August's Book Vote and July's Results

This month's book vote focuses on our New Vanguard series, as 5 potential titles battle it out for your vote:

Naval Shell Guns 1815‒1866: The artillery revolution of Paixhans, Dahlgren and Armstrong

In the years after the Napoleonic Wars, the wooden warship was doomed by the development of a new breed of naval artillery. Firing explosive shells with a flat trajectory, shell guns were far more powerful than traditional cannon. Test-firings against obsolete Napoleonic warships proved that no wooden ship could survive against the new weapons, thus spurring the development of the ‘ironclad’ and a new era in naval warfare. This is the story of a revolutionary half-century of gun development, the famous guns that it produced, and their place in naval history.

British Amphibious Assault Ships 1956–present

In the second half of the 20th century the Royal Navy, still with global reach and obligations, developed the capability to project power through specialist amphibious warfare ships. From the first use of helicopters in an ship-borne assault at Suez, to the legendary Fearless and Intrepid that were essential to the Falklands campaign, and the modern Albion-class and HMS Ocean, this New Vanguard would examine their capabilities, role, and history.

Torpedo Motorboats 1915-1919: Britain’s Coastal Motor Boats and Italy’s MAS

Small, light, and fast, based on civilian speedboats and with a very limited but potentially devastating torpedo armament, these boats saw action in the North Sea, in the Mediterranean where they sank two Austro-Hungarian battleships, and most famously in the 1919-20 campaign against the Bolsheviks, during which British CMBs successfully raided the Soviet-held Kronstadt naval base.

The Russian Navy of the Russo-Japanese War

Having built up their navy with British- and French-influenced pre-dreadnought battleships, the Russian Navy was shocked by its 1905 defeat to the upstart Japanese Navy. This book would examine the battleships and cruisers of the Tsar’s bluewater fleet, their development and construction, and explains why a long-established naval power saw its fleet so dramatically destroyed.

Modern Stealth Warships

Having been pioneered in cutting-edge aircraft over many decades, stealth technology has now become mainstream in warship design, providing navies – especially greenwater ones – with the advantages of hiding from enemy radar. This would be a global survey of the state of naval stealth technology and the warships that it has spawned, from the US Navy’s famous Zumwalt-class to recent developments by the Taiwanese Navy and the use of stealth in modern European warships.

Make your vote by clicking here!

Now it's time to reveal the results of last month's book vote. July's vote was focused on our Weapon series, and it was another close month with just 0.36% between the top two picks. The winner, however, with 26.47% of the vote was The Walther P38 Pistol, with the Browning Hi-Power at 26.11%, just behind. Thanks to everyone who cast their vote, and don't forget to have your say in this month's New Vanguard vote.