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Norman Friedman

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U.S. Aircraft Carriers: An Illustrated Design History Hardcover – April 1, 1983

by Norman Friedman (Author)

4.1 63 ratings

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This fully illustrated series offers detailed descriptions of the evolution of all classes of the principle U.S. combatant types, as well as plans, profiles, and numerous detailed photographs.

Print length

424 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Naval Institute Press
Publication date

April 1, 1983
Dimensions

9.5 x 1 x 11.5 inches
ISBN-10

0870217399
ISBN-13

978-0870217395
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Norman Friedman is a prominent naval analyst and the author of more than thirty books covering a range of naval subjects, from warship histories to contemporary defense issues. He is a longtime columnist for Proceedings magazine and lives in New York City.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Naval Institute Press; First Edition (April 1, 1983)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 424 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0870217399
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0870217395
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.16 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.5 x 1 x 11.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #387,823 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #216 in Military History Pictorials
- #331 in History of Technology
- #736 in Naval Military History

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4.1 63 ratings

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MajorCase302

Serious Library Addition for Serious Historians

Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2011

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This book is not a take-to-the-beach-for-light-summer-reading fare. It is a technically dense, exhaustive study of United States aircraft carrier design, from the first awkward experiments, (the Langley), through a brief description of the then-new (1983) Nimitz class. Reading it is like trying to run through knee-deep mud, but oh, what mud. Everything a serious historian--(or naval architect, for that matter)--could possibly want to know about pre-1983 American carriers is here. Want to know where the avgas tanks were in the first Yorktown class ships? You got it. How about a complete description of the electronic suites--radars, HF/DF, communications, meterological--on the post-war carriers? Every minute iteration in the continually evolving systems is there, and which ships had which systems and when they were installed, upgraded, replaced or removed. Why did some of the Essexes have fold-up gun sponsons? (To fit through the locks of the Panama Canal.) There is even the only good description I've ever seen--with photographs--of the two WWII carqual carriers converted from paddle-wheel (!!) steamers that operated in Lake Michigan. CVEs, the post-war conversion projects, LPHs, dedicated ASW carriers, the second Enterprise, catapults, arresting gear, and on and on. If you are a serious naval historian, this book belongs on your shelf.

9 people found this helpful

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Michel Poulin

AN ILLUSTRATED DESIGN HISTORY is a very good book that could have been excellent if better

Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2016

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U.S. AIRCRAFT CARRIERS: AN ILLUSTRATED DESIGN HISTORY is a very good book that could have been excellent if better, more detailed drawings of the aircraft carriers would have been included. There was plenty of technical information and lists of specifications to satisfy the naval aficionado, but I am sure that more detailed deck layout drawings and, particularly, drawings of the machinery and armament, could have been included, since the USA must still have the complete blueprints if these carriers available. That deficiency made the difference between this book and the books of the Naval Press Institute's series 'Anatomy of the Ship', which are unequalled in my mind when it comes to describing specific ships in detail. It was worth its price but lacked that extra 'oomph' to completely satisfy me.

3 people found this helpful

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MrP

US Carriers, a MUST have.

Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2015

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Can't say enough good things about this book or any of the other ones in the series.
My only gripe is that seaplane tenders, float plane tenders or the other aviation related ships are not covered in any of his other books.
There is nothing of note on that subject anywhere and can use his deep knowledge and expertise..
.
This is a most excellent book that I refer back to all the time. There is no other comparable single stop reference source.
Even though I own a copy, it is so good I look forward to when it is updated for subsequent ships being built.
A companion volume covering the various aviation support ship types and seaplane tenders would also be most welcome.

2 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

DO NOT BUY

Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2023

Verified Purchase

Does Amazon do any quality checks on a publisher's upload?

Within the Kindle app for PC, book page will load into a landscape view that is split into two screen pages. Cannot follow the narrative.

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D. Smith

Superbly Detailed and Fascinating

Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2003

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This volume, one of many in Norman Friedman's naval design histories, is amazingly thorough in its coverage of U.S. aircraft carrier design from the 1930s-era Saratoga and Lexington through the nuclear-powered Nimitz-class, as well as the offshoot amphibious assault carriers.
The book is filled with design schematics, ships' specifications and more esoteric naval information than you could possibly absorb in a lifetime. The rich wealth of information is the consistent strength of this series that makes it a bit overwhelming for the casual reader looking for a narrative history of U.S. carrier.
The emphaisis here is on ship design, its impact on operations and little else. If there is any shortcoming to be found within the book, it is that it is rather old, having been last updated in 1983, when the Nimitz class was just hitting its stride and long before the design innovations fueled by the Navy's growth in the waning years of the Cold War.

22 people found this helpful

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Carrie S.

An Outstanding Reference on Design and Development!

Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2018

Verified Purchase

Outstanding reference on U.S. aircraft carriers. What I appreciate most is the many details or backstory about the various designs and why the ships ultimately were built the way they were. Thorough explanation of why armored decks were desirable or not, the compromises required for flight deck size, speed, air wing size, open hanger or closed, etc. Enough pictures to keep young readers interested, and enough detail to interest the collegiate or post-graduate level scholar. Highly recommended!

4 people found this helpful

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O. Barr

Detailed history of the development of US carriers

Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2019

Verified Purchase

The history of the development of carriers is here, often in far more detail than I really needed. Pages of direct quotations from memos from times long past. What Friedman does, he researches well, though I think he has written too many books too quickly to do them as well as he is capable of. Book is dated, 1983, and parts of it are barely current to then. Read the subtitle carefully - this is a design history, that is the history of the designs, and it lacks a good deal of detail about the designs themselves. You need a good background in ships and the Navy in order to make your way through some portions. Although I have not read every word of this massive work, I've found only one serious error, and that in a table in an appendix. As he states clearly, there is no operational history covered. A massive work researched in detail and easily used as an authoritative reference. I've not tested the index enough to say if you can actually find stuff buried in it. I down-rate it because I would have liked to see more detail on the actual designs, beyond the major features like deck size, armor, and propulsion. Also, ships as built varied. For example, the armor on the 5-inch deck mounts on the Essex class ships is given as one number, whereas I understand (not a definitive reference) that although on each ship the four mounts were protected equally, there was great variations between different ships. Nothing is given on flight deck construction, unless it was armored, yet flight deck construction is a vital part of the design of carriers. As long as your expectations are kept within bounds, the book is certainly recommended.

7 people found this helpful

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