"Best book for AWI ships." Topic

Curious on thoughts for the best book on AWI period ships including Continental and Royal Navys, state navies, and privateers for both sides. Especially looking for pictures of said ships. Any help appreciated.

"Navies and the American Revolution" (various authors), Chatham Publishing, 1996.

"Navies of the American Revolution" (A Preston, D Lyon, and J Batchelor), Leo Cooper/Bison Books, 1975.

The former looks at the "big (ie global) picture" and has lots of maps, plans of the bigger vessels and very useful coastline drawings by Des Barres; the latter takes a more low-level look and has drawings of some of the smaller vessels as well as weapons and uniform plates. Both have useful tables of ship sizes and the like.

If you want to move onto strategy, "The major operations of the navies in the American War of Independence" by Admiral A T Mahan and three books by the late Prof D Syrett – "Shipping and the American War", "The Royal Navy in American Waters 1775-1783" and "The Royal Navy in European waters in the American Revolutionary War" are your next step. Syrret's "Shipping" book is the only one I've ever read that gives Germain due credit for raising the merchant fleet that put 30,000 British and German troops in N America for the 1776 campaign, and kept them supplied.

Chappelle's The History of the American Sailing Navy: The Ships and Their Development

and

The Search for Speed Under Sail: 1700-1855

Lavery's Ship of the Line Volume I (British SOLs only)

Ireland's Naval Warfare in the age of sail

historygamer -
Last time I checked, the French Navy played a small maritime cameo role in the American War of Independence.

;-]

The best reference source I have found is Jean Boudriot's 3 volume set, "The 74 Gun Ship". Unfortunately, it is long out of print and sets are, to put it very diplomatically – "a bit pricey".

That having been said, if there is anything in particular you would like to know, post the question here and I will do my best to get you an answer.

B

Treat Chappelle with some caution, some of his drawings are 'reconstructions' and it is not clear what is original and what was his (informed) speculation.

I'd go for Donald Canney's "Sailing Ships of the US Navy", deliberate focus on ship drafts and contemporary pictures, very much in the style of Robert Gardiner's excellent class studies of Frigates and Ships of the Line.

This is my first 'go-to' then it is off to the books mentioned in earlier posts.

Mark Barker
The Inshore Squadron

No pictures, but just about everything else you might want to know at threedecks.

link