguard 154 Written by Angus Konstam Illustrated by Tony Bryan & Paul Wright 48 pages ISBN: 978-1-8460-3388-9 British Battleships 1939–45 (1) at Osprey... Battleships have evolved over the past 100 years from arguably being the most important warship in the fleet to a tourist attraction. The first in this series of books covers the Queen Elizabeth and Royal Sovereign Classes, both of which were designed by Sir Philip Watts’ and challenged the current thinking of how these fast battleships should be built. The book starts with a brief history of the of the design and construction of battleships during the first few years of the 20th Century and explores the impact of the First Sea Lord Sir John Fisher and the support he gave Sir Philip Watts as the Director of Naval Construction. It was their enthusiasm and innovation that helped to change the design perceptions of battleships, resulting in the construction of HMS Dreadnought. A ship so revolutionary that its very name gave rise to a new type of warship, the dreadnought.

The author covers the further development of these dreadnoughts through to the point where the Queen Elizabeth and then Royal Sovereign Classes were designed and constructed. There is a good combination of text and images to show not only how they were constructed but also any service modifications that occurred prior to World War Two. The service history of each vessel is briefly covered, to the point where I knew enough to decide if I was interested in taking advantage of the further reading suggestions at the end of the book, whilst not getting too bogged down in details. Finally, the book has a small section covering two interesting examples during the operational life of the HMS Warspite which provide an indication of the quality of British crews during this period. I found this to be a very interesting and easy read. There was more than enough detail so that I could understand the origins and designs of these vessels and certainly made me look forward to the next one. Chris