Nautical Research Journal Book reviews
T e Modern Cruiser: T e evolution of the ships that fought the Second World War
By Robert C. Stern
Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2020 Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing, 2020 8-3/4” x 10-1/2”, hardcover, 288 pages
Photographs, tables, notes, bibliography, index. $54.95
ISBN: 9781526737915
we plunge into the maelstrom of World War One, and the resulting cruiser actions of that confl ict, in exciting detail and story.
Following that confl ict, we see the development of light cruisers, as Stern professes them to be the type that best survived the Great War. Beginning with the British Hawkins class, we see the development of the light cruiser amongst several nations and get a glimpse of what was to come in 1939-1945.
Fright over rapid re-arming so soon aſt er the Great War led to the 1920 Washington Naval Conference, and in the next few chapters the “Treaty Cruiser” emerges, and we study the politics of parity in numbers and design that
took place between the
Robert C. Stern’s T e Modern Cruiser is a thorough, detailed study of the myriad of ship types known as “cruisers” from the 1860s until the post-1946 era. T e catch-all term “cruiser” meant many things to many nations, usually depending on that nation’s needs, or their perceived position against a rival. Smaller nations without far-fl ung empires had far diff erent requirements for cruisers than nations such as England, with her colonies spread across the globe. Budget, location, and proximity to potential confl ict all weighed heavily in the development of cruisers.
Stern takes on this subject in chronological fashion, beginning with what he considers the fi rst cruisers, the three-ship Inconstant class of the mid-1860s. T is ship so revolutionized naval thinking of
the time
that a storm of new designs began appearing rapidly, and the fi rst cruisers were born. Stern goes heavy on early design theory here, and on into the turn of the century.
But just when it seems we will never get into action,
nations. Stern gives us a glimpse into the thinking of the Naval Staff s of the time, and decisions that lead to a total re-thinking of the cruiser. T e development of larger “8-inch gun” cruisers and the problems of getting them to fi t within treaty limits is studied in detail. Britain, re-thinking her expenditures versus the need for a large number of ships to protect her empire, developed the smaller cruiser, and some nations followed suit in subsequent chapters.
In the Second World War, the Allies began standardizing designs
and launching hulls with
rapidity that the Axis simply could not match. Limited numbers of “good” designs, launched in large quantities, told the tale. Stern’s descriptions of cruiser combat, notably the near-demise of USS Savannah and the bloodbath around Guadalcanal, are riveting. T is is no dry textbook, it is an exciting tale of ships and men in the death grip of combat.
Postwar, the cruiser began to evolve again, with the advent of missile technology and nuclear power. Old ships were refi tted and new ones came on line. Stern closes with a general overview of design theories up to the 1970s.
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