Jane's Battleships of the 20th Century

US: HarperResource, 1996. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. A copy that has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. The greatest arms race in history began in the first years of the 20th cent ury as World Powers expanded their fleets. Germany challenged the Royal Nav y's global dominance, the U.S. and Japan established themselves as major na val powers. The revolutionary "HMS Dreadnought" was succeeded by even large r and more powerful warships that clashed spectacularly at the battle of Ju tland in 1916. Plans for a new generation of 'super dreadnoughts' were dela yed by international treaties, but Japanese ambitions eventually led to a n ew arms race with the U.S.. This naval race produced the world's largest an d most heavily-armed battleships, like the "Yamoto" and "Owa." Combat exper ience in World War II soon revealed that submarines and aircraft posed a le thal threat to even the greatest battleship. Only the U.S. Navy had the res ources to maintain a battleship force after 1945, and these mighty warships have attached enemy coasts from Vietnam and the Lebanon to the 1991 Gulf W ar. Acclaimed naval illustrator Tony Gibbons has painted all classes of twentie th century battleship for "Jane's Battleships of the 20th Century." Every m ajor battleship is shown in profile, with the 25 greatest battleships illus trated across the full width of the page, with accompanying plan and bow vi ews. Naval historian Bernard Ireland reveals the fascinating background to each class of battleship. Each entry includes comprehensive technical data. Special features investigate what happened when battleships opened fire.