HMS Rodney, Slayer of the Bismark and D-Day Saviour

A well-research book about the famous Royal Navy battleship HMS 
Rodney. Nicely flowing text and new insights makes this a 'must-read' 
book. Highly Recommended.

NAME: HMS Rodney, Slayer of the Bismark and D-Day Saviour
FILE: R2405
AUTHOR:  Iain Ballantyne
PUBLISHER: Pen & Sword
BINDING: soft back 
PAGES:  304
PRICE: £16.99
GENRE: Non Fiction
SUBJECT: WWII, World War 2, World War Two, Second World War, Bismark, 
Treaty Warships, capital ships, battleships, 16 inch guns
ISBN: 1-84884-870-6
IMAGE: B2405.jpg
BUYNOW: http://tinyurl.com/zropxer
LINKS: Current Discount Offers http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/sale 
DESCRIPTION: A well-research book about the famous Royal Navy 
battleship HMS Rodney. Nicely flowing text and new insights makes 
this a 'must-read' book. Highly Recommended.

Some may feel that the sub-title overstates the case, but it is a 
valid view of the importance of HMS Rodney. True, Bismark was 
shadowed by flying boats, damaged by Swordfish torpedo planes and 
brought to account by KGV and a group of other major British warships, 
but HMS Rodney can claim to have landed fatal blows that ensured 
Bismark sank. Equally, Rodney was an important part of the naval 
bombardment team at D-Day and certainly saved lives by taking out key 
parts of the German defences ashore.

HMS Rodney and HMS Nelson were 'Treaty' battleships, designed to 
squeeze every once out of the tonnage allocation. They were different 
in appearance from their contemporaries, not just in the Royal Navy, 
but a unique configuration world-wide. By tradition, battleships had 
evolved from Dreadnought to carry their main armament in three or 
four turrets. Two would be sited ahead of the superstructure, the 
second turret superimposed above the first, and potentially able to 
train on targets from beam to beam. Aft of the superstructure, one or 
two turrets would be mounted, again, a second turret, if fitted, 
superimposed. Secondary armament would be mounted in turrets to either 
side of the superstructure and, by the 1930s, usually be mounted in 
High Angle, HA, twin gun turrets, permitting them to track surface 
targets but also provide anti-aircraft fire. Increasingly, from 1930, 
there would then be a collection of lighter guns that were primarily 
intended for use against aircraft which were becoming the major threat 
against the battleship.

HMS Rodney mounted her heavy guns in three turrets ahead of the 
superstructure. This meant that the turret closest to the 
superstructure had a limited field of fire forward because of the two 
turrets ahead. The superstructure was also novel, being dominated by 
a large tower structure which was often referred to as Queen Anne's 
Mansions. What also marked the Rodney and Nelson out from most of 
their sisters was that each of their three main turrets mounted three 
16 inch guns, a formidable increase in firepower over the typical 14 
inch or 15 inch gunned battleships.

The author has taken time out from his job as editor of Warships 
International Fleet Review to write this book and it was first 
published in 2008 and then reprinted in 2012 and 2016. The reason for 
making time early was that he intended to include first hand accounts 
and, with time passing, the number of surviving veterans was beginning 
to rapidly reduce. It is good that he was able to make this decision 
and the result is a carefully researched history of the ship, 
enlivened and enhanced by the words of those who served her. There is 
a nice photo-plate section and this is an enjoyable account, with 
fresh insights, for what was a very important British capital ship of 
WWII.