U.S. Destroyers, Revised Edition: An Illustrated Design History

by Norman Friedman

The Norman Friedman Illustrated Design History series of U.S. warships books has been an industry standard for three decades and has sold thousands of copies worldwide. To mark and celebrate this achievement, the Naval Institute Press is proud to make these books available once more. Digitally remastered for enhanced photo resolution and quality, corrected, and updated, this series will continue to serve--for scholars and enthusiasts alike--as the...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1682477576
• ISBN13: 9781682477571
• Release Date: August 2021
• Publisher: US Naval Institute Press
• Length: 568 Pages
• Weight: 4.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 8.4" x 11.0"

Customer Reviews

A complete work of reference.

One of the more surprising aspects of this work is that it was produced by a UK publishing company and not by one from the USA. I say that because one might expect to find the definitive work on US Destroyers published in the USA but not so in this case. As, a shipwreck historian, my work involves researching prominent shipwrecks - well it would, wouldn't it? I do not profess, therefore, to be expert on all matters naval. Nevertheless, there are times when my research takes me into just about every area of shipping ever devised by man and that includes US Destroyers. Consequently, I am currently looking into the details of a small number of famous US Destroyers such as the Aaron Ward for example. Whilst my earlier research into these vessels was already well advanced, I found much within the pages of this book which added to and expanded on what I had learned thus far. With an excellent selection of illustrations, line drawings and photographs, this books explains those small differences which marked one warship of the same class from another and also demonstrated how an earlier photograph of the same ship differentiated from a later picture. Altogether, this is a work of supreme research and production and, just as the full title suggests, provides a complete history of the design of US Destroyers NM

Comprehensive, fascinating, still somewhat dated

This is undoubtedly the definitive work on U.S. destroyer design and role. What is slightly disappointing, however, is that this is really an update of a book that is several decades old, and the update did not include revising the older text. This creates two problems. First, it is somewhat jarring to read text that refers to "new" projects that were either canceled or implemented decades ago. There are some references to the Arleigh Burke class as under design, which was true in the late 1970s, but not true now that the ships have been in service for almost two decades. Second, there has been no attempt to explain how well the ships actually worked. For instance, now that the Spruance class ships have been retired, it would have been nice for the author to discuss their service. Were they good ships? Did they achieve their goals? Similarly for other ships that were retired in the 80s and 90s. How well did they perform? The book could have used a complete top-to-bottom revision, but did not get that. It's still a great reference, however.

The indispensable guide to the American Destroyer guide and development

The original edition of this book came out in mid-1980s. There has been a tremendous amount of change in American destroyer design since this book was first published. Indeed, while this book is five stars it should be noted that with the new additions of the coming DDX (stealthy destroyer) and the Sea Fighter (a catamaran) that there is no way in which Dr. Friedman can keep up with the changes that are presently taking place in destroyer design and development while keeping his book current. Dr. Friedman would need a frequently updated web site to keep up with destroyer design changes. That is beyond the scope of this book. This book is extremely technical. Indeed, about the only thing that Dr. Friedman does not give an observer is the steam pressures of the power plants or the frequencies of the radar systems. Dr. Friedman will give the firing rates for weapons systems, the loads for a torpedo battery, and all of the light weapons that are given to a typical destroyer in a period. This book follows a fairly logical break down of the ships assigned to the US Navy. The first part of this book on destroyers covers the developments of the Torpedo Boat Destroyers to the Flush deckers, the old "four piper" destroyers. The early era of destroyer development goes from the Bainbridge of 1906 to the end of WWII. A full chapter is given to the flush deck destroyers of World War One. Congress does not allow any new destroyers to be made during the 1920s; there are hundreds of destroyers in storage. The book seemlessly transitions into the pre-World War Two destroyers. The second part of this book covers destroyers from about 1930 until 1950, the start of the cold war era. A good part of the book is used to explain the development of the new generation of destroyers, the attempted destroyer's leaders, the very successful Fletcher class, and the extremely good destroyer escorts. Note, a full chapter is given to the Fletcher class and a full chapter is given to the very successful destroyer escorts of WWII. There is a chapter on WWII destroyer warfare. It should be noted that the extremely good gunnery of Taffy 3 is noted in the Battle of the Philippines; it is one reason why the destroyer succeeded the cruiser as the main capital surface ship of the US Navy, after the aircraft carrier. The third part of this book is the Cold War era destroyers. This covers everything from the conversions of the Gearings and Fletcher class under the FRAM I and II upgrades, to the conversion of the DE to picket ships, and the coming of the Guided Missile Destroyer. Note, Dr. Friedman includes the Ticonderoga CG class as a destroyer, not a cruiser. The 1970 to 1990 era of ship development include the nuclear powered destroyers to the mostly wrongly treated class of warship, the Perry Frigate. The most surprising thing about this book is the updated sections starting in chapters 15, 16, and 17. Dr. Friedman has surprising detail on the coming of the

Classic work of classic author

A comprehensive study of any aspect of design, armanent and equipment of all US destroyer's types from the beginning to present day. Most necessary for every shiplover and naval historian.

A great book for those wanting a techinical history

This book encompasses the design history of US destroyers. It provies unique details of the deisgn and construction, and eventual combat operations of destroyers. It goes from the very first to today's highly advanced destroyers. It is not for the novice, but makes a valuable addition to a maratime history library