The part played by warshipbuilding in the history of the Clyde shipbuilding industry is a much neglected area. While only a minority of Clyde yards undertook naval work in peacetime, after the First World War upwards of forty per cent of the Clyde’s total output of ships was produced in the warship yards. Based on a systematic analysis of records of the shipyards involved, this is the first book to study the full impact of the growth, development and decline of the Royal Navy on the Clyde. From the early days of 1859 and HMS Black Prince (one of the Navy’s first “ironclads”) to many of the pre-Dreadnought classes of battleships, from the powerful super-dreadnoughts of the Queen Elizabeth class to the mighty HMS Hood (1916-17), the Clyde lay at the heart of British supremacy at sea. Much more than a detailed account of the Clyde ship-building yards, this book is also a history of the rise and fall of British sea-power and industrial might seen through the story of the great river that lay at its heart.

Edition: 2000