Destroyers At War

UK: BCA, 1982. Hardcover. Very Good/Good. h/b 128 pages, condition is very good, minor edge wear to the DJ. Sleek, deadly and supremely seaworthy, the destroyers of World War 2 have been romanticised often in film and fiction. They seem to typify above all other ships the excitement and exhilaration of sea warfare. The destroyer seemed ubiquitous in World War 2 - hunting the U-boats of the German wolf- packs in the Atlantic, escorting convoys of munitions through the Arctic Circle to Murmansk, fighting against the odds in the Pacific, Atlantic or Mediterranean. Gregory Haines captures this excitement and gives an evocative impression of what it was like to captain, crew and fight in destroyers - on the bridge and below deck. Following the successful format of Cruiser at War, the apposite action stories are placed in a structured historical framework which includes a study of the history of the destroyer from its inception as a torpedo boat catcher and detailed notes on the data and demise of Commonwealth destroyers in World War 2. The stories cover in words and pictures the Narvik battles, the Combined Striking Force in the Java Sea, St Nazaire and the Campbeltown, air attacks in the Med, anti-submarine duties in the Atlantic and a host of other engagements which will fascinate the reader.