Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946 is the third in a series of 4 books which, as the title suggests, lists all the worlds fighting ships built during the period in question. Initially, these were post-WW1 years in which some countries favoured disarmament whilst others harboured expansionist plans. This was also a time when the Aircraft Carrier would totally eclipse the mighty Battleship as "King of the Seas." Eventually, the advent of WW2 and the way in which the USA entered that war added a whole new dimension to warship design and production.
Conway Maritime Press are well known for their factual books on ships - especially warships, in which they provide the finest technical documentation. "All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946" is hard-back measuring 12œ" x 8Ÿ" with 456 pages of detailed and factual information. After a brief foreword and an explanation of abbreviations used, the navies of the world are listed by country in order of their size and importance at the beginning of the period in question - i.e. Great Britain and Empire Forces, USA, Japan, Germany, etc and continuing right down to the world's smallest navies from the Middle East, Far East and Latin America. Each country's ships are then displayed by "class" commencing with the largest capital ships and progressing all the way down to the smallest torpedo boats (or whatever) with the oldest vessels mentioned first. For each class there is one or more of those profile line drawings which have become Conway's trademark. These are followed by all the usual technical details such as; Displacement, dimensions, machinery, armour, armament and complement followed by the names of each ship within that class - it's builder, date laid down, date completed and fate. These are accompanied by a very "readable" text from which we learn of the political intrigue of the day, variations between vessels, refits, new equipment, whatever defects or other problems beset either the class or a specific ship and a short résumé of the fate of each vessel.
Altogether, the book is well illustrated with an excellent selection of historic black and white original photographs throughout with at least one picture on almost every page.
In summary, this is an excellent technical work of reference and one which will continue to stand the test of time. Put another way, this is one of those books you will wish you had bought - after it becomes out of print.
NM
