From Damage Control to Abandon Ship
The British Admiralty and the Decline of Royal Navy Battleships 1939-1960

"Many histories have been written about the age of the Royal Navy´s steel-hulled battleships; a 100-year era stretching from the 19th century HMS Warrior to the missile-age HMS Vanguard. Some texts are concerned with technical innovations and the battleship´s contribution to the maritime tradition of Great Britain. Others review the command and control of the Admiralty, debating the complex conflicts and personalities that guided the Royal Navy in war. This dissertation does not seek to be a technical study of the British battleship or an Admiralty history of the Second World War. Instead this paper will examine the end of the battleship era by focusing on how a multitude of events and decisions encompassing the years 1939-1960 contributed to its demise. It will tell the story of the Royal Navy´s battleships to answer how and why they became extinct with the final voyage of HMS Vanguard to the ship breakers."

- From the Introduction...

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From Damage Control to Abandon Ship: The British Admiralty and the Decline of Royal Navy Battleships 1939-1960

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