"Jane’s Fighting Ships, 1941" Topic

Browsing in a used bookstore yesterday, and came across an original copy, in excellent shape, and at a reasonable price. I don't think Arco reprinted the 1941 edition, but I have always really liked the reprints of the annuals- for one thing, they give you an idea of what ships were available in a given fleet at the time of publication (subject, of course, to some rather important caveats). I picked it up because the 1941-1943 timeframe is one of my particular interests. A couple of really interesting takeaways:
- Limited information. Ships in commission are hard to hide, and ships sunk are perhaps harder, but this edition contains some interesting mistakes. We take a lot of information for granted; in those days, it was harder to assemble, so that, for example, it might appear that there were three "Soryu" class carriers, or that thhe "Washington" class would consist of six battleships. Information that we take for granted was probably a little harder to come by in those days.
- Photo quality is surprisingly good, and the US Navy section is a bonanza, particularly for the older battleships and cruisers. Most US ships were still in a lighter prewar gray, and the publisher seemed to have a predilection for backlit pictures, so the details really jump out at you.
-War losses are shown through April of 1942 in a series of addenda, suggesting they went to print shortly thereafter. The British silhouette page for capital ships show three neat columns of four- with a single blank space, presumably where "Hood" was listed in the previous edition. There war losses are listed in a "War Loss" section, augmented by a "Final Addenda" that captures the April, 1942 losses- there was no time to remove HMS Hermes' plate, but she shows as a war loss in the Final Addenda. It must have been some chore publishing an annual like this in wartime!
- The state of the US fleet in 1941 is shown in dramatic style, with short entries for all of the ships that wouldn't enter service until late 1942- it's not surprising to see the brief entries for Montana, Alaska and Iowa, but it's something of a surprise to look at a fleet inventory for that era, and see not only that USS Fletcher had only been laid down in October, 1941, but that the USN was still carrying 83 flush deck destroyers on its books as combatants.

If you have an interest in the earlier parts of WWII (as Americans define it), you will definitely find this to be an interesting read.

Great find. I love the old Jane's.

I got one decades ago. Great for research. You will enjoy it.

I know that Arco reprinted at least 1898, 1904-5, 1905/6, 1914, 1919, 1939, 1944-45 and 1950 in 1969 or so (and Jane's kluged together the information in these to make separate books covering WWI and II), several of which I have, but this is the first original I can remember seeing. Not sure if Arco did any others than those years. I can think of a few others I would definitely like to have!

I've the 1942 edition. Well worn from youngsters, my two brothers and yours truly, poring over it from about 1950-1970. My mother gave to my father for his birthday, new, in 1943. Still useful every now and then for obscure information.

I have four of the David and Charles reprints which came out at the end the 1960s early 1970s. 1898, 1905/06, 1906/07, 1939. Gave me hours of fun back in the day!

There's no editorial credit given in the 1942 edition, but I believe the editor was probably still Oscar Parkes at that point, a former naval surgeon and a firm adherent to the delightfully idiosyncratic style of Fred T Jane. The "General Notes" are a masterclass in perceptive and economical commentary and (occasionally) humor:

"Including cost of alterations, this ship is said to have absorbed over six million pounds" (HMS Furious)

"These ships may be said to bear the same relation to the ‘Leander' as the ‘York' class do to the ‘Kent's." (HMS Arethusa)

"Due for replacement." (HMS Endeavour)

"First rivetless ship in the Japanese Navy." (Hibiki)

"It is possible that some of these are transports. Information will be welcomed." (Manchukuo survey vessel, "name not reported")

"Is probably the most sumptuously fitted yacht afloat." (Turkish Savarona)

"This vessel laid the minefield in the Dardanelles on which HMS "Irresistible" and "Ocean," and the French battleship "Bouvet" were lost on March 18, 1915." (Turkish "Nusret")

Idiosyncratic and entertaining (and Parkes fought at Gallipoli, which suggests an old man's memory lay behind that last one).