Austro-Hungarian Battleships 1914–18: (New Vanguard)

The primary purpose of Austria-Hungary's navy until the beginning of the twentieth century was the defense of its coastline. As its merchant marine dramatically grew, admirals believed that the navy should take a more proactive policy of defense. The 1890s saw the beginning of a series of naval building programs that would create a well-balanced modern fleet, including a force of modern battleships. In this illustrated history, Ryan Noppen examines how these ships came to be, and the difficulties experienced in battleship funding and construction mirrored the political difficulties and ethnic rivalries within the empire. This book details the five classes of Austro-Hungarian battleships in service during World War I.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Monarch Class Habsburg Class Erzherzog Karl Class Radetzky Class Tegetthoff Class Ersatz Monarch Class Bibliography

About the Author :
Ryan K. Noppen is a military author and consultant with a Master of Arts degree in European History from Purdue University. He has worked as a naval and aviation subject matter expert on projects for the US Navy, taught college courses in military history, and has served as the headmaster of a Classical grammar school. He is the author of several books for Osprey. Paul Wright has painted ships of all kinds for most of his career, specializing in steel and steam warships from the late 19th century to the present day. He is a Member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists and has illustrated the works of Patrick O’Brian, Dudley Pope and C.S. Forester amongst others.

Review :
"This book is useful on several levels. The ship modeler will find new topics and colour schemes in it. The novice to the field will find Noppen's work a useful introduction to the subject and the bibliography a guide to further study. The expert can use it as a handy brief reference work. Noppen's work is a long-overdue and worthy tribute to long-forgotten sailors and warships. It is recommended." --The Northern Mariner (January 2013) "In this latest edition of Osprey's New Vanguard series, author Ryan Noppen tells us the story of the big ships of the Austro-Hungarian navy. From their inception through the building of all five classes of ships, we can see how each subsequent design was an improvement over the ones before it. Half of the book is devoted to the operational record of these ships and the various battles in which they were involved. True, most of these actions were against high value shore targets, but they performed their missions as expected. A couple were destroyed by Italian torpedo boats, both occasions being ones where the laxity of security was the cause for loss. Included in this book are some superlative period photographs of the men and ships. This is additionally enhanced by the excellent art work of Paul Wright. It is a well done addition to the series and tells the story of the interesting, and rarely covered capital ships." --Scott Van Aken, Modeling Madness (October 2012) "Austro-Hungarian Battleships superbly summarizes a spellbinding subject. And it perfectly complements OSPREY's two-volume study of German Battleships 1914-18 -- New Vanguard 164 and 167. Read them together!" --David L. Veres, www.cybermodeler.com