21 Stern

The Modern Cruiser: The evolution of the ships that fought the Second World War

by R. C. Stern

Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley, 2020, £35 (hb) 288 pages, illustrations, bibliography, index ISBN 978152673791

The first and very positive thing one notices about this book is the sheer quality of the production. Sumptuous is perhaps too strong a description, but there is a good strong dust jacket which will not fray or tear with shelf wear; the pages are of strong durable near photographic- quality paper, and the images are reproduced with great clarity. Each chapter begins with an extended account of the political and economic background to the various treaty negotiations. There is a particularly telling account of the growth of mistrust between Britain and the United States and the uncomfortable relationship which followed and an interesting critique of Roskill's account of naval policy between the wars, as well as a fascinating summary of the character of the negotiations and the ability of the politicians involved. There is a real clarity to the writing of these substantial sections on how the treaties were arrived at, as much engaged with the friendships and animosities of individuals as the nicety of policy and this gives a real feel for how negotiations are conducted and concluded. In particular, he makes it absolutely clear when he is describing or commenting on facts and when he is expressing an opinion. Following each of these excellent

descriptions of negotiations, there is a section on the impact on cruiser design over the following four to five years examined country by country and covering France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan and the USA, as well as Germany where appropriate. So, for example, in the chapter on the first generation of so-called Treaty Cruisers from 1922-6, he describes how the various navies ensured that their size was to be 'treaty-maximum'. He then proceeds country by country to consider the design responses of Japan, France and Great Britain. He is scathing of indecision on design requirements in the USN, but complimentary of Italian efforts and withering on German design failures. There is very detailed technical discussion of the design and building programmes of each nation. These are laced with technical vocabulary and acronyms and although there is a comprehensive directory of acronyms in the preface, it can make for a difficult read.

There is a lengthy exploration of the failed Anglo-US-Japanese Geneva Conference of 1927, which aimed to limit cruiser capacity, laying the blame for the failure squarely at the door of British hubris and a failure of their negotiators to understand that the British ability to use smaller cruisers around the naval bases of the empire did not match the USNs requirement to have larger long-range cruisers in the absence of a network of naval bases. Britain then moved on to the very successful Leander class while the US continued with the treaty maximum long-range cruisers. A static Japanese economy marked time and the French look ed to match Italian Condotierri class designs.

The First London Naval Conference was held in 1930 and another significant piece of work describes the tortuous political machinations which preceded it as Britain and the US in particular tried to reach compromise positions. He is just as telling on clashes of personality as clashes of policy. Agreement was eventually reached and this led to yet another round of cruiser design, the so-called 'Big Babies' of the early 1930s. The Second London Conference of 1935 proved inconclusive and Britain then invited the Germans to talks, resulting in the Anglo-German Naval agreement of 1935. He concludes that the British were completely outmanoeuvred by the Germans - above all Hitler. Again, there is a full description of the design consequences of the political decisions.

Only 20 pages are then devoted to the test of battle in the Second World War. This covers the cruiser Berwick in Convoy WS5A; the battle of Savo Island and the Salerno landings. He is expressly not interested in strategy or tactics as he suggests these are well described elsewhere but explores what caused damage or loss to the cruisers in these actions, whether bad design, incompetence or Japanese night fighting skill. Finally, there is a small feature on post-war developments and the future.

Overall the book is a fascinating mix of detailed technical design and astute description, including the disastrous impact in the 1920s and 1930s of failed economies. The eclectic mix of international politics, technical design and the highest quality images succeeds perfectly and delivers a quite excellent account of the various naval reactions to the political volatility of the inter-war years.

DEREK G. LAW

UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE

https://doi.org/10.1080/00253359.2020.1820742