British Warship Recognition: The Perkins Identification Albums: Volume II: Armoured Ships 1860-1895, Monitors and Aviation Ships

By Richard Perkins

The Richard Perkins warship identification albums form one of the most detailed studies ever undertaken of the changes to the appearance of Royal Navy ships. However, it is a unique hand-drawn manuscript artifact in the care of the National Maritime Museum, so despite its value it is rarely seen by anyone besides the museums curators, for whom it is a precious resource, used on an almost daily basis. In collaboration with the Museum, Seaforth is undertaking the first publication of this monumental work in a superbly produced multi-volume edition that captures all the qualities of the original. Every page is reproduced at full size, making the extensive handwritten annotation readable, while the fine-line drawings retain all the colours that Perkins used to denote appearance differences and alterations. Following the Museums binding arrangement, this second volume of the series covers armored ships from Warrior to the Royal Sovereigns (all later capital ships from the Majestic class onwards can be found in Volume I), as well as monitors and seaplane and aircraft carriers. This is a publishing event of the utmost importance for every enthusiast and ship modeler, who for the first time will be able to own a copy of a unique and invaluable reference work.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pen and Sword
• Release date: Sep 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9781848323889

Richard Perkins

RICHARD PERKINS originally produced what he called his Historical Identification Book to help identify and date photos in his monumental collection, but its wider significance is highlighted in this edition by an Introduction by ANDREW CHOONG, Curator of Historic Photographs and Ships' Plans at the National Maritime Museum, for whom the albums are an indispensable reference.

Book preview

British Warship Recognition

Volume II: Armoured Ships 1860-1895, Monitors and Aviation Ships

British Warship Recognition

The Perkins Identification Albums

Volume II: Armoured Ships 1860-1895, Monitors and Aviation Ships

RICHARD PERKINS

Introduction by Andrew Choong

Frontispiece. Three photographs from the vast range of the Richard Perkins Collection that illustrate the variety of warships covered in this second volume of his albums. Top to bottom, they are: the broadside ironclad Lord Clyde laid down in 1863; the coast defence monitor Hecate launched in 1871; and the aircraft carrier Eagle completed in 1920. (© National Maritime Museum, N05192, N05175 and N10504 respectively)

Copyright © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich 2016

This edition first published in Great Britain in 2016 by

Seaforth Publishing,

An imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd,

47 Church Street,

Barnsley

South Yorkshire S70 2AS

www.seaforthpublishing.com

Email: [e-mail]

Published in association with Royal Museums Greenwich,

the group name for the National Maritime Museum,

Royal Observatory Greenwich, Queen’s House and Cutty Sark

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 84832 386 5

eISBN 978 1 84832 388 9

Mobi ISBN 978 1 84832 387 2

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or

transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including

photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system,

without prior permission in writing of both the copyright owner and the above publisher.

Contents

Introduction to the Richard Perkins Collection by Andrew Choong

Publisher’s Note

Acknowledgements

List of Abbreviations

THE PERKINS IDENTIFICATION ALBUMS - VOLUME II: ARMOURED SHIPS 1860-1895, MONITORS and