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Turret versus Broadside

An Anatomy of British Naval Prestige, Revolution and Disaster 1860-1870

Series : Wolverhampton Military Studies #33

Author : Howard Fuller

Turret versus Broadside : An Anatomy of British Naval Prestige, Revolution and Disaster 1860-1870

Details

General - Pages : 416 | Images : 46 colour & b/w illustrations

Paperback - Date of Publication : 15th January 2021 | Size : 234mm x 156mm | ISBN : 9781913336226 | Helion Book Code : HEL1248

On the 150th anniversary of the capsizing of Britain’s low-freeboard yet fully-masted ironclad, HMS Captain, this widely-researched, intensive analysis of the great ‘Turret versus Broadside’ debate sheds new light on how the most well-funded and professional navy in the world at the height of its power could nevertheless build an ‘inherently unstable’ capital ship.

Utilising an impressive array of government reports, contemporary periodicals, and unpublished personal papers this definitive study crucially provides for the first time both a long-term and international context.  The 1860s was a pivotal decade in the evolution of British national identity as well as warship design. Nor were these two elements mutually exclusive.  1860 began gloriously with the launch of Britain’s first ocean-going ironclad, HMS Warrior, but 1870 ended badly with the Captain.  Along the way, British public and political faith in the supremacy of the Royal Navy was not reaffirmed as some histories suggest, but wavered.  The growing emphasis upon new technologies including ever heavier guns and thicker armour plating for men-of-war was not ‘decisive’ but divisive, as pressure mounted to somehow combine the range of Warrior with the unique protection and hitting power of American monitor-ironclads of the Civil War.  As the geopolitical debate over rival ironclad proposals intensified, aggressively-minded Prime Minister Lord Palmerston gradually adopted a non-interventionist foreign policy which surprised his contemporaries.  Turret versus Broadside traces the previously unexplored connection between an increasingly schizophrenic Admiralty for and against the Captain, for example, and sabre-rattling mid-Victorians sinking into an era of ‘Splendid Isolation’.

 

‘A skilful account of a key episode in naval development and procurement. Of major interest to all those concerned with the complexities of technological capability and its interaction with power politics.’ Jeremy Black (University of Exeter), author of War and Technology

‘Howard Fuller’s book about the relative merits of a rotating turret vs. guns mounted in broadside on combat ships not only illuminates a specific concern of 19th century navies—and the Royal Navy in particular, it is also a metaphor about the complexities of embracing technological change in a volatile geopolitical environment, and thus offers valuable lessons for our own time.’ Craig L. Symonds (U.S. Naval War College), author of World War II at Sea: A Global History

"Dr. Fuller teaches us a crucial lesson: that circumstances could be far more effective in underpinning British naval supremacy, even at its height, than Admiralty planning." C. I. Hamilton, author of The Making of the Modern Admiralty: British Naval Policy-Making, 1805-1927

"An outstanding look at the ironclad revolution, this is essential reading for anyone interested in this period." The NYMAS Review

"....In a work thoroughly researched and persuasively argued, Fuller documents the threads of the multi-faceted problem facing the Royal Navy....Lavishly illustrated, Turret Versus Broadside will appeal to those attuned to nineteenth century naval affairs or the integration of new technologies in complex social and political environments." Naval Historical Foundation

"....Students of maritime history will find this book useful in several ways... It sheds light on how new and advancing technologies and the requirement for nations to meet or exceed the capabilities of their neighbours can drive decision-making...offers a useful perspective for examining events of the late-nineteenth century, and the effects of the rapid technical innovations that were taking place at that time." The Northern Mariner

"Combined with extensive illustrations, Fuller provides the reader with a dimension of study in British naval history on the loss of the Captain that has not previously been explored thus adding well to a greater understanding of naval history in late-nineteenth-century Great Britain." The Journal of Military History

"...Fuller’s investigation draws on an impressive and wide-ranging documentation that reinterprets a defining moment in the history of naval fleets by giving prominence to the international flow of naval knowledge." Technology and Culture, Vol 64, No 3, 2023

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