The Battleship Dreadnought (Anatomy of the Ship) Paperback – September 3, 2013

Although most naval buffs are probably content knowing that HMS Dreadnought was powerful, groundbreaking warship whose design was terribly influential, there are those hardcore types like me who just want to know more. I've owned almost every book in the "Anatomy of the Ship" series, and this one is by FAR the most detailed and complete. The book opens with a 28-page introduction that deals with Dreadnought's design genesis, construction, operational history, and technical particulars . The introduction includes a timeline of the ship’s operational history, a list of major modifications to the ship, and numerous tables showing the ship’s weight and stability properties, trial results, and specifications of the machinery, armor, and armament. Next up is a 30-page section which presents 43 black & white photos of the ship throughout it’s career, including a number of interesting images of her construction. The last 187 pages consist of hundreds ("more than 650") of detailed drawings of every virtually every part of the ship.The plans are extremely well executed, clear, well-labeled, and elegant in function. Although this book doesn't stray from the preestablished "Anatomy" format, where it really excels is the incredible amount of information presented in the plans and diagrams. The section on hull structure, for example, is 54 pages long, and includes dozens of plans depicting the framing and double bottom, arrangements of side plating, armor, and deck beams, the structure of the bow and stern, and the layout of the turret barbettes. The section on machinery is even more detailed, included multiple plans of the boiler and engine rooms and their ventilation systems, the arrangement of auxiliary machinery, the layout of the coal bunkers, boiler room steam pipes, and pumping and flooding system, and plans of the magazine cooling system and steering gear.I could spend a lot of time simply listing off everything depicted in these plans. The water-tube boilers are examined in a series of a 1:48 scale plans and cross-sections, showing details as small as the auxiliary mud box, water gauge steam cocks, and the feed water inlet nozzle. The port engine room is shown in 1:96 scale plans of all three levels, with four profile views, and cross-sections at four locations. The plan of the main deck accommodation spaces show the locations of every desk, dresser, locker, and table. The expansion plating plan shows the location of every watertight liner, butt strap, and seacock in the hull. 14 pages are devoted to the 12-inch gun turrets, right down to the oil box on the gunslides and the gunhouse voice pipes. Get the picture?Although model builders might be disappointed by the relative lack of plans covering the ship's exterior fittings and arrangement, as someone fascinated by the construction and inner workings of these ships, this book is practically worth it's weight in gold. Some of the plans are a little rough, but the overall level of detail is incredible, and it's one of the few books in the series that comes close to be a true "anatomy" of the subject vessel. This book belongs on the shelf of any serious warship enthusiast.

I purchased this book for two reasons. First, I make models of ships. This book is an invaluable reference manual. The detail will actually go into the internal layout of the ship. Crew cabins and sleeping area will show up on the details. The very excellent plans of the ship are worth $30 to $40 dollars at any shop that sells ship plans. That is worth the price of the book.Conversely, I was a little surprised at the write up of the operation of the ship. Dreadnought had no economical cruise speed. So, unlike other ships of her time period, like the USS Michigan, she was never economical to operate. Dreadnough had no design flaws. Thus, she was the working prototype for all British Great War ships. In design she was perfect.I was very happy with the pictures of the ship. I had never seen most of the pictures before. The level of detail in these pictures gives a good picture of the set up of the ship.This book is not a operational history. That is somewhat a regret. However, people wanting an operational history of the ship should read Robert Massey's excellent "Castles of Steel".This book is total truth in advertising, it is a study of the ship. It is a total look at the Dreadnought. The book is vital for model builders and is a great reference for any student of history.5 Stars.

This series is one of the best . Each book covers one ship in great detail. This one covers the vessel that started it all HMS Dreadnought. Sadly, if USS South Carolina or her sister had been faster out of the building yards, we might not call 20th century ships of the line Dreadnoughts. This book covers every detail there is about this amazing ship. I recommend this series as one of the best detail books out there.

HMS Dreadnought was a revolutionary new type of battleship and set the definition for all following battleships in the 20th century. This book sets the standard as THE reference for the ship and is a must-have for anyone with an interest in battleships in general, right through to the serious builder who wants to scratch-build a museum-standard model.The book is divided into several key sections - photographs, drawings, technical details. The photos and drawings are excellent and the drawings show not just the broad-picture items but even small fittings such as portholes, loading hatches, and the various types of water-tight doors in use at the time, as well as where the coal chutes were located on the upper decks - all things that many plans fail to show. All drawings are to scale so can be easily enlarged for modeling purposes.The ship is shown at several stages in her career, not just "as completed", and all major modifications are listed in date order so an experienced modeler should be able to follow the drawings and build the ship at any stage.Even a non-modeler will enjoy this book. It is not especially cheap but then, quality never is. I wish I'd bought it years ago.

For aficionados and interested in battleship design, this book is a must. Many, many well illustrated pages, absolutely fantastic line drawings and a superb insight. You'd be a fool NOT to own this.

An excellent book, containing basically blueprints of the ship, that cover every aspect down to the layout of the officer's cabins. I would highly recommend it.

My son loves this book!!

EVERY bit as good as the original "Anatomy of the Ship" series....but sells for around 1/2 the price, (if not less).OUTSTANDING value for money. AWESOME book.

I have now bought two of these AotS books. This is an incredible book and will provide a wealth of detail for my build of Trumpeter's 1/350 kit.These books provide 20 to 30 pages of narrative and then line drawings of all aspects of the ship. The drawings will assist any modeller in producing a wonderful replica pf the ship. From a brief flip through the book upon delivery I am really pleased with the book. Highly rerecommended.

I have to say that these books are the best thing to happen to Naval history in many years.The wealth of knowledge poured into these books would not be measured in pints but barrels, there is SO much information crammed into these pages that hard to get any more in there. All aspects of this revolutionary ships are covered, a history of the ship, pictures that I have never seen before of the construction, launch and changes made over time to her looks and equipment.There are very detailed drawings of the very nuts and bolts of the creation of Dreadnought. Plans, diagrams on the hull construction and techniques used in riveting, support beams, plate overlapping...you name it, is all here. you even get cross section drawings giving you the location of every room in the ship, gun turrets and super structure.Mostly in 1:350 scale so it will be an invaluable guide for any model builders who intend to make the big Trumpeter kit, of the big Zvezda kit.Well recommended is this book, a pleasure to read and study and a pleasure to just sit and flip through.

Interessante

Useful to ship modellers and probably not to many other people. It's reference, not a page turner. I'm very happy with my purchase.

Got this to help build Trumpeter 1:350 model of Dreadnought. Pictures and plans very helpful.