The Postwar Fleet - (Navy Records Society Publications) by Jeremy Stocker (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The book begins in January 1944, the point at which serious thought started to be given to the size and shape of the future Navy. Postwar retrenchment meant the Admiralty needed to reduce spending on the Fleet and release manpower for the civilian economy, but also to adjust to the appearance of nuclear weapons and the incipient Cold War with the Soviet Union. Repeated financial crises upset plans almost as soon as they were made. The volume concludes with the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, which upset many previous planning assumptions and initiated a short-lived rearmament programme.

Subsequent volumes will continue the story through the 1950s and beyond.

Review Quotes

The work is an excellent complement to existing secondary works on the subject such as Vanguard to Trident by Eric Grove (to whose memory the editor dedicates the volume). It is highly recommended for anyone with an interest in this fascinating yet under-served period of naval history and further volumes on the postwar fleet are eagerly awaited.-- "INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MILITARY HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY"

This book will be one of the foundational texts to consult for debate and analysis of the Royal Navy after 1945, a debate in desperate need of a reboot. Indispensable... Congratulations to the editor and NRS.-- "NAVAL REVIEW"