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The History of Warships from Oars to Steel
A broad history of warships, from rowed galleys and rams to sailing battle fleets, ironclads, dreadnoughts and carriers, and the technology behind each change.
Naval Power and Warfare
Warships and Navies
Fighting ships from ancient galleys to modern carriers.
Aircraft Carriers and the Fall of the Battleship
How early flying-off platforms grew into full flight-deck carriers, and why aircraft, not big guns, became the deciding weapon of naval warfare by 1942.
Destroyers and the Torpedo Boat Threat
How the self-propelled torpedo and small torpedo boats alarmed battleship navies and led to the fast destroyer, which grew into the general-purpose escort.
Frigates and the Eyes of the Fleet
How sailing frigates, fast, lighter warships with one gun deck, scouted for battle fleets, escorted convoys, carried dispatches and raided enemy trade.
Greek Fire and the Byzantine Navy
What is known about Greek fire, the Byzantine incendiary weapon, and the dromon fleets that helped defend Constantinople against sea attack for centuries.
Ironclads and the End of Wooden Warships
How shell guns and steam led navies to armoured ironclads in the 1850s and 1860s, and what the Monitor and Virginia clash at Hampton Roads really showed.
Privateers and Letters of Marque
How governments licensed privately owned ships to capture enemy shipping, how prize courts worked, and why privateering differed from piracy and later faded.
Roman Naval Power and the Corvus Boarding Bridge
How Rome built a war fleet during the First Punic War, used the corvus boarding device against Carthage, and later ran permanent fleets across the Mediterranean.
The Dreadnought Revolution
How HMS Dreadnought's all-big-gun design and turbine power made earlier battleships obsolete in 1906 and triggered a costly naval arms race before 1914.
The Ship of the Line in the Age of Sail
The design, guns and battle role of the great wooden ships of the line, from rating systems to the 74-gun workhorse and the three-decker flagship.
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