<li>Authoritative study of the battleship in World War II <li>Stirring episodes of naval combat <li>Covers the famous chase after the <i>Bismarck/i>, the sinking of the <i>Scharnhorst</i>, the coastal bombardments on D-Day, and other actions <p>Although naval development before World War II focused on aircraft carriers, the British nevertheless had seventy battleships--larger and more powerful than ever before--under construction at the outbreak of the war. Indeed, one of the Allies' first successes came in December 1939 when British ships hunted down and successfully engaged the German <i>Graf Spee</i> off the coast of South America. The war would hasten the battleship's decline, but not before producing dramatic moments at sea.