British Aircraft Carriers 1945–2010 (New Vanguard #317) (Paperback)
Other Books in Series
This is book number 317 in the New Vanguard series.
- #41: Confederate Ironclad 1861–65 (New Vanguard) (Paperback): $19.00
- #42: British Napoleonic Ship-of-the-Line (New Vanguard) (Paperback): $18.05
- #45: Union Monitor 1861–65 (New Vanguard) (Paperback): $19.00
- #49: Mississippi River Gunboats of the American Civil War 1861–65 (New Vanguard) (Paperback): $19.00
- #56: Union River Ironclad 1861–65 (New Vanguard #56) (Paperback): $19.00
- #62: Renaissance War Galley 1470–1590 (New Vanguard) (Paperback): $19.00
- #64: Confederate Raider 1861–65 (New Vanguard #64) (Paperback): $19.00
- #70: The Pirate Ship 1660–1730 (New Vanguard) (Paperback): $18.05
- #74: British Motor Torpedo Boat 1939–45 (New Vanguard) (Paperback): $18.05
- #88: British Battlecruisers 1939–45 (New Vanguard) (Paperback): $18.05
- #92: Confederate Blockade Runner 1861–65 (New Vanguard) (Paperback): $18.05
- #96: Spanish Galleon 1530–1690 (New Vanguard #96) (Paperback): $19.00
- #103: Confederate Submarines and Torpedo Vessels 1861–65 (New Vanguard) (Paperback): $19.00
- #142: Tudor Warships (1): Henry VIII’s Navy (New Vanguard) (Paperback): $18.05
- #149: Tudor Warships (2): Elizabeth I’s Navy (New Vanguard) (Paperback): $18.05
- #154: British Battleships 1939–45 (1): Queen Elizabeth and Royal Sovereign Classes (New Vanguard) (Paperback): $18.05
- #160: British Battleships 1939–45 (2): Nelson and King George V Classes (New Vanguard) (Paperback): $18.05
- #166: British Motor Gun Boat 1939–45 (New Vanguard) (Paperback): $18.05
- #181: Yangtze River Gunboats 1900–49 (New Vanguard) (Paperback): $18.05
- #190: British Heavy Cruisers 1939–45 (New Vanguard) (Paperback): $18.05
- #194: British Light Cruisers 1939–45 (New Vanguard) (Paperback): $18.05
- #204: British Battleships 1914–18 (2): The Super Dreadnoughts (New Vanguard) (Paperback): $19.00
- #221: Gunboats of World War I (New Vanguard) (Paperback): $17.05
- #226: Commonwealth Cruisers 1939–45 (New Vanguard) (Paperback): $17.05
- #239: Nile River Gunboats 1882–1918 (New Vanguard) (Paperback): $17.10
- #246: British Destroyers 1939–45: Pre-war classes (New Vanguard #246) (Paperback): $19.00
Description
The history of the Royal Navy flagships that led the fleet through the Cold War, ensured victory in the Falklands War, and saw action in Iraq and the Balkans.
In 1945, at the end of World War II, the Royal Navy's carrier fleet proved essential to the post-war world. Royal Navy carriers fought in the Korean War with the UN fleet, in the debacle at Suez, and in British operations in the last days of Empire, in Malaya, Borneo and Aden. But most famously, they were the key to the Royal Navy's victory in the Falklands campaign, and they went on to fight in the two Iraq wars.
Illustrated throughout with new profiles of the key carriers and their development, as well as a cutaway of HMS Victorious and superb new illustrations of the carriers in action, this book explains how the Royal Navy's air power changed throughout the Cold War and beyond. Renowned naval historian Angus Konstam explains how the World War II carriers were rebuilt in a pioneering modernization that allowed them to operate a new generation of naval jets. As carriers became more expensive to operate, the Royal Navy had to scrap its conventional fast jets and introduce a new generation of light carriers designed for the innovative Harrier 'jump jet'. When the Falklands War broke out, it was one of these new carriers and one veteran carrier from World War II that gave the Task Force the fighters it needed to defend itself in hostile waters and retake the islands.
Covering a period of dramatic change for the Royal Navy, this book is a history of the Royal Navy's most important ships throughout the Cold War, the retreat from Empire, and the Falklands and Iraq wars, up to the moment Royal Navy fixed-wing air power was temporarily axed in 2010.
About the Author
Angus Konstam hails from Orkney, off the north of Scotland, and is the author of well over 100 history books, 75 of which are published by Osprey. He has written widely on naval history from The Pirate World to his most recent works, Hunt the Bismarck and Mutiny on the Spanish Main, both published by Osprey. A former naval officer, he has worked as a museum curator in the Royal Armouries, Tower of London and the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in Key West, Florida. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a former Chair of the Society of Authors in Scotland. Now a full-time author and historian, he has returned to live in Orkney.
