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Aircraft Carrier Victorious (ePub)

Detailed in the Original Builders' Plans

Maritime > Naval Maritime > Seaforth Publishing

By David Hobbs
Seaforth Publishing
Series: As detailed in the original builders' plans
File Size: 6.3 MB (.epub)
Pages: 160
Illustrations: 100
ISBN: 9781526737359
Published: 24th October 2018

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The technical details of British warships were recorded in a set of plans produced by the builders on completion of every ship. Known as the ‘as fitted’ general arrangements, these drawings represented the exact appearance and fitting of the ship as it entered service. Intended to provide a permanent reference for the Admiralty and the dockyards, these highly detailed plans were drawn with exquisite skill in multi-coloured inks and washes that represent the acme of the draughtsman’s art.

Today they form part of the incomparable collection of the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, which is using the latest scanning technology to make digital copies of the highest quality. This book is one of a series based entirely on these draughts which depict famous warships in an unprecedented degree of detail – complete sets in full colour, with many close-ups and enlargements that make every aspect clear and comprehensible. Extensive captions point the reader to important features to be found in the plans, and an introduction covers the background to the design.

HMS Victorious was a ship with two almost separate incarnations – as built in 1941 she was one of a new type of armoured carrier which saw strenuous wartime service; post-war the ship underwent a massive reconstruction lasting nearly eight years that saw her recommission in1958 as one of the best equipped carriers in the world, ready for another decade of duty. Both these phases of the ship’s life are fully documented, which allows this novel form of anatomy to cover two generations of carrier design.

All in all, Aircraft Carrier Victorious is an excellent resource for those interested in British armoured carrier and early jet carrier design, offering access to schematics and plans that would otherwise be difficult to access. The addition of Hobb’s annotations to the builders’ plans highlight unique, important, mundane, or modified areas of the ship design that might otherwise have gone unnoticed, offering explanations for design choices or highlighting why initial constructions had to be changed following real-world usage. For naval architects, modelers, and scholars for whom accessing archives in the United Kingdom is difficult due to time or distance, the reproduced drawings within offer a rare detailed glimpse into key Royal Navy carrier designs.

The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord, 2018 – reviewed by Charles Ross Patterson II Yorktown, Virginia

Aircraft Carrier Victorious offers many valuable lessons for those working in naval aviation today. In a small way, it may even help to close the intellectual gap that often exists in visualising how fleet carriers were designed and built to conduct air operations at sea. Once again it is highly recommended for naval professionals and interested naval enthusiasts.

Australian Naval Institute

‘Aircraft Carrier Victorious’ offers many valuable lessons for those working in naval aviation today. In a small way, it may even help to close the intellectual gap that often exists in visualising how fleet carriers were designed and built to conduct air operations at sea. Once again it is highly recommended for naval professionals and interested naval enthusiasts.

Read the full review here

Australian Naval Institute

An excellent volume that benefits from an excellent quality-price ratio and that will be absolutely essential to all scholars and enthusiasts of this wonderful subject.

STORIA militare, April 2019

This is the third volume in a series of books based entirely on the “Admiralty Draughts” which describe the Royal Navy’s warships in an unprecedented degree of detail in full colour. These drawings represent the exact appearance and fitting of each ship as it entered service. Extensive captions point the reader to important features to be found in the plans, and an introduction covers the background to the design. The aircraft carrier VICTORIOUS was a ship with two almost separate incarnations entering service in 1941 as one of the Illustrious class armoured ‘carriers which saw strenuous wartime service. Post war, the ship underwent a massive reconstruction in Portsmouth which lasted nearly eight years before she recommissioned eventually in 1958 as one of the best equipped carriers in the world.

Aircraft carrier “fans” will love this beautifully produced and highly detailed book which is a pleasure into which to delve. Recommended.

World Ship Society

A wonderful job.

Read the full Spanish review here

Miniaturas JM

Incomparable collection.

Model Boats, January 2019 - reviewed by John Deamer
 David Hobbs

About David Hobbs

DAVID HOBBS served in the Royal Navy as a pilot, and later became the Curator of the Fleet Air Arm Museum. He has since established himself as an authoritative writer on naval aviation topics, with more than a dozen highly regarded books to his name. Of particular note is his series of Fleet Air Arm operational narratives covering the complete history of the service, in order of chronology from The Royal Navy’s Air Service in the Great War to The British Carrier Strike Fleet after 1945, all published by Seaforth since 2011.

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