The Modern Cruiser: The Evolution of the Ships that Fought the Second World War

by Robert C. Stern

This book sets out to provide a coherent history of the fortunes of this ship-type in the twentieth century. It begins with a brief summary of development before the World War I and an account of a few notable cruiser actions during that conflict that helped define what cruisers would look like in the post-war world. The core of the book is devoted to the impact of the naval disarmament treaty process, which concentrated to a great extent on attempting to define limits to the numbers and size of cruisers that could be built, in the process creating the 'treaty cruiser' as a type that had never existed before and that existed solely because of the treaty process.

How the cruisers of the treaty era performed in World War II forms the final focus of the book, which concludes with a look at the fate of the cruiser-type since 1945.

Genres: History, Military Fiction

833 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 1, 2021

Reviews

[Peter Aronson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent narrative on the topic, somewhat marred by an excessively detailed, blow-by-blow description of the negotiation of the inter-war naval treaties.

[Stian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used 3.5 years(!) to finish this, but not because its a dreadful read, on the contrary, I just had it on my Kindle app for a quick read here and there, as its pretty technical (and the ability to zoom in on pictures works better on the app than on the tablet.)

The book is heavy on diplomacy and naval negotiations, and these passages are very detailed to boot, so here the book drags in parts.
Very little on battles/action, as this is a book on the evolution/development of these ships, but there's some later chapters with a select few examples of how some of the designs perfomed in combat.

This could have been a dreadfully boring read, but thanks to the authors writing style it is not.
A minor quibble, in my Kindle version there's a whole lot of terms that have been combined together when they should not, like "guidedmissile", which should be "guided-missile" (on the top my head example, there were worse), nothing major, but it happened so often that it really stood out.

[Robert Neil Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

In warship designations, what is, or rather was, a Cruiser? Robert Stern is here to tell you, though he too finds them hard to define because there was no one size fits all ship for that classification. Stern’s narrative survey follows the full cycle of the Cruiser’s operational life from the 19th to the 21st Century in a lavishly illustrated, coffee-table sized book that is a must for modern naval history enthusiasts.
Cruisers came from those ships in the 19th Century that performed tasks not assigned to ships of the line. In the later 19th Century, there were three classes of Cruiser based on size. They retained their masts but were iron-hulled and coal-powered. Steel replaced iron and sailing rigs were discarded as they were built for speed and firepower. These Protected Cruisers met in battle during the First Sino-Japanese War at the Yalu River in 1894. A watershed in Cruiser design with two new types, including the light Cruiser, took place in 1897. This generation of Cruisers started to look like modern Cruisers with turret guns and a more elegant streamlined design. But could they fight? World War I would test them as they chased each other all over the oceans. Stern expertly describes the subsequent engagements, including the Battles of Coronel, the Falklands, and of course Jutland. Of all the different Cruiser types, only the light Cruiser emerged with its reputation intact into the 1920s where further developments awaited. Stern describes how the Washington Treaty affected that through its limitation of Capital shipbuilding. Cruisers now had a maximum size, which meant putting as much as possible on them; a designer’s nightmare. Nevertheless. Cruiser construction accelerated, requiring two further treaties to try and slow production, but by the mid-1930s those efforts had been abandoned. By then the Germans were ignoring the rules anyway and a Cruiser arms race followed. That would continue into World War II. Stern examines Cruiser performance in three engagements in that war, including Savo Island in 1942. Cruisers became an anachronism in the post-war world but not immediately. They were transformed into guided-missile Cruisers though some kept their guns. Stern concludes that there is still a role for Cruisers, but sadly none are still afloat.
The Modern Cruiser is a very detailed book covering every aspect of those vessels from drawing board to combat performance. Stern examines individual ships and classes throughout, highlighting improvements but also their problems. The result is a real sense of evolution, befitting the book’s subtitle. Stern’s discussion of the politics of Cruiser building is well-balanced and informative, particularly the chapters on between-the-wars initiatives. A superb collection of photographs illustrates Stern’s thoroughly researched and well-written book. Anyone interested in 20th Century warships will enjoy this book.

[Mark Merritt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview of the Cruiser type of warship from the turn of the 19th century to the present. Rather technical, most of the book is concentrated on the various Naval Treaties and talks that were prevalent from after the First World War to to the mid 1930s, which were conducted to limit a naval arms race that many believed contributed to the occurrence for the WWI. The gist of the book concerns the various nations trying to fit as much firepower, engines and protection within a certain tonnage hull. Again, this is not a book of battles, but rather a discussion of the progression of the cruiser type warship worldwide over a period of about 100 years.