Military Model Scene

Title:  British Warship Recognition, Vol 6...

Author: Richard Perkins

Publisher:  Seaforth Publishing

ISBN:  978-1-4738-9149-4

...The Perkins Identification Albums: VI. Submarines, Gunboats, Gun Vessels, and Sloops 1860-1939

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A new hardback book from Seaforth Publishing, the sixth part of this joint project between Seaforth Publishing and the National Maritime Museum.  I continue to be amazed at the level of detail that Richard Perkins recorded in his albums.  He  was unable to continue his work after 1939 as security issues of the war meant he was not allowed the same level of access he had enjoyed over the earlier years.

This latest volume includes several classes of vessel which were built in significant numbers.  This led to the author using templates for many of them, and using coloured pens to note the changes and differences between them.  This volume also includes more tables which provide the individual details, such as where specific/individual vessels were stationed over the years.  The topics for this volume includes submarines from the early Holland I through various later classes built up to 1939.  Then there are the small river gunboats, a great reminder of the days of Empire, with these small ships used in Africa, China and other places.  Then there are larger gunboats, some of which retain three masts and look much more like vessels from the age of sail, rather than having the funnel that indicates their engines.  Some also were converted to other uses, including such as 'hulks', extra storage/working space within various ports.

Such an interesting variety illustrated in this volume, and with a surprising number of individual vessels of different shapes and sizes, used by the Royal Navy at home and around the world.  The large number of types and classes, along with the large number of individual named ships.  A really good reminder of just how many ships were operated by the Royal Navy when they really did rule the waves, a situation not to be repeated after the end of WW2.

Even the neatly written text notes show changes as the author added or updated notes over time.  One or two have been added by archivists over the years, but surprisingly few.  What you have is very much a 'bible' of help to identify not only individual ships in archive photos, but also to indicate what year it shows the vessel.  Individually the series of books are a delight to see as the growing set makes a magnificent reference.

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Robin