US Navy Battleships 1886-98: The pre-dreadnoughts and monitors that fought the Spanish-American War

The story of how the US Navy developed its first battleship fleet, their first combat test in the Spanish-American War, and the battleships' careers through World War I.

This fully illustrated study examines the US's first six battleships, a story of political compromises, clean sheet designs, operational experience, and experimental improvements. These ships directly inspired the creation of an embryonic American military-industrial complex, enabled a permanent outward-looking shift in Amer...