I had just finished writing a comment about the fact that no "four-funnelled" ship (and that includes Destroyers and Cruisers in addition to those which were similar to the Titanic) has been preserved - anywhere in the world, when I picked up a copy of this book. Whilst not a four-stacker, I learned that the USS Olympia is moored at Penn's Landing and still retains the colour scheme she wore when making her triumphal arrival at New York in 1899. Well done America, we in Europe have no such relics from that particular era of warships. Furthermore, according to this book the USS Olympia is undergoing serious refurbishment - so, if you can, why not make the visit and put a dollar in the box! And if you can't, pick another ship like the USS Intrepid in New York (I visited her in 1984) or one of any which is close to where you live...



This book is another in a series where the publisher concentrates on a relatively small number of specific vessels - in this case US Cruisers from 1883 to 1904, and then covers those ships in the greatest possible detail. Limited to just 48 pages, the amount of information is very impressive comprising; High quality artwork and photography in addition to all the facts, figures, dimensions and detail one expects from any comprehensive coverage.



Throughout my 30+ years of studying the various ships of different nations I have often recognised some pictures which occasionally re-appear in different works and even a very small number which do so quite frequently. Whilst my knowledge of US ships may not be as great as those of the UK, it says much for this book that I did not recognise one single photograph from elsewhere and learned a great deal more from the content that was expected from a work of this size.



Once again, therefore, we have an item of significant value to the serious historian whilst also being of general interest to anyone with a passions for ships. This book will also provide much of the data required for the serious modeller. Furthermore, unlike many of the larger reference works on warships, this is a book you can (and will!) read.



Perhaps of more interest to the US market (though not necessarily so), I note that this particular book lists 9 further works from these publishers about US vessels. These include; Confederate Ironclads, Union Monitors, Mississippi River Gunboats (conjuring up images of people from New Orleans going to war on the Natchez!), Union River Ironclads, Confederate Raiders and so forth. If the content of each of those is one a par with the two books from this series I have studied up to now, the reader will not be disappointed.



NM

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