Iowa Class Battleships: Their Design, Weapons and Equipment Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Bob Sumrall is very well known among the Naval community and this book is one of his best efforts.Of course, I am a bit prejudice as I was the structural design project leader and hull configuration manager for the reactivation of the 4 ships in the 1980's. In a way, it is a shame that the book was published before the (still debated and despised) inactivation of those tremendous Dreadnoughts. Then the author could have included their last hurrahs at Lebanon (USS NEW JERSEY) and the Arabian Gulf (USS MISSOURI and WISCONSIN). I also would like to have seen his comments on the IOWA turret II "incident". But, the book is more of an overview on the technical aspects of the ships rather than a blow by blow historical log. And that's the way it should be. Garzke and Friedman have put out books of greater technical detail, but not every reader wants that much info. Stillwell is more into the human aspects of the Battleships. Sumrall, on the other hand, justifiably ignores the personal stories but highlights the most important technical nature of the ships. Any Naval historian or student of Naval Architecture should have a copy of this book in their collection.

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