Antony Preston (naval historian)

Antony Preston (1938 – December 25, 2004) was an English naval historian and editor, specialising in the area of 19th and 20th-century naval history and warship design.

Life

Antony Preston was born in 1938 in Salford, Lancashire, and educated in South Africa at King Edward VII School, Johannesburg, and the University of Witwatersrand. [Publisher's preface, "The World's Worst Warships" (Conway Maritime Press 2002) ISBN 0-85177-754-6] On his return to England he spent some years at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, before becoming Editor of the periodical “Defence”. [Publisher's preface, "Sea Power: A Modern Illustrated Military History" (Exeter Books 1980) ISBN 0-89673-011-5] During the 1970s he was employed by a specialist publisher, Conway Maritime Press, as editor of their "Warships" annual; he resumed this post in 1996. Antony Preston lived in London until his death in 2004. [Publisher's preface, "The World's Worst Warships"]

Work

Antony Preston was a prolific author both of books and of articles, and published on subjects ranging from the American Revolution to modern seapower; the bibliography given below illustrates the breadth of his expertise. Although he wrote on general military history, as well as most aspects of naval history and modern-day naval matters, the focus of his work was on ship design, technology and materiel. He was a pugnacious writer and was usually willing to take up one side of a controversy, even in a work of reference (see quotes below).

Bibliography

Even though restricted to books, following list (sourced primarily from Amazon) is far from complete. Only the four most recent "Warship" annuals are listed; other titles are listed in reverse order of publication.

*"Warship 2005" (Ed). Conway Maritime Press (July 15, 2005). ISBN 1-84486-003-5
*"Warship 2004" (Ed). Conway Maritime Press. (July, 2004). ISBN 0-85177-948-4
*"Warship 2002-2003" (Ed). Conway Maritime Press. (Dec, 2002). ISBN 0-85177-901-8
*"Warship 2001-2002" (Ed). Conway Maritime Press. (April, 2002). ISBN 0-85177-926-3
*"Send a Gunboat!" (with John Major). Chrysalis Books (February 28, 2003) ISBN 0-85177-923-9
*"The World's Worst Warships". Conway Maritime Press (2002). ISBN 0-85177-754-6
*"The Royal Navy Submarine Service: A Centennial History". Conway Maritime Press (November 2001). ISBN 0-85177-891-7
*"The World's Great Aircraft Carriers: From the Civil War to the Present". Thunder Bay Press (CA) (July 2000). ISBN 1-57145-261-3
*"Submarine Warfare: An Illustrated History". Thunder Bay Press (CA) (April 1999) ISBN 1-57145-172-2
*"An illustrated history of the navies of World War II". Military Book Club (January 1, 1998). ASIN B0006R987I
*"Aircraft Carriers: An Illustrated History". PRC Publishing Ltd. (1997). ASIN B000CORWY6
*"Pictorial History of South Africa". Gallery Books (Aug 1989). ISBN 0-83176-905-X
*(with Richard Natkiel) "Weidenfeld Atlas of Maritime History". Weidenfeld & Nicholson (May 1986). ISBN 0-29778-653-9
*"Battleships (Warships)". Lifetime Books (August 1982). ISBN 0-8119-0462-8
*"Cruisers (Warships)". Lifetime Books (August 1982). ISBN 0-8119-0465-2
*"Sea combat off the Falklands". Willow Books (1982). ISBN 0-00-218046-4
*"Sea Power: A Modern Illustrated Military History" (with Louis S Casey & John Batchelor). Exeter Books (September 1980). ISBN 0-89673-011-5
*"Decisive Battles of the Pacific Wars". Book Sales (May 1980). ISBN 0-89009-293-1
*"Dreadnought to nuclear submarine (The ship)". HMSO/National Maritime Museum (1980). ISBN 0-11-290319-3
*(contributor) "Navies of the American Revolution". Leo Cooper (April 1975). ISBN 0-85052-191-2
*(contributor) "Navies of World War 3". BISON BOOKS (1986). ISBN-0-86124-114-2

Quotes

*"…ton for ton, the least satisfactory ships built for the RN in modern times." (of the Lion class battlecruisers) – "Conway’s All the World’s Fighting Ships, 1906-1921" (1985) ISBN 0-85177-245-5
*"Unfit for combat with any existing cruiser". (of the French Duquesne class – “The World’s Worst Warships”
*"A fresh coat of paint and a display of flags can hide a multitude of shortcomings". (of Fast Attack Craft) – Ibid
*"More of a political gesture than a significant contribution to the history of capital-ship design" - (of the German "Panzerschiffe" (pocket battleships)) – “Sea Power: A Modern Illustrated Military History”

World's Worst Warships

"The World's Worst Warships". Conway Maritime Press (2002). ISBN 0-85177-754-6 is a book about warship design. While nobody sets out to design a bad warship, some ships turn out unsuitable for the tasks which they are asked to perform. Antony Preston regarded the following designs as particularly poor.

* US Civil war era Monitors
* Turret ship HMS Captain (1869)
* Russian Coast defence ships Novgorod and "Vitse Admiral Popov" 1871
* Armoured rams HMS Polyphemus (1881) and USS Katahdin (1893)
* Russian Armoured Cruiser Rurik (1892)
* Dynamite cruiser USS Vesuvius (1888)
* British Powerful Class protected cruisers
* Russian Borodino class battleships
* Destroyer HMS Swift
* Austo-Hungarian Viribus Unitis class battleships
* French Normandie class battleships
* American AA Class submarines
* US Flush-decker destroyers
* British K class submarines
* British light battlecruisers, HMS Glorious, HMS Furious (47), HMS Courageous (50)
* Battlecruiser HMS Hood (51)
* US Omaha class cruiser
* Swedish Cruiser Gotland
* French Duquesne class heavy cruisers
* German pocket battleships
* Italian Condotierri class light cruisers
* Japanese aircraft carrier Ryūjō
* Japanese Mogami class cruisers
* Japanese Yamato class battleships
* German Bismarck class battleships
* British Implacable class aircraft carriers
* Hydrogen Peroxide fuelled submarines
* Soviet Alpha class submarines
* British Type 21 frigates
* La Combattante type missile fast attack craft

References