FIGHTING FLOTILLA.

UK,8vo HB+protected+lined dw/dj,illustrated 1st edn. FINE-/FINE-. Neat handwritten blue ink owner name behind front inner flap of dw/dj to front pastedown,and price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,glossy,wrap-around white (the majority) and blue backgrounds bands,the lower blue band with a b/w pictorial illustrated depiction of HMS Legion at sea to front panel of dw/dj,with capitalised black-lettered title and capitalised blue-lettered author's name; spine/backstrip with similarly coloured+lettered author+title as front and publisher's capitalised,black lettered name,to foot of same,rear panel with continuation of front's illustration.Negligible shelf-wear,bumping, creasing to edges and corners – no nicks,tears or splits present.Top+fore-edges though lightly aged/toned,forthe most part are foxing/spotting free and clean; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - near pristine,apart from some previous owner's obviously researched ink annotations,specifically to a few biographical and ship's photographs,pp57 (shipyard builders names ticked),along with some inked handwritten factual notes references to book's content,to rear pastedown - otherwise,no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips,appears carefully read,as with my own collation. Publisher's bright,crisp, clean,sharp-cornered,original plain navy blue cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked gilt lettered spine/backstrip,and clean plain white endpapers - aforementioned notations excepted. UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,10-224pp [paginated] includes last paragraphs of Foreword by Mrs Lois Hutton (wife of R.M.J. Hutton,Captain of Laforey and D.19 for most of the ship's life) verso,aurthor's Introduction, Acknowledgements,VIII (8) chapters and Appendices 1-4 - the last being [unpaginated and with b/w ship's crest illustration,battle honours and Commanding Officers details],10pp contemporary b/w photographs in 5 blocks of 2pp apiece imterspersed throughout the text and the book,7 b/w marine engineering diagrams,6 diagrams double-paged,a Glossary,and an Index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,separate Contents+Illustrations lists/tables,a b/w illustrated Laforey's ship's badge ilustrated separator page,and to the rear 8pp of separator pages of individual ships' badges,battle honours and Commanders as per Appendix 4. Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional,and even internally,the book is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation for a book of its age. It is only the minimal.minor exterior faults that prevents a slightly higher overall grading. Despite them,it really is still an exceptional,exemplary copy for its cleanliness, brightness,its historical naval history and also its scarcity as a book out-of-print by this publisher. Destroyers were the front-line fighters of the Royal Navy during the Second World War and as such their lives were packed with action and excitement,but were often brief. From the pen of one of the most authoritative of naval writers comes the first full account of one such flotilla,the 'Laforey' Class destroyers,the men who commanded them and their action record. The 'Laforeys' were the largest, most powerfully armed and successful ships of this type to see frontline action with the Royal Navy in WW2.To many people also,they were the most beautiful warships to sail the high seas,their graceful well proportioned hull lines combining with their upperworks and gun houses to present a perfect combination of power and speed. Being the biggest and the best naturally led to their employment in the toughest assignments and in the most dangerous of waters.Force 'H',working from Gibraltar; running the gauntlet to Malta; working as striking forces from that much-bombed island itself against Axis supply lines; escorting minelayers into the Germans backyard in the North Seas; as brilliant hunters and killers of U-boats in the North Atlantic; supporting the Allied armies in their drive up the Italian coast. Such was the pace of their war service that,of the eight proud ships that put to sea,only one survived the war intact,and Laforey herself was sunk. HMS LAFOREY was an L-Class destroyer ordered from Yarrow at Scotstoun,Glasgow on 31st March,1938 under the 1937 Programme and laid down on 1st March,1939. She was launched on 15th February,1941 as the 2nd RN ship to bear this name,introduced for a destroyer built in 1913 and sunk by a mine in 1917. The name commemorates the service of Sir Francis Laforey (1767 - 1835), who was Captain of HMS SPARTIATE during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. William Kimber himself,worked for Hutchinson for about 17 years before founding "William Kimber & Co" in 1950.It specialized in aviation, war memoirs, autobiographies and motor-racing titles until 1973 when "Haunted Cornwall" took off and the Ghost Stories became another specialty.
The company was bought by Thorsons in 1988,and therefore ceased publishing under that name. This title is believed to the only one published in this year,1959,by KIMBER.
William Kimber was purchased by Thorsons in 1988 and therefore ceased publishing under that name.Thorsons was purchased by William Collins in 1989.William Collins became wholly owned by News Corporation in 1990, and was then incorporated into HarperCollins Publishers.The name of William Kimber has not been used for publishing since that,making all previously published titles by them,out-of-print,under that name. Please contact seller,because of the lighter weight and the value of this item,for correct,insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,that stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of any inexpensive book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **