The Naval Institute Guide to Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet, 18th Edition

NOTHING HERE IS STILL CLASSIFIED SO READ THIS EDITION TO YOUR HEARTS CONTENT - JUST DON'T MAIL THEM OUT OF THE COUNTRY, IN A NUTSHELL: REAL DETAILS AND AN INVENTORY OF ORDNANCE TOO! Want to find out details about standard U.S. Naval defense systems? This is the book. Ideal for defense enthusiasts, analysts, historians and academic researchers, this volume has very hard to find data and info about virtually everything the U.S. Navy can float, submerge, haul, shoot, or fly. Frankly in most countries the material here would be restricted, and in fact there is warning in the inside cover that states that; this is to be "sold in the United States, Canada and American possessions only". A new edition comes out about 3 times per decade and includes everything but the latest, still classified, U.S. military hardware. STILL HERE -- OKAY THERE'S MORE: If you save the older issues, you will have a rather comprehensive chronicle of the nuts and bolts of the U.S. Navy - real interesting stuff. For instance, if you go back to say the thirteenth edition, you can find a full description of the Iowa Class Battleships and the compositions of a variety of their 16" projectiles. Want to know about the jets used in the Vietnam War? Look at the 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th editions, and you'll find cool aircraft and helicopters as well as Crusiers that still fired artillery. Would you like to see and read about the add-on, stand-off weapons from the Gulf-War era. You'll find them in editions 13-16 listed under "WEAPONS SYSTEMS". How fast or far do our missles fly? How large a warhead do they carry and what type of guidance system do they use are all included for countless systems in each and every volume of this text. BOTTOM LINE: If this type of stuff is interesting too you, this text can take the place of counting sheep at night, as it does for me. The good news is that NOTHING IN THIS TEXT IS STILL CLASSIFIED SO YOU CAN READ THESE VOLUMES TO YOUR HEARTS CONTENT - JUST DON'T MAIL THEM OUT OF THE COUNTRY.

This book covers the period from when the US Navy and US Marine Corps started to look at being drawn down following the collapse of communism through out Europe and most of the rest of the world. Also this covers the status of the fleet for that little period between 1989 and the end of Gulf War 1 (or Desert Shield/Storm/Saber). This books was written before the first base closing commission was just being conviened. So there are obvisouly errors in what bases are open, what have been closed, and what have been converted over to other types. The same is true with various ships. However, this is still a very good reference book and a great point to see where the 600-ship navy was going to have keep going if the cold war was to continue. As it is with the end of the cold war, this is also a very good book to see what sort of units there were to particpate in the various peace-keeping operations of the mid-90's when the 18th edition was published.

This is an outstanding reference book for those who need information about the current US Navy. The book covers every single class of ships in service and in reserve ranging from aircraft carriers to tugs, mobile dry-docks, and non USN vessels such as NOAA and EPA vessels. Detail description of the ships' dimensions, weapons, radars, electronics, engineering, design, etc. are included. There pictures and detail drawings included with the ships'. There are sections in the book that are dedicated the weapons, radars, and aircrafts used by the ships. Just like the ships, technical information are included.

The Naval Institute Guide to the Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet (16th) is the ultimate U.S. Navy recource. Mr. Polmar convays the Navy w/ stunning photographs and detailed line drawings. This book is a must for naval buff's. NOAA ships are also presented in the book. The best Naval reference I have EVER read!

This book is the U.S. Naval Institute's equivilant to "Jane's Fighting Ships" only it is limited solely to the U.S. Navy (both ships and aircraft). This is really not a book to read so much as a superb reference on the U.S. Navy today. It provides detailed listings for every class of ship on active or reserve status including details on all the ships in each class, the differences (if any) between specific ships of the same class, and numerous photos and line diagrams pointing out various weapons and sensors. The aircraft section is not quite as complete but does provide a solid reference on the technical specifications on each aircraft in service today. For those researching the Navy of today or desiring a ready reference this is the book to buy!