Flower Class Corvettes (ShipCraft)

I bought this on a whim with barely a precursory look, thinking it was like those old 80s books produced on many military machines. Wow was I blown away when it arrived. This is a large, glossy print book with plenty of pages. It is full of sharp B&W pics, along with lots of camo scheme drawings. All manner of technical data on the ship and weapons, schematics, and ship registers/disposition. There's even a section about actually living on the wretched things.Completely worth the $20 I paid. I recommend it to any one, regardless of your proclivities.

Although it's only 128 pages long, of which 23 are devoted to scale models and model kit accessories, this book is nonetheless a pretty substantial reference, packed with the sort of obscure details us naval buffs crave. This is definitely an "old school" kind of monograph, a throwback to the classic naval references of the 70s and 80s. There are dozens of excellent photographs and color profiles, numerous data tables, and a large number of exquisitely detailed plans and diagrams. The text includes concise explanations of the type's development and evolution, armament, the Type 271 radar, and crew habitability.The book's main highlight is definitely the plans by the late John Lambert, one of the finest naval draftsmen in recent memory. Along with the basic plan and profile exterior views, he also depicts in immense detail the interior layout and constructional details of these ships. There are plans of shell plating and machinery arrangements, the inner workings of the guns and anti-submarine armament, and the many bridge and superstructure variations. Even the deck plans show details as small as chairs, bins, and cupboards.Considering the price, this book is very nicely produced, with good quality glossy pages and excellent photo reproductions. The only real flaw is that the plans were originally prepared at poster size, and shrunk down two or three times to fit the pages, so have a magnifying glass handy. The keys are occasionally incomplete and tend to be scattered around the pages. This book would make an excellent companion to the "Anatomy of the Ship" volume, which focuses mainly on the short forecastle Canadian corvettes.

This is a great book for model builders. There seems to be a minor mistake in the section listing the model kits. The Mirage model kit is listed as 1/400 in the book and according to my measurements and calculations it's actually 1/350 as stated on the Mirage box. I bought this book specifically to assist me in building the Mirage kit. Glad I got that straightened out! Otherwise this is a great book with a ton of detail and great line drawings, photographs and camoflage schemes depicted. I learned a lot reading this book.

For those who love combat ships from the first half of the 20th Century, John Lambert is a name to conjure by. This book does not disappoint. It is an excellent reference book for modelers and historians, well-written, well-illustrated and more than a little fascinating. If you want to learn about what the men who went through hell manning this small, beamy vessel in the stormy North Atlantic while fighting Hitler's Gray Wolves, or if you want to build a model to honor those brave men, get this book. Read it. Cherish it. I did, I did and I am.

I just finished reading Nicholas Monsarrat's splendid book, "The Cruel Sea". I wanted to learn more about the Flower Class Corvette that was such an important part of the novel. Although intended for naval modelers, John Lambert's well written and heavily illustrated book was more than able address my curiosity about this topic. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the learning more about Corvettes.

Great detail for ship modelers. I especially liked the color profiles. I never knew there was a Flower class Corvette painted yellow!The book does need a second edition though. The model kit reviews lack the new kits that have come out since it was first published in 2008.

I needed a reference for my build of the Revell 1/144 Flower Class Corvette and this book was perfect.

The largest issue in the series and well detailed. Good historical reference excellent color/camo reference and a go to book on these little warships. Well Done

As someone who has served in the RAF Marine Branch, on the crew of both HMAFV's Seal & Seagull, which often met heavy weather that even larger vessels sought shelter, this book, plus the film. The Cruel Sea, made the life aboard one of these Corvettes the sort of life their crews must have felt, though the two vessels served on didn't have to contend with the threat of being torpedoed. Now in my late 70s I spend my holidays on the IOW at my nieces house, and whilst there she allows me to spend a lot of my time as a volunteer at the Wight Military and Heritage Museum, where I donated my large collection of military weapons from pre WWI upto present day ones, that also includes Grenades, explosive replicas and Shells etc. With having been in the RAF, I wear my Beret, and ask visitors can they guess what I did. Only 1person managed to get my job right, and many doubted I was a Sailor who served several years on Ocean going Seal Class. Like the crews of Corvettes these small vessels seem to be forgotten about by many, who only think of Frigates, Destroyers, Cruisers etc as escorting the vital convoys needed to keep Britain going. So this book is one that can be recommended to give the reader just a brief overview of their valuable service and the sacrifice many crews suffered.

This is a book I would happily recommend to both naval historians, and model makers. The book is a clear record of these small naval vessels, which were only meant for narrow, coastal waters, and yet they ended up serving in the North Sea, the Artic on Russian convoys, and the Atlantic on convoys to the U.S.A. and Canada. They were hard work for the sailors onboard, but still served with grace. The book contains many photos I'd never seen before, and those, along with excellent coloured illustrations and line drawings help to make this book come alive. The section on models is also worth a read, even if you have no interest in model making. Highly recommended to anybody with any interest in these small ships.

I have virtually all the previous books covering the Flower class, and was rather reluctant to buy another, especially as I have no interest in modelmaking. However learning that it was double the normal size of the Shipcraft series and had John Lambert`s name associated , I took a chance. I was not disappointed - this is one of the best books on the subjectYou get :-36 half-page photos of whole ships - good photos, very well reproduced. Some old favourites but many new.8 weapon photos and 6 other detailed onboard photos -again well chosen, large and well reproduced.13 full page plan and side elevation of individual ships (roughly 1/250 scale ) These are alone worth the price of the book as they have been selected to show many variants8 pages of side elevations in colour of camouflage schemes. These are four to a page, named and dated and show a great deal of further individual variants to the ships' configuration.12 pages of hull and interior general arrangement drawings and about 20 pages of plans of armament and fittings details -including bridge variations, boats and radar. For space reasons many of these are rather small scale and a magnifying glass is needed at times, especially as the labelling is in very small print. But the good reproduction, on heavy glossy paper, helps. As the book indicates larger versions of all the plans are available from Lambert Plans.8 pages of tabular class listing giving pennant numbers, builders, dates and fates of all the class.Good concise text chapters on Design, Engineering, Modifications, Armament, Appearance and Habitability. The chapter on the Type 271 radar is probably the best short overall account of early RN radar development I've seen. The authors have, wisely I feel, not tried to cover war service histories.A good bibliography and source list.24 pages of text and colour photos of various kit and models - all in one section so the non-modeller can easily ignore if he wishes. However the three pages devoted to a superb model by Joseph Neumayer do give a good guide to interpretation of the photos and drawings.I very much recommend this book. My main criticism is, as usual, that by doubling the size and price, it could have been even better ! But like the corvettes themselves, built down to a size and cost , it manages the job magnificently

This product was bought after I had already obtained 14 others. The title follows a well developed format and structure. Given the restricted scope of the title I can only say it delivers a lot of detail & data in the space available. The kit reviews are the core of this title and they have wetted my appetite to actually build them (I have some of these in the loft at the bottom of a large stash). Along with a brief history of design/development there are scale plans and profiles, modellers showcases and the service records of the subjects with a fair splattering of B&W photo's.The book is highly recommended for modellers and even those with an interest in the subject matter (and with most of the series worth buying for the kit/accessories reviews).

I have a Revel model of the kit. It has been sitting on my bookshelf for some years. Lock down brought it out. This book is PRECISELY what I needed to get going, and a combination of the fine drawings and examples of the kit as built coupled with the coloured examples of camouflages give me the basis to make (I hope) a good job of it.