The author followed a career in the Fleet Air Arm with a stint as curator at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, before becoming a successful author of naval aviation histories. This is a comprehensive study of the bitter sweet post WWII history of British naval aviation and will become a standard reference for its subject. – Most Highly Recommended.
NAME: The British Carrier Strike Fleet After 1945 FILE: R2507 AUTHOR: David Hobbs PUBLISHER: Pen & Sword BINDING: hard back PAGES: 622 PRICE: £35.00 GENRE: Non Fiction SUBJECT: WWII, World War 2, World War II, Second World War, maritime patrol aircraft, maritime attack aircraft, carriers, nuclear weapons, jet aircraft, VSTOL, STOVL, helicopter carriers, Cold War
ISBN: 978-1-84832-171-7
IMAGE: B2507jpg BUYNOW: http://tinyurl.com/mpwxpbc LINKS: DESCRIPTION: The author followed a career in the Fleet Air Arm with a stint as curator at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, before becoming a successful author of naval aviation histories. This is a comprehensive study of the bitter sweet post WWII history of British naval aviation and will become a standard reference for its subject. - Most Highly Recommended. British naval aviation has been a bitter sweet experience since the end of WWII. It is sweet because the RN continues to innovate in naval aviation and most of its innovations are copied by the growing number of navies that take aircraft to sea. Mirror landing aids, angled flight decks, steam catapults, jet carrier aircraft, and much more, are all British inventions now taken for granted by all navies with carrier aviation capabilities. There have also been delicious moments when naval officers have fooled politicians to prevent them completely destroying British naval aviation through greed and ignorance. There have also been the bitter moments when politicians have sold off or scrapped vital naval aviation capabilities. The only brighter side of this neglect and venom has been that British light carriers have been operated long after their intended lives by other navies who bought them cheap in the politically directed fire sales. This has sometimes been excused as 'foreign aid' to poor friendly countries although that is hardly an excuse for the fire sale of Sea Harrier and Harrier jets to the US Government, robbing the FAA of fast jet capability for several years until the new Queen Elizabeth carriers enter service and eventually receive F-35 STOVL stealth fighters that may or may not deliver all that has been claimed for them. Had the Sea Harrier remained in British service the new carriers would have been able to put to sea for trials with a comprehensive air group until the F35 arrives. In the meantime the USMC is able to fill the hole in its first line inventory during the delivery delays of F-35 aircraft and able to do so at a bargain basement price, courtesy of the British taxpayer. The author has blended his service experience with thorough research and produced a fine review of British naval aviation history since 1945 that will become a standard reference work for other historians and writers and a valued new book for professionals and enthusiasts alike. There is a wealth of illustration throughout the book and it is difficult to praise the work too highly. The only thing missing is a suggestion that the treatment of Admiral Byng could be profitably applied to politicians. Dragging a fair few out and shooting them could encourage the others to reverse the political neglect of British naval aviation by politicians.