Publisher's Synopsis
Merriam Press Naval History Series.
The first decade of the 20th century ushered in a new era in the role of the navy in world affairs, which can be attributed directly to the writings of Alfred Thayer Mahan. The introduction of the HMS Dreadnought, the first modern battleship, by the British in 1906 rendered existing battleships obsolete. This technological development was followed by the commissioning of the world's first battlecruiser, HMS Indomitable, two years later. The German Navy responded and the first arms race of the 20th Century was on, which would lead to an inevitable showdown between the two naval superpowers nearly ten years later.The Great War ends with the scuttling of the German High Seas Fleet, including their battlecruiser squadron, in July 1919. The Washington Conference in 1920 severely restricts the construction of new dreadnoughts. The HMS Hood is the only battlecruiser commissioned between 1920 and 1937.
The termination of the Washington Naval Treaty in the early 1930s brings about a renaissance in battlecruiser construction. The French are first off the mark with the introduction of the Dunkerque-class battlecruiser. These developments are followed shortly with the introduction of the German Scharnhorst-class. The British and Japanese undertake a modernization of their existing battlecruisers. Even the Americans get into the act with the construction of the Alaska-class.
World War II ends with only four remaining battlecruisers out of a total of 30 that were commissioned. By 1960 only the Goeben remains. She is paid off and scrapped during the early 1970s. The sixty-plus year era of the battlecruiser is over; however, the legacy lives on.
Contents
Chapter 1. Initial Developments
Chapter 2. Escape of the SMS Goeben (August 3-10, 1914)
Chapter 3. Heligoland Bight (August 28, 1914)
Chapter 4. Cape Sarych (November 18, 1914)
Chapter 5. Falkland Islands (December 8, 1914)
Chapter 6. Dogger Bank (January 26, 1915)
Chapter 7. Jutland (May 31, 1916)
Chapter 8. End of Round One
Chapter 9. Battlecruiser Redux
Chapter 10. Duel off Lofoten Islands (April 9, 1940)
Chapter 11. Norwegian Sea Fiasco (June 8, 1940)
Chapter 12. Mers-el-Kebir (July 6, 1940)
Chapter 13. Sudden Death (May 24, 1941)
Chapter 14. Out in the Noon Day Sun (December 10, 1914)
Chapter 15. Channel Dash (February 11, 1941)
Chapter 16. Guadalcanal (November 13-15, 1942)
Chapter 17. North Cape (December 26, 1943)
Chapter 18. Twilight of the Gods
160 photos
10 illustrations
15 maps
96 tables
