Conway's all the world's fighting ships, 1947-1995

Ten years have passed since the two-volume "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1982" was published and in that time, profound changes have occurred in the make-up of the world's navies, and the aftermath of the break up of the Warsaw Pact represents an opportune time to revise the work and bring it up to date.;Particularly relevant to the updating of this volume has been the release of new information which has come about as a result of: the break-up of the Warsaw Pact; the unification of Germany and the take-over of ex-East German ships; and over all navies there now hangs the question mark over their role in the post-Cold War era and the sceptre of defence cuts.;A whole range of recent technical developments are chronicled including: the commissioning in the USSR of the first large-deck carriers; the arrival in Britain, Holland, Sweden and Japan of a new generation of high-tech conventional submarines; the revival of interest in close-in air and missile defences, and the adoption of stealth technology at sea. It covers the Gulf War which involved the biggest naval deployment since 1945.;All these developments, and all associated launchings and commissionings are covered, and so bring this title up to date to make it a core reference book for all those who follow naval affairs.