Above all I thank my wife Rhea, who has lived with this project and its forebears for many years, from the 1970s, when she first encouraged me to take vacation time to visit and revisit the Draught Room at the National Maritime Museum. She is a large part of how and why books like this get written. I have often enjoyed (and benefited greatly from) discussing the historical and policy issues raised in this work with her. She has always been very supportive, particularly at times when projects have seemed to me to entail walking through molasses. She has helped me adopt and to continue using photography to obtain copies of crucial documents, first using a film camera and tripod and more recently using a digital one. More than any previous book of mine, this one could not have been written without the digital camera, because the volume of documents consulted has been so vast. However, the book also benefited heavily from access to a considerable library of printed material. Rhea has often joined me in hunting through bookstores, here and abroad. I cannot thank Rhea enough for her loving support.
My research on British cruisers goes back to the 1970s, when it benefited enormously from help provided by the late David Lyon, at that time in charge of the Draught Room of the National Maritime Museum. Since his time crucial National Maritime Museum collections, including the Covers and the Constructors’ Notebooks, have become available to the public at the Brass Foundry out-station of that museum. For critical assistance I thank its current chief, Jeremy Michell, his assistant Andrew Choong Han Lin, and their predecessors. I have to thank a former head of the Brass Foundry, the late David R Topliss, for alerting me to the value of the Constructors’ Notebooks. I am also grateful to the Brass Foundry staff for helping me gain access to the trove of Vickers design material they hold. I am grateful to the staff of the Caird Library of the National Maritime Museum for assistance with the d’Eyncourt papers, and with the d’Eyncourt design notebook I have quoted. I much appreciate the considerable assistance provided by Captain Christopher Page (recently retired) and his staff at the Royal Naval Historical Branch and the Admiralty Library (to whose librarian, Jenny Wraight, I am much indebted). I have also benefited from access to the archive of the Royal Navy Museum in Portsmouth, arranged by Ms Wraight. I am, as always, grateful to the staffs of the Public Record Office (Kew: now The [British] National Archives) and the US National Archives and Records Agency, both downtown and at College Park. Given the close association of the Royal Navy and the US Navy, the ability to cross-reference materials from both sides of the Atlantic has been extremely valuable. I benefited greatly from relevant parts of the Thurston Notebook (export designs) provided by Stephen McLaughlin. Particularly for Australian ships, I am grateful to Dr David Stevens, head of the RAN Historical Branch, and to Paul Webb. Professor C M Woolgar of Southampton University and his assistant Karen Robson provided me with a microfilm of some of the pre-1914 Battenberg papers, which provided useful hints on British cruiser policy. In addition to those named, I benefited greatly from discussions with A D Baker III, with Alan Raven and with Dr Nicholas Lambert, whose knowledge of the workings of the Admiralty during the pre-1914 and First World War eras is remarkable. I am also grateful to Dr Eric Grove, whose insights into the post-1945 Royal Navy and into British defence policy in general have proven quite helpful. I would like to thank Dr George H Elder for supplying copies of some important Royal Navy documents. I would also like to thank members of the ‘Steel Navy’ web discussion board for their help, particularly in elucidating the final close-range armament of HMS Exeter.
My friend A D Baker III produced many drawings specially for this book, and provided invaluable advice and also many photographs. My friend Alan Raven kindly produced several drawings showing British cruisers at particularly interesting times during their wartime careers, drawn for this book, as well as much valued comment, particularly on wartime alterations. Paul Webb very kindly allowed me to use several of his drawings, and also provided important information and photographs. John R Dominy allowed me to use several of his drawings, all of which were based on official plans. Mr Baker in turn thanks several friends for their own assistance in his work: Robin Bursell, John Lambert, Darius Lipinski, Miles McLaughlin, Alan Raven, Paul Webb and the staff of the Brass Foundry, which holds plans on which many of the drawings were partly based (the list of those who helped Mr Baker suggests how much more his plans entail than simply tracing and simplifying the large originals in the National Maritime Museum).
For photographs, without which this book would have been empty, I am particularly grateful to my good friend Charles Haberlein, who recently retired as the curator of photographs at the Naval Historical and Heritage Command at the Washington Navy Yard, and to his assistants Ed Finney and Robert Renshew. Mr Haberlein’s depth of knowledge extended well beyond finding the right photographs and properly identifying them. I would also like to thank Rick E Davis, Rich Gimblett, Dr David Stevens, Dr Jozef Straczek (formerly of the RAN Historical Branch, and of considerable assistance there), the staff of the photographic library of the US Naval Institute, and the staff of the photographic and cartographic branch of the US National Archives at College Park, Maryland. Bob Todd, the photo curator at the Brass Foundry, contributed invaluable insights and helped solve some major puzzles, particularly with regard to HMS Caledon, HMS Delhi, and ORP Dragon.
Although I greatly appreciate all the help given me, I am of course responsible for the contents of this book, including any errors.