Battleship at War

In this American film, Monte Markham covers the development of Battle ships and their effectiveness, from the 15th century to the 1990’s. This is a different but balanced take on this fascinating subject. It complements the excellent ABC series ‘Battleships’ which we enjoyed a couple of years ago. This film covers initial clash between the ironclads in the American Civil war, the Russo Japanese War of 1905, the world tour of Roosevelt’s Great White Fleet, the advent of HMS DREADNOUGHT, the Battle of Jutland in 1916, and documents the success of the U Boat and the German surface raiders.
The Washington Naval Agreement and the race to rearm from 1936 is analyzed, and we view excellent footage of the new Japanese, American and German Navies ships which were to feature so strongly on History’s page in WWII. Being an American film, Pearl Harbour, Battle of the Coral Sea, Midway etc, are well covered, as is the advent of the IOWA Class. Their effectiveness in WWII and subsequent conflicts provide us with fascinating finale to the story of one of the most exciting weapons ever devised.