Guns at Sea - The World's Great Naval Battles

This book embraces the broad span of naval history from the Battle of Sluys in 1340 to the Battle of Midway six centuries later. During this time, naval warfare changed from crude `grapple and board' fighting to the sophisticated use of radar and spotter aircraft whereby enemy squadrons fight without ever sighting each other. Sea fighting was largely a matter of hand-to-hand combat until the 16th century when, for the first time, guns were mounted in ships. From then on the prowess of a warship depended on guns - their number, accuracy, weight of shot and rate of fire. The introduction of steam, the supplanting of the wooden ship by the iron hull, the invention of the high-explosive shell, the use of wireless and the coming of aircraft - each of these was a landmark, leading to a new generation of warships and a change of naval tactics. Guns became more powerful and destructive, warships became larger and heavier, and the battleship was the mightiest fighting vessell the world had seen - until the arrival of the aircraft carrier...