DESTROYERS OF THE ROYAL NAVY

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28080, 22 September 1956, Page 3

DESTROYERS OF THE ROYAL NAVY

H.M. Destroyers. By Lieutenant-Com-mander P. K. Kemp. Jenkins. 237 PPThe invention of the torpedo soon led to the introduction of torpedoboats to the navies of the world. This new and lethal weapon upset longheld theories of naval warfare. The first encounter was the torpedo-boat destroyer, and so was born a little ship that has become indispensable to a modern fleet. Commander Kemp traces the development of the destroyer from the tiny vessel with its specific purpose to the fast, hard-hitting ocean-going destroyer of today. He shows, too, how the calls on destroyers have multiplied until they have become the maid-of-all-work of the navy. There are chapters on early tactics, the notable destroyer actions of the First World War, the Dover Patrol, convoy work, and the retrenchment followed by rearmament between the wars. Then follow accounts of equal heroism, determination and devotion in the Second World War—Dunkirk. Malta convoys, The Battle of the Atlantic, Arctic convoys and the war in the east. Commander Kemp has written for the layman as well as the student of naval history. All will find it interesting and absorbing reading.