Ship recycling on an epic scale
From War to Peace, by Nick Robins
Authors have thoroughly documented the stories of merchant vessels that were converted for wartime; the redundant navy ships that went the other way are less well known.
Nick Robins sets the record straight in a book that includes the 19th century as well as the world wars. This thorough account covers cruisers turned to liners, minesweepers to ferries, military launches to private yachts, corvettes to whale-catchers, and many other surprising transformations.
Technical descriptions are sometimes provided alongside the historical detail, and there are images on every page to illustrate the changes. Perhaps the industry could take inspiration from this book when approaching the current transition to cleaner maritime technology?
From War to Peace: The Conversion of Naval Vessels after Two World Wars
By Nick Robins
Seaforth Publishing, £25
ISBN: 978 13990 09584
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