US Navy Battleships 1886–98

The pre-dreadnoughts and monitors that fought the Spanish-American War

US Navy Battleships 1886–98 cover

Description

After the American Civil War, the US Navy had been allowed to decay into complete insignificance, yet the commissioning of the modern Brazilian battleship Riachuelo and poor performance against the contemporary Spanish fleet, forced the US out of its isolationist posture towards battleships.

The first true US battleships began with the experimental Maine and Texas, followed by the three-ship Indiana class, and the Iowa class, which incorporated lessons from the previous ships. These initial ships set the enduring US battleship standard of being heavily armed and armoured at the expense of speed.

This fully illustrated study examines these first six US battleships, a story of political compromises, clean sheet designs, operational experience, and experimental improvements. These ships directly inspired the creation of an embryonic American military-industrial complex, enabled a permanent outward-looking shift in American foreign policy and laid the foundations of the modern US Navy.

Table of Contents

Introduction /Development and Strategy /Design and Construction /US Battleship Weapons /The Last Monitors /The First Battleships /Operational History /The Spanish-American War 1898 /Asiatic Operations /Conclusion /Bibliography /Index

Product details

Published Jun 27 2019
Format Ebook (Epub)
Edition 1st
Extent 48
ISBN 9781472835031
Imprint Osprey Publishing
Series New Vanguard
Short code NVG 271
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Brian Lane Herder

Brian Lane Herder graduated with a BA in History f…

Illustrator

Paul Wright

Paul Wright has painted ships of all kinds for mos…

Illustrator

Felipe Rodríguez

Felipe Rodríguez Náñez (aka Felipe Rodna) lives wi…

Illustrator

Alan Gilliland

Alan Gilliland, a contributor to more than 70 Ospr…

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