British Ironclads 1860–75: HMS Warrior and the Royal Navy's 'Black Battlefleet' (New Vanguard, 262) Paperback – September 18, 2018

What this book clearly highlights and confirms is that the Royal Navy reached the peak of it's technological superiority between 1860 and 1880 for the quality of their warships in regards to engine power / speed, gun power and armor protection in comparison to other great powers contemporary warships and not {as commonly thought} when it launched the first all big gun battle ship "H.M.S. Dreadnought" in 1906. This technical superiority included the ability to design and construct these vessels relatively quickly starting with H.M.S. Warrior which corresponds with Great Britain's {GB} at her manufacturing peak as the "Workshop of the World".GB was dominant in steam propulsion technology, iron and steel production and the ability to build large warships using these new technology's while incorporating constant improvements and refinements for each new class of warship. Yes they had a "hiccup" here and there espiscally with the loss of the "H.M.S. Captain" which capsized in the English Channel because of design flaws by locating the gun turrets too low in the hull coupled with insufficent free board. The overall record that this book details is that innovation and upgrades were constant and results were that no other navy in the world could touch the Royal Navy's "Black Fleet" for quality or quantity during this time frame.What is truly amazing was how quickly that the Victorian Royal Navy, a conservative and very traditional armed service had within a short 10 year span {1860 -70} transformed it's line of battle by adapting and embracing the new technologies of rifled cannon, high explosive shells, high pressure steam propulsion, revolving turrets and iron and steel construction / armor. The era of wooden warships going back 250 years with smooth bore guns with vast expanses of sails became obsolete overnight and would steadily vanish from the Royal Navies line of battle. The book's text includes excellent technical details, the ship service history and final disposition of these remarkable warships. There is also an informative if all too brief description of the crew life below decks.I found this to be one of the best of the recent "New Vanguard" books. It has a high quality, easy to read yet very informative text coupled with plenty of good technical and service information allied to very good pictures. This is a 5 star book - Highly Recommended.

The French construction in 1859 of the first seagoing ironclad La Gloire triggered a massive response by the British Royal Navy, keen to keep its naval supremacy. The result was a technological revolution. The Royal Navy fielded a series of new classes of armored warships, incrementally experimenting with armor thickness, propulsion, weaponry, and vessel design.Veteran historian Angus Konstam walks the reader through each of the classes of battleships that would make up Britain's "Black Battlefleet", named for their black-painted hulls. The text is backed by a quite interesting collection of charts, diagrams, illustrations, and period and modern photographs. The author even works in a brief account of life aboard these new vessels. Of note, tactics seem to lagged behind the innovations in vessel technology. Well recommended as a concise but very informative introduction to the topic.

inteting

Having visited HMS Warrior last summer, this was a welcome addition to my baseline knowledge of this often overlooked era in naval history

Good info.

very good book

thank you