Warships After Washington: The Development of the Five Major Fleets, 1922-1930

Great research that is clearly laid out. Wish I had this book 50. years ago. It explains a lot to me. My best friend bought one on my suggestion. I taught history including military history for 45 years. David Sumner

This is an excellent book on the post-1918 warships being planned or constructed by the major navies of the world at the time: US, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy. Chapters 1 and 2 describe the situations of the navies after the end of WW I in 1918 and the new warship designs being planned, especially by the US, Britain, and Japan. Chapters 3 and 4 then describe the consequences of the Washington Treaty of 1921.After that, there are chapters describing several subjects:• Chapter 5 describes the designs of the new British battleships “Nelson” and “Rodney” and the modernizations of battleships in all the navies during the 1920s.• Chapter 6 describes the “Treaty Cruiser,” the new heavy cruisers armed with 8-inch guns that had not existed previously.• Chapter 8 describes the French contre - torpilleurs and torpilleurs d’escadre and the Italian “esploratori” or scouts and the “Condottieri” class of very light cruisers.Other chapters describe the early aircraft carrier designs and also submarines and destroyers, especially the Japanese “Special Type.”Another good book related to the subject is “Treaty Cruisers: The First International Warship Building Competition” by Marriot (2005). It describes the designs of the post - 1921 Washington Treaty and the post - 1930 London Treaty cruisers and ending with the expiration of the Treaties in 1936. Part III (6 chapters) attempts to evaluate the effectiveness of the various designs in the WW II cruiser battles.

This book is not for everyone. The reader must have basic knowledge of naval history. With this said if you have an interest in naval history this is a well researched organized account of the inter war naval limitations agreements. The author has created many useful and insightful tables you will not find in other book. It is a part reference and reading type text. Great for naval history buff but not a first book.

This was a great book. If you are interesting in naval history, especially for WW2 this is a must read. The details about cruiser design and battleship designs and upgrades for the Washington Naval treaty ships is like an idiots guide to ship design. The tradeoffs between armor, speed, and firepower. How to come up with the 'best' fighting package within the limits of the treaty.And the overall ideas on how the countries viewed their naval policy and tried to design their navy within the treaty limits, budget constraints, and other concerns was very well written. Combined with Kaigan, and On Seas Contested you will end up well informed of naval technology, ship design, and the strategies of the different nations in regards to the second world war,

Excellent book, with relevant drawings from John Jordan. A good text why the ships were designed as the were, given the political and technical constraints imposed by the treaty, and it interesting side effects. For example the cruiser became important.