What are the best books for WW2 ship detailed specifications?

[_Sarcasticat_]

Very interested.

 

Looking for:

• Weight of machinery, turrets, and torpedo tubes.
• Ship weight/measurements (including light and full draft)
• Gun performance
• Ship layouts/plans
• Destroyer-oriented.

 

If you could help it would be greatly appreciated!

[Morpheous]

Janes, its pretty much the authority.  There are two books, I believe one is up to WWI and the other is WWI to late 40s.  They have every ship ever built and some conjectures all in a great format.

[Phoenix_jz]

It depends, for what navies and what types of ships?

 

Not all navies, even major ones, aren't well represented or the most accurate, even in some of the more authoritative books. For that you might have to delve into more niche books, which aren't always available in other languages.

[_Sarcasticat_]

16 hours ago, Morpheous said:

Janes, its pretty much the authority.  There are two books, I believe one is up to WWI and the other is WWI to late 40s.  They have every ship ever built and some conjectures all in a great format.

I've heard a lot of Jane from various places. I'll check it out.

26 minutes ago, Phoenix_jz said:

It depends, for what navies and what types of ships?

 

Not all navies, even major ones, aren't well represented or the most accurate, even in some of the more authoritative books. For that you might have to delve into more niche books, which aren't always available in other languages.

Axis and destroyer-related. I guess we could include the US in on it as well.

 

Ah, okay. 

[Lord_Slayer]

On 10/26/2017 at 5:17 PM, Morpheous said:

Janes, its pretty much the authority.  There are two books, I believe one is up to WWI and the other is WWI to late 40s.  They have every ship ever built and some conjectures all in a great format.

 

On 10/27/2017 at 10:17 AM, StrixKitty said:

I've heard a lot of Jane from various places. I'll check it out.

 

Check your local Library. Jane's is like a high school yearbook of ship stats and photos.They usually pump one out every year, reflecting new construction, mothballing, sales, and scrapping.

 

They did put out two books that cover WW1 and WW2 ships. They are actually reprints from the Jane's during those war years and reflect the information (or dis-information) available at the time. The WW1 was more interesting as the diagrams used for the ships had markings on them for war gaming purposes.

[_Sarcasticat_]

9 minutes ago, Lord_Slayer said:

 

 

Check your local Library. Jane's is like a high school yearbook of ship stats and photos.They usually pump one out every year, reflecting new construction, mothballing, sales, and scrapping.

 

They did put out two books that cover WW1 and WW2 ships. They are actually reprints from the Jane's during those war years and reflect the information (or dis-information) available at the time. The WW1 was more interesting as the diagrams used for the ships had markings on them for war gaming purposes.

Does every new year Jane's cover WW2 ships as well as all other boats?

 

Oh, so the WW2 fighting ships for Jane's isn't 100% accurate?

[Lord_Slayer]

14 minutes ago, StrixKitty said:

Does every new year Jane's cover WW2 ships as well as all other boats?

 

Oh, so the WW2 fighting ships for Jane's isn't 100% accurate?

 

No, Like I said, Jane's is kind of a yearbook. So you might have a 1990 edition, 1991, 1992, 1993 etc. It's only going to list those ships that exist for that year.

 

So example, the 1995 edition would list on the first page for the United States Navy all the Active ships in the US inventory, all the ships under-construction, and all ships that were decommissioned and it would break it down by class. So long as a ship is active or in reserve, it is listed as an asset. Once the ship is scrapped, it's dropped from Jane's. The 90's had alot of the reserve ships vanishing as they were sold off an scrapped, thus they began to vanish from the listings.

 

The accuracy of the two Jane's WW1 and WW2 books is kind of mixed. I believe they are correct and may have been tweaked as they do list the ships lost during the war. I believe the foreward also listed the year most of the information came from as 1946.

 The reason I say it might not be 100% accurate is because I had the chance to go through a 1943 Jane's once at the library. The pages were almost exact to the WW2 book, but I never had a chance to compare. While all the Major combatant's were listed in the book, a lot of information for the surface forces was 'estimated'. Even the Yamato-class stats were 'estimated' which I think were listed as 16in guns, but no photo or diagram was provided.

[_Sarcasticat_]

35 minutes ago, Lord_Slayer said:

 

No, Like I said, Jane's is kind of a yearbook. So you might have a 1990 edition, 1991, 1992, 1993 etc. It's only going to list those ships that exist for that year.

 

So example, the 1995 edition would list on the first page for the United States Navy all the Active ships in the US inventory, all the ships under-construction, and all ships that were decommissioned and it would break it down by class. So long as a ship is active or in reserve, it is listed as an asset. Once the ship is scrapped, it's dropped from Jane's. The 90's had alot of the reserve ships vanishing as they were sold off an scrapped, thus they began to vanish from the listings.

 

The accuracy of the two Jane's WW1 and WW2 books is kind of mixed. I believe they are correct and may have been tweaked as they do list the ships lost during the war. I believe the foreward also listed the year most of the information came from as 1946.

 The reason I say it might not be 100% accurate is because I had the chance to go through a 1943 Jane's once at the library. The pages were almost exact to the WW2 book, but I never had a chance to compare. While all the Major combatant's were listed in the book, a lot of information for the surface forces was 'estimated'. Even the Yamato-class stats were 'estimated' which I think were listed as 16in guns, but no photo or diagram was provided.

That's no good. What do you know about Conway's?

[Morpheous]

5 hours ago, StrixKitty said:

That's no good. What do you know about Conway's?

Janes has a compendium I believe, but  you know something I may be confused and it IS the Conway's your looking for, that has all the ships.  I haven't looked at mine in a while as you can tell.  There are two books like I mentioned earlier, one up to WWI and one after, both would have ships used in WoWS.  Great books, this is what your looking for here   https://www.ebay.com/itm/CONWAYS-All-The-WORLDS-FIGHTING-SHIPS-1922-1946/302489470787?hash=item466dc70743:g:KlsAAOSwEnlZ4-JJ

[_Sarcasticat_]

1 hour ago, Morpheous said:

Janes has a compendium I believe, but  you know something I may be confused and it IS the Conway's your looking for, that has all the ships.  I haven't looked at mine in a while as you can tell.  There are two books like I mentioned earlier, one up to WWI and one after, both would have ships used in WoWS.  Great books, this is what your looking for here   https://www.ebay.com/itm/CONWAYS-All-The-WORLDS-FIGHTING-SHIPS-1922-1946/302489470787?hash=item466dc70743:g:KlsAAOSwEnlZ4-JJ

Thanks!

[DeliciousFart]

Conway's is good, but given that they're secondary sources they will have some errors here and there. Garzke and Dulin books are also generally pretty good, as are Norman Friedman books, but again, they have a few errors such as a wrong armor value here and there. These books tend to be quite expensive, however.

[Battleship1987]

I have some detailed tech reports of the Japanese navy covering different parts from torpedoes to the HP of the pumps on yamato. This was taken from captured Japanese documents at the end of the war. I would be willing to forwarded them to you if u would like. You will need Google drive as the folder is about 450 MB. I found them online however they are no longer online any plane as far as I can find.

I also have many plans of USN, and French navy ships WW1 & 2 showing the entire layout of the inside of the ships. If you would like certain ships or types let me know I can forwarded them to you as well.

 

If you looking for info on certain ships or types also let me know as I have many pdf books and documents that might be of use. - Tom

[_Sarcasticat_]

On 11/12/2017 at 4:05 PM, Battleship1987 said:

I have some detailed tech reports of the Japanese navy covering different parts from torpedoes to the HP of the pumps on yamato. This was taken from captured Japanese documents at the end of the war. I would be willing to forwarded them to you if u would like. You will need Google drive as the folder is about 450 MB. I found them online however they are no longer online any plane as far as I can find.

I also have many plans of USN, and French navy ships WW1 & 2 showing the entire layout of the inside of the ships. If you would like certain ships or types let me know I can forwarded them to you as well.

 

If you looking for info on certain ships or types also let me know as I have many pdf books and documents that might be of use. - Tom

Sorry, I just happened upon this old thread of mine. Please, send it to me (if you're still around) at seawolf137@gmail.com

 

thanks!

[ARCNA442]

Look up Norman Friedman - his "Illustrated Design History" (US Battleships / Aircraft Carriers / Cruisers / Destroyers / Submarines) series in particular has an incredible wealth of technical data.

[Admiral_Thrawn_1]

This book I got last year and have really enjoyed how in depth it is and yet covered so many IJN ships as well as the history.

 

[JAPridemore]

Kinda niche but "Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War" by Eric Lacroix and Linton Well II is comparable to Friedman's work on the US Navy.