Konstam, Angus/Groult, Edouard A. (Illustr.) Royal Navy Grand Fleet 1914-18. Britain's last supreme naval fleet

At the beginning of the First World War, the forces of the Royal Navy were amalgamated into a single unit, the Grand Fleet, and stationed in Scapa Flow, Orkney. The Grand Fleet, with over 30 battleships and battlecruisers, as well as a large number of cruisers and destroyers, was the largest concentration of modern naval power the world had ever seen. In 1917, the fleet was further strengthened by a powerful American squadron. In this book, naval expert Angus Konstam uses extensive source research to examine the ships, technology, organisation, command and intelligence of the Grand Fleet and the way in which it fought. Although the German ships were better designed, Admiral Jellicoe's armada was unstoppable as a combined fleet. It took part in several engagements with the German enemy during the course of the war, but it was not until the Battle of Jutland in 1916 that Jellicoe finally had the chance to destroy the enemy. Although the German High Seas Fleet skilfully avoided the trap set for it, the Grand Fleet's economic blockade began to take effect, contributing to Germany's surrender in November 1918. Packed with battle diagrams, spectacular images and archive photographs, this book is an indispensable guide to the last period when the Royal Navy was indisputably the most powerful fleet in the world.