The Sloop of War: 1650-1763

Ian McLaughlan, a retired British army officer, offers a welcome and thoroughly researched study of the British navy's smallest sailing warships. His preface says that he hopes to produce two more volumes extending the coverage into the twentieth century. In 288 entertaining and informative pages of this first installment, he explores every imaginable aspect of these often-neglected but quite fascinating little men-of-war: origin, evolution of various types, rig, armaments, operational uses, and designers. In a large though not overwhelming format, the book is filled with a superb selection of interesting B & W illustrations showing drafts, models, period art (including impeccably accurate seventeenth-century drawings by Willem Van de Velde the Elder and Younger), and a number of the author's own well-executed sketches and diagrams. Design and quality of reproductions are a credit to Seaforth Publishing. The text is logically organized and discussions are nicely balanced among the various periods and subjects. A LOT of the information presented is either completely new or seldom previously noticed. Extensive end-notes cite appropriate secondary sources, plus numerous manuscripts in the National Archives of England and Wales, notably Admiralty correspondence in the ADM 1 and 106 series, and captains' logs in ADM 51. Useful appendices give data on all the sloops-of-war and related small vessels in service during the period covered, samples of mast and spar dimensions, an excellent explanation of shipwrights' drafts, an evaluation of sailing performances, a useful note on the designers, and another for armament details. Filling major gaps in knowledge, this is a remarkable and highly valuable work for those of us who love and study ship design and ship histories. After I pore through McLaughlan's book a second time for sheer enjoyment, I will place it on the portion of my shelves reserved for frequently consulted "Really Good Books."

Great history of the differing designs,the why's and where fores and a light touch of the personalities involved.All in all a great purchase and hopefully there is a second volume.

Great Reference and historical information

excellent book just as expected

great read on a topic one sees little of.

A superb work with detailed history and dockyard plans.

excellent book

Very nice and a great reference book.

With the exception of one short section this is an outstanding book. The subject of Sloops has been largely untapped until now; the archival research is very thorough; the layout of the book is excellent; and the author’s own sketches are both high quality and add a touch of personal colour to the whole book.Moreover, according to the preface, we can also look forward to a second volume that will cover the period from 1763 to 1815. However, the author doubts that he will manage to complete a projected final third volume, running up to 1950. Perhaps a more modest and achievable aim might be to end in 1900, because the small ships of both world wars have already been well covered elsewhere.My only caveat concerns the short section on stability at the end of chapter one, which contains some serious errors, and as a result misleads rather than enlightens. Professional seamen will be surprised to find that BM is in one place described as metacentric height, the value of intact freeboard is ignored, as is the danger of downdlooding, dynamic stability does not figure at all. Moreover, there is no effort to place this all in context by discussing how the understanding of stability developed in that period. The pity is that his attempt to explain a complex subject is unnecessary, and the book would have been much better without it. Those wishing to understand the subject could be directed to one of the many excellent stability textbooks. Hopefully a second edition will correct this. I still consider it worth 5 stars.

As I am the author of this book I feel that I am not the right person to comment on it. All I would say is that the bulk of the reviews that I and the publisher have had came from the USA despite the fact that the research concentrated on English and French designs and practice. The reviews have been to my surprise very positive. I wrote the book because these small warships have, until now, been largely neglected in the fields of maritime research and writing despite the fact that this class of vessel fills the pages of many novels!

Such an interesting book about a type of ships that rarely finds any kind of attention or study. McLaughlan deliver for the first time a really work in deep on any type of ship, boat, yatch, sloop, ketch, etc.which were so important in the developement of actions and battles in the centurys of the age of sail.

very interesting and broad study on the subject

Good read. Good condition. Nice price for a hard back.