Warship 2018

Like a lot of people of my age, one of the things that I looked forward to each year were the Annuals that were published in time for Christmas. Even though I am a lot older, there is one annual that I always look forward to reading when it is published ... WARSHIP.

WARSHIP first came out in 1977, and the current issue is the fortieth volume to be published. It was originally a quarterly publication, but after several years it moved over to become an annual.

The current volume contains the following:

• Editorial
• Niels Iuel: 'A funny little Danish warship' by Tom Wismann
• The Battle of the River Plate: A Tactical Analysis by Alan D Zimm
• Under the Guns: Battle Damage to Graf Spee, 13 December 1939 by William J Jurens
• The Armoured Cruiser Jeanne d'Arc by Luc Feron and Jean Roche
• Breaking 'Ultra': The Cryptologic and Intelligence War between Britain and Italy, 1931-1943 by Enrico Cernuschi
• The IJN Light Cruiser Oyodo by Hans Lengerer
• Coastal Defence and Coastal Offence: Russian Monitor Designs of the First World War Era by Stephen McLaughlin
• Modern Naval Replenishment Ships by Conrad Waters
• Lost in the Fog of War: Royal Navy Cruiser Designs for Trade Protection 1905-1920 by David Murfin
• Amatsukaze: A Destroyer's Struggle by Michael Williams
• USS Huntington (ex-West Virginia) by A D Baker III
• Warship Notes
• The IJN's 15.5cm Gun & Triple Turret by Hans Lengerer
• The Sinking of U-56 in 1916: An enduring mystery by Stephen McLaughlin
• Political nomenclature in the US Navy by Kenneth Fraser
• Reviews
• Warship Gallery
• A series of photographs of former U-boats in Japan during the early 1920s presented by Stephen Dent and Ian Johnston

At first glance this looks as if it is going to be one of the best issues ever, with every single article or section having something that I will enjoy reading and re-reading. In particular, the coverage of the battle damage suffered by Graf Spee at the Battle of the River Plate is going to be very helpful when it comes to designing wargames, and the article about Russian Monitor designs contains some wonderful 'what if' designs that would be relatively easy to model, and which would – if suitably updated for service in the Soviet Red Fleet – have posed serious problems for the Kriegsmarine during Operation Barbarossa.

An excellent publication ... and I will be ordering next year's issue as soon as I can!

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WARSHIP 2018 is edited by John Jordan and published by Osprey Publications (ISBN 978 1 4728 2999 3).