'^"'^^«^.;^c_x rOFWORLD •WKR II itliiro>iiiiii|r«trMit^i^'it-ri>i«fiinit(i*<j|yM«.<'i|*.*>' mk a ^. N. WESTWOOD nCHTING C1TTDC or WORLD World War II was the last of the great naval wars, the culmination of a century of warship development in which steam, steel and finally aviation had been adapted for naval use. The battles, both big and small, of this war are well known, and the names of some of the ships which fought them are still familiar, names like Bismarck, Warspite and Enterprise. This book presents these celebrated fighting ships, detailing both their war- time careers and their design features. In addition it describes the evolution between the wars of the various ship types : how their designers sought to make compromises to satisfy the require - ments of fighting qualities, sea -going capability, expense, and those of the different naval treaties. Thanks to the research of devoted ship enthusiasts, to the opening of government archives, and the publication of certain memoirs, it is now possible to evaluate World War II warships more perceptively and more accurately than in the first postwar decades. The reader will find, for example, how ships in wartime con- ditions did or did not justify the expecta- tions of their designers, admiralties and taxpayers (though their crews usually had a shrewd idea right from the start of the good and bad qualities of their ships). With its tables and chronology, this book also serves as both a summary of the war at sea and a record of almost all the major vessels involved in it. How- ever, the work of the author can only take second place to that of that anony- mous band of men who served during the war as naval photographers. Thanks to their competence, and often to their en- durance and courage , it has been possible to illustrate this book with a superb array of pictures, of which many are historical documents in their own right, and others of great aesthetic impact. Book Club Edition TT ^^ ww©^mwm. The American and British concepts of the 35,000-ton battleship: U.S.S. W'ashiiiglo (foreground) and H.M.S. Duke of York in northern waters in 1942 J. N. WESTWOOD m m wm**^;.ftC ^W- i'<\ •', "it". FOLLETT PUBLISHING COMPANY Acknowledgements Foto Ferdinand Urbahns, 135 Imperial War Museum, 2. 6-7, 9, 10-11, H, 14, 15, 18, Another Japanese warship falls victim to U.S. bombs 21 (left), 23 (top I, 25, 31 ( inset i, 35 (inset), 34, 41, 48-4, 54 ibtm), 56-7, 59, 60, 63, 65 (top;, 68, 74-5, 77, 81, 82-3, towards the end of the war. As 85,89,93,99, 103, 105, 106-7, 108, 109, 110-11, 113 (btm), the escort vessel heels over, 115, 117, 122-3, 124, 127, 128, 132, 134, 138-9, 140-1, 143, its crew divides into 144, 145, 154, 158 swimmers and non-swimmers J. N. Westwood, 23 (btm), 44 Robert Hunt Library, 2, 4-5, 17, 20, 21 (right), 22-3, 26-7, 29, 30-31, 33, 35, 36-7, 42-3, 46-7, 51, 52-3, 54 (top), 65 (btm), 67, 70, 73, 78-9, 80, 86, 87, 91, 95, 96-7, 101, 104, 113 (top), 119, 121, 131, 135, 136-7, 148-9, 150 Shaw Savill Line, 146-7 ^^W'P-^t Printed in the United States of America Copyright iC 1975 John Westwood and Sidgwick and Jackson Ltd Designed by Graham Mitchener All rights reserved FoUett Publishing Company (a division of Follett Corporation) 1010 West Washington Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60607 (g®S3^!MKra^ The Yamato 24 The Admiral Graf Spee 28 The Scharnhorst 33 The Bismarck 36 H.M.S.DukeofYork40 U.S.S. Alabama 42 U.S.S. Washington 45 H.M.S. Warspite 48 U.S.S. Texas 50 The Kongo 52 ^mmMR 56 H.M.S. Ark Royal 66 U.S.S. Enterprise 69 U.S.S. Hornet 74 U.S.S. Lexington 76 The Akagi 78 The Zuikaku 80 iME ©am^ig® 82 U.S.S. Indianapolis % The Mogami 98 U.S.S. Boise 100 H.M.S. Ajax 102 H.M.S. Belfast 105 The Prinz Eugen 108 ^PMI ll)!Ei^M(0211® 110 U.S.S. Johnston 118 H.M.S. Saumarez 120 'mm mjmmmm^ 122 The U-47 134 U.S.S. Cavalla 136 H.M.S. Thunderbolt 138 ^PSaSE Ilg©®^^ 140 H.M.S. Jervis Bay 146 U.S.S. England 148 Chronology of the War at Sea 1 50 Index of Ships and Battles 159 W^ t M -KT-^^SplSfei* ^^^Hs^Us"** MT hat use are Britain's battleships to us if they can't move on wheels?' asked a much-quoted Russian man-in-the- w-street in August 1914. It was a good question, because it was not Britain's proud and costly Dreadnoughts which would decide the issue of the First World War. After that war, others besides Russian men-in-the-street were questioning the role of the battleship. Few denied the importance of sea power, but not everyone ac- cepted the importance of the battleship. Both strategically and tactically, the ostensible role of the battleship was to be the final arbiter of any naval war. It was a ship which was more powerfully armed and armoured than any other type, and naval theory main- tained that a setpiece battle between lines of battleships would determine the result of any naval war. The coming of the torpedo, which could blast holes below the waterline armour of any battle- ship, had earlier suggested that the latter could no longer be con- sidered invulnerable to smaller ships, could no longer be considered the 'great deterrent' of naval warfare. But in the First World War the torpedo, despite some spectacular successes, had not really proved itself as a battleship killer. Yet no sooner had the battleship demonstrated that it could cope with the seaborne torpedo than it was confronted with another new weapon, the aeroplane. The First World War showed that the airborne torpedo and the air- borne bomb were viable weapons whose development might well mean the end not only of the battleship but perhaps of all warships other than the submarine and aircraft carrier. But the battleship's surrender to air power took much longer than the air enthusiasts anticipated. During the Second World War the aircraft carrier did finally emerge as the prime naval unit, but the battleship retained an important supporting role, especially in waters where weather made flying unreliable and where the enemy possessed heavy surface ships. Despite the need to add aerial defence to torpedo defence the battleship remained basically the same as it had emerged from the nineteenth century. It was an armoured gun platform, intended to withstand the most heavy guns brought against it, and to be able to penetrate the armour of the strongest ship opposing it. These characteristics had meant that, with each new battleship being designed to outdo its predecessors, the size of ships had pro- gressively increased to accommodate heavier guns, thicker armour, and the bigger engines needed to propel the greater bulk. This was one aspect of the naval race which in the decade before 1914 had influenced not only the strategy, but also the economies, of Britain and Germany. When the First World War ended it seemed that yet another naval race would follow, which might well ruin the weakened economies of the powers and, by intensifying national rivalries, lead to another conflict. With the U.S.A. declaring its intention of building a 'navy second to none', with Japan initiating an immense new construction programme, and Britain unwilling that these two the it as prime naval power, an impoverishing Above : A first-fruit of nations should displace Washington Naval Treaty: race seemed unavoidable except through international coopera- the unorthodox British forth- tion. This cooperation, to the surprise of many, was indeed battleship Nelson, here shown Naval Treaty, 1922. hring her 16-in. guns in a coming, and the outcome was the Washington wartime photograph The treaty was welcomed by the world at large, but not by battle- ship designers. of this So far as capital ships were concerned, the main provisions Previous pages: Britain's naval agreement were that by 1934 might as portrayed in a pre- rather remarkable international to war publicity photograph. In Britain was to reduce its capital ships to twenty units, the U.S.A. the foreground the 15-in. guns old, and eighteen, Japan to ten, France to seven modem and three of the battleship Barham tire a old. This meant that most ships being salvo Italy to six modern and four although built at the time of the treaty were abandoned. Moreover, France Britain was allowed to start two new battleships at once and other new and Italy one each in the late twenties, until 1931 no were to battleships (or the faster and less armoured battlecruisers) carry guns be started. Also, no ship was to exceed 35,000 tons, before it had larger than 16-inch, or be replaced by a new ship reached twenty years of age. These provisions created new problems for designers. The could 35,000-ton limitation meant that some existing designs no longer be accepted, even after 1931. The first of the battleships and Rodney, built under the new conditions, the British Nelson were strange-looking ships, being hastily redesigned from existing limita- plans for 47,000-ton battlecruisers. To overcome weight 16-inch guns, tions while preserving the heavy armament of nine of twenty- their designers accepted a comparatively low speed armament three knots and at the same time placed the entire main stern.