Reference works about contemporary warships do not often figure on these pages, because there are only two important ones in English. The first was Jane’s Fighting Ships, founded by the eponymous F. T. Jane in 1897. Eighty years later, by which time its size and price had risen to the degree that not many libraries could afford to buy it (the current issue costs £705 and presumably is sold chiefly to defence establishments), a competitor appeared in the form of Combat Fleets of the World, which was originally a translation of the long-established French series Les flottes de combat. A comparison of the present volume with the current edition of Jane’s suggests that the information provided in each is for the most part roughly comparable in quantity and quality. The main texts are about the same in extent, and the page size and the number of illustrations are similar. However, Jane’s now uses coloured photographs throughout, and is printed on glossier paper, so that its illustrations are distinctly superior in definition (a significant consideration for professional users). It also includes a few features not in Combat Fleets, such as lists of the major naval office-holders and attaches of every country, and a section illustrating their badges of rank, which would both be in demand by professionals in the field. Jane’s also has the advantage of appearing annually, rather than irregularly every few years.
Returning to Combat Fleets itself, it can be seen that a major navy, such as that of the United Kingdom, is covered in about 30 pages, whereas a minor one, such as Latvia, might have three pages, and even the one-ship fleets which are surprisingly numerous (for instance that of Tuvalu) merit a quarter page. Much attention is paid to the increasingly important para-naval forces, coast guards and the like: the Japanese Coast Guard is larger than most navies, and at the other end of the scale, the three civilian Scottish Government fishery protection vessels are featured.
For every navy, a note is provided on the numbers of personnel, location of bases and sources of weapons used. These are introductory to descriptions and illustrations of the ships themselves, which include all the usual technical details of dimensions, tonnage, speed, crew numbers, machinery and, especially, armaments and sensors, with notes on remarkable features of the design, and on the numbers of ships built or proposed of each class, with dates of building. Coverage extends not only to warships, but to the humblest auxiliaries, down to harbour tugs and police launches. Projected ships are described as far as details are available. Ships of particular importance are illustrated with a drawing showing the positions of weapons and sensors. For the more secretive countries, however, there are, perforce, gaps in the Editor’s knowledge. The book is rounded off with an index of ships’ names.
An introductory essay draws attention to the major recent developments in naval construction. The Editor significantly notes that whereas the navies of the Western democracies are, and have been for the past 20 years, declining steadily in strength, this is not true of other parts of the world. In particular, China’s navy has grown, not so much in numbers but in sophistication, in parallel with the rise of the Chinese economy, and her first aircraft carrier has come into service. This development has in turn provoked increased naval expenditure by India and by nearly all countries of the Pacific.
Some information in the book might catch the attention even of the non-specialist reader. How many of us would know of the number of maritime forces maintained by entirely landlocked countries on their rivers and lakes? Bolivia is a good example, having never accepted the loss of her former coastline in the nineteenth century; and jokes about the Swiss Navy take no account of the patrol boats operated by the Swiss Army. The venerable age of some warships might seem surprising: there are a substantial number in the lesser navies which were built during the Second World War; the Russian Navy employs a 100-year-old salvage vessel inherited from the Tsar’s fleet; but even she is a newcomer compared to the still seaworthy Egyptian Presidential yacht, built in 1865. This comprehensive work would answer virtually any question readers might have about the warships of the world, and does so at a price significantly less than that of its major competitor.
