World's Worst Warships

Although the title is deliberately provocative, this is a serious study that sheds light on how some warships came to be tainted by bad reputations. The author, one of Great Britain's most noted warship experts, profiles vessels that achieved notoriety due to outlandish design or appearance and others that were lost in dramatic actions or by accidents. Also covered are warships that never endeared themselves to operators, and, as a consequence, suffered prejudice against their design. The author contends that few ships are incompetently designed but rather victims of flawed operational concepts, over-ambitious specifications, poorly designed weapons systems, or financial stringency. Among ships included in the book are the Russian Popoffkas; the French battleship Brennus; the British vessels Captain, Sheffield, and Invincible; the U.S. monitors Katahdin and Vesuvius; and the Japanese light cruiser Mogami. This new perspective on naval design will appeal to everyone interested in how a ship's form fits its function for better or worse.