Royal Navy Monitors of World War II - Britain's battleship-calibre gunboats

A superbly illustrated history of the Royal Navy''s World War II monitors - gunboats armed with a single, large-calibre gun turret - and their roles and battles around the world. When World War II broke out, the Royal Navy possessed a sizeable fleet of battleships and battlecruisers. However, these formed the core of the battle fleets, and were rarely free to perform an equally vital mission - the naval bombardment of targets ashore. In the first book to focus on the subject, naval expert Angus Konstam explains how the monitor, an unusual warship extensively used in World War I, found a new purpose. Although neither fast nor very well-protected, the monitors had a fearsome armament - two 15in guns, the same calibre as many of Britain''s battleships. Designed to outrange shore batteries, the monitors could supply flexible, deadly gunfire support to Allied forces ashore. The World War I-era Erebus and Terror were refitted and sent to war, while a new class, the Roberts class, joined them in 1941 and 1943. These warships saw action with the Eastern Fleet and were particularly useful in the Mediterranean, from supporting the campaign in North Africa to providing anti-aircraft defence in besieged Malta and Crete. They then joined the Allied landings from Sicily to Normandy. Illustrated with profiles, battlescenes and a cutaway of Roberts, this book also explains how naval gunfire support was conducted during the war.

About the author

Angus Konstam is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and has written widely on naval history, with well over a hundred books in print. He is a former Royal Navy officer, maritime archaeologist and museum curator, who has worked in the Royal Armouries, Tower of London, and Mel Fisher Maritime Museum. Now a full-time author and historian, he lives in Orkney.Adam Tooby is an internationally renowned digital artist and illustrator. His work can be found in publications worldwide and as box art for model aircraft kits. He also runs a successful illustration studio and aviation prints business. He is based in Cheshire, UK. To buy artwork, or contact the artist, visit http://www.adamtooby.com/.

Product details

• Authors: Angus Konstam, Konstam Angus
• Assisted by: Adam Tooby (Illustration), Tooby Adam (Illustration)
• Publisher: Osprey Publishers
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 01.12.2025
• EAN: 9781472868138
• ISBN: 978-1-4728-6813-8
• No. of pages: 48
• Dimensions: 182 mm x 248 mm x 6 mm
• Series: New Vanguard
• Subjects: Guides > Motor vehicles, aircraft, ships, space travel > Ships; HISTORY / Military / Naval, TRANSPORTATION / Ships & Shipbuilding / History, Naval forces & warfare, Military vehicles, Second World War, United Kingdom, Great Britain, c 1938 to c 1946 (World War Two period), c 1939 to c 1945 (including WW2), Naval forces and warfare, Military & Naval Ships, Ship Design & Naval Architecture, Ship design and naval architecture, History / Wars & Conflicts / World War II / European Theater, HISTORY / Military / Vehicles / Sea