By David Hobbs

Published by Seaforth Publishing, Pen & Sword Books, Ltd.
ISBN 978-1-84832-171-7
Copyright © David Hobbs 2015
Pages – 622
MSRP - $39.0 US / £28.00 UK

David Hobbs, thirty-three year veteran of the Royal Navy and onetime curator of the Fleet Air Museum in Yeovilton, uses his extensive knowledge from being a naval pilot to bring us up close and personal with the most powerful arm of the Royal Navy with his latest book; The British Carrier Strike Fleet After 1945.

The British Carrier Strike Fleet After 1945 is a hardcover, twenty-one chapter book highlighting the British Navy’s carrier strike force from the time just after the Second World War through the present time. The author dives deeper into the Royal Navy which had been covered previously in his last book, British Pacific Fleet, where he explained the effects the fleet had on the Royal Navy. This time, he looks at specific operations in which the Royal Navy carriers and its air-wings played out a quintessential role throughout the years after WWII.

Contents

• Forward
• Acknowledgments
• Glossary
• 1 – Manpower, Fleets and Changes
• 2 – The Korean War
• 3 – Assistance for Commonwealth Navies
• 4 – Invention, Innovation, New Aircraft and Rebuilt Ships
• 6 – A Royal Occasion and the Radical Review
• 7 - The Suez Crisis
• 8 – New Equipment and Another Defense Review
• 9 – Helicopters and Helicopter Carriers
• 10 – A Range of Carrier Operations
• 11 – The Evolution of Strike Warfare
• 12 – Brunei and the Indonesian Confrontation
• 13 – The British Nuclear Deterrent and the End of the Admiralty Era
• 14 – The Cancellation of CVA-01
• 15 – Rundown of the Carrier Force
• 16 – Capability, the Beira Patrol, Aden and Belize
• 17 – Small Carriers and Vertical Landings
• 18 – The South Atlantic War
• 19 – A Decade of Operations
• 20 – New Defense Reviews, Carriers and Aircraft
• 21 – Reflections
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index

David Hobbs narrates the journey of the British carrier fleet from the period after the Second World War where postwar reconstruction of the military brought on by governmental downsizing of the naval forces would be a blow to the strike forces. In the coming years after the war, the carrier strike forces would prove themselves non-expendable in conflicts around the globe.


In almost constant use from the time after WWII, the British navy was the forefront of carrier technology development bringing many of the modern design modifications still being used today. The British government would soon realize that the carrier strike fleet was more often than not, its only option resulting in overwhelming success at times. These successes would bolster how the government would view its carrier fleet and inevitably surge construction of one of the most powerful fleets of the modern age.

The author dives deep into each conflict explaining background of the events along with a complete timeline including the operational prowess of these ships and aircraft used. Along the way he breaks down the individual carriers and aircraft technically, giving the reader insight into the complex view of the situations, crews and machines showing us the crucial role they played in the strike force throughout the years. This book takes us through the carrier strike force evolution of the 1950’s straight up to present day with a complete and often complex defense review of the forces. David Hobbs has left no stone un-turned giving us one of the most in-depth, comprehensive looks at the British Carrier Strike Fleet After 1945. This book is filled with hundreds of period photographs, diagrams and maps supporting the author's narrative.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the post Second World War carrier fleet of the British Navy. David Hobbs uses his vast knowledge and his 30 years of experience as a naval aviator for the Royal navy to bring us this enlightening and highly technical book; British Carrier Strike Fleet After 1945.

Highly Recommended