British Warship Recognition: The Perkins Identification Albums: Volume III: Cruisers 1865-1939, Part 1, Part 1

Richard Perkins

Mar 2017 · Seaforth Publishing

About this ebook

The Richard Perkins warship identification albums form one of the most detailed studies ever undertaken of the changes to the appearance of Royal Navy ships. However, it is a unique hand-drawn manuscript artifact in the care of the National Maritime Museum, so despite its value it is rarely seen by anyone besides the museum's curators, for whom it is a precious resource, used on an almost daily basis. In collaboration with the Museum, Seaforth is undertaking the first publication of this monumental work in a superbly produced multi-volume edition that captures all the qualities of the original. Every page is reproduced at full size, making the extensive handwritten annotation readable, while the fine-line drawings retain all the colors that Perkins used to denote appearance differences and alterations. Following the Museum's binding arrangement, the third volume of the series is the first half of the coverage of all cruisers from the Amazon class corvettes of 1865 to the Belfast class of 1939; the second half constitutes Volume IV. Highlights of this first part include armored cruisers, the so-called large light cruisers, and the cruisers of the inter-war period. This is a publishing event of the utmost importance for every enthusiast and ship modeler, who for the first time will be able to own a copy of a unique and invaluable reference work.

About the author

RICHARD PERKINS originally produced what he called his Historical Identification Book to help identify and date photos in his monumental collection, but its wider significance is highlighted in this edition by an Introduction by ANDREW CHOONG, Curator of Historic Photographs and Ships' Plans at the National Maritime Museum, for whom the albums are an indispensable reference.