British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War Hardcover by Norman Friedman (Seaforth Publishing)

I've been studying the history of warship development for more than thirty years. Unfortunately I have no access to primary documents, so I have to take the word of others. For someone in my position it is vital that sources cite their own sources, so I can get at least a glimpse of what the original documents had to say. I've long relied on books like Conway's and Jane's, and taken part in many arguments over which is more accurate. Conway's Warship series has been a great delight over the years.

Where the development of the destroyer is concerned I've been a fan of David Lyons' 'The First


Destroyers' since the day I bought it. It cites many primary sources, making it invaluable to any serious student of the subject. I had long hoped that Mr. Lyons would continue with sequels, and was saddened to find that he had passed away without accomplishing that task.

Now the man some consider the greatest naval historian of them all has tackled the subject, and Norman Friedman's 'British Destroyers: From Early Days to the Second World War' does not disappoint. Dr. Friedman starts with the development of the early torpedo boats of various nations and carries through the development of the earliest torpedo-boat destroyers, the First World War and then to the eve of the Second World War. He not only gives detailed descriptions of each class of ship, he also gives excellent explanations of why each class was created, citing the writings of various admirals, directors and lords discussing and even arguing over what direction the next step of small British warship should be. He quotes the experiments undertaken by then-commander of the Mediterranean forces Admiral Jacky Fisher concerning destroyer deployment and use, and how those tests affected British policy concerning the small ships. He carefully explains the differing opinions on whether destroyer forces should operate independently or as close escort to the battleships.

A great asset to the book is the many fine internal and external line drawings by A. D. Baker III. Almost every class is represented in detail, including some of the one-offs and lesser-known ship types.

My only complaint would be the lack of tactical-diameter listings in the technical descriptions. It's a small matter, but I would like to have seen them.

That said, if I had to choose any one book on the subject it would be this one. It is not only valuable for its technical pages and for its history of the people as well as the ships, it is also a rarity among this type of book for being highly readable just for the story. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in the story of the "footsoldiers" of the Royal Navy.