The evolution of the battleship through centuries of war, told by a
nautical expert and author of The Mighty Hood.
During its reign from the sixteenth century to the mid-twentieth, the
battleship was the most powerful weapon of war known to man.
Strategically, it determined a war's outcome. Tactically, it dominated
every sea battle. But at the Battle of Taranto in 1940 and the attack on
Pearl Harbor in 1941, carrier-borne aircraft made a decisive display of
superiority over the once-mighty battleship. Thus World War II heralded
the end of the era of The Great Ship.
In The Great Ship, noted naval historian Ernle Bradford traces the
evolution of battleships through centuries of conflict and innovation.
Selecting one or two ships from each period, Bradford illustrates their
use in action and the significant roles they played in the course of
history.