The Battleships by Rob McCauley and Ian Johnston (Channel 4 Books, 2000) £20.00. Relates the story of the battleships from the Battle of Trafalgar to the Gulf war, and their role in global history.

WHEN the German battleship Bismarck sank British battleship HMS Hood on May 24, 1941, it generated calls for revenge, sparking one of the great sea chases of the war — the hunt for the Bismarck.

Hood was a battlecruiser - one of a new breed of warships developed before the First World War. With more horsepower and less armour, they were faster than battleships and were designed to outrun and ...