Royal Navy Submarine: 1945 to 1973 ('A' class - HMS Alliance) (Owners' Workshop Manual)

Last year's "workshop manual" for the Type VII U-boat was such an awful, poorly researched and edited mess that I felt compelled to compile a list of every mistake I could find in it. Thankfully, this "manual" on the A-class submarine HMS "Alliance," recently restored and currently the centerpiece of the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport, England, is superior, sometimes vastly so, in every way possible. Written by a former Royal Navy submariner and genuine naval historian, this book feels like a genuine apology to this Haynes fan and submarine geek.Although it contains brief sections covering the development of Britain's submarine fleet, the history of the Alliance, and what it was like to live and work aboard, the bulk of this book is a straight-up technical reference. Along with descriptions of many of the boat's major and minor systems and how they work, are procedures for carrying out evolutions such as diving the boat and firing torpedoes, and a large number of detailed color technical diagrams from the original technical manuals used by the crew. The overall level of detail is quite impressive, and fitting for a faux "workshop manual." A sample of the material contained within includes procedures for starting and running the high-pressure air compressor, diagrams of the air conditioning plant and distilled water system, exploded views of the propeller shaft and stern glands, a 17-step procedure for cleaning the centrifugal oil separator, specifications for the boat's guns, advice on periscope maintenance, and a breakdown of the crew complement in 1956.Unlike the U-boat manual, this book is carefully put together and geared more towards people interested in the "hows and whys" of what makes a submarine work. The detailed procedures, diagrams, and descriptions elevate this title and make it a fascinating reference for serious submarine buffs. I'm glad that Haynes is finally getting away from the fluffy novelty books that has marred this series in the past, and producing works that stand up to actual scrutiny.There are, however a couple of minor hiccups. For a technical study of a submarine, there's precious little on the boat's radar, sonar, and radio systems - barely a page, in fact! I noticed two examples of illustrations being repeated in different parts of the book. On one page, all of the Fahrenheit-to-Centigrade conversions are completely off. Some of the photographs of Alliance's interior are somewhat soft or overexposed, although I sympathize with how difficult it is to photograph the interiors of museum ships. A couple of nagging flaws aside, THIS is the book I was hoping the U-boat manual was going to be. Although casual submarine buffs might be bored by the lengthy procedures and technical descriptions, I found it rather engaging. I also recommend the "Anatomy of the Ship" book on the Alliance, which contains dozens of detailed cross-section and exploded view diagrams of all of the boat's systems.Make more books like this, Haynes.

Amazing if you are looking for referance images. Was hoping for some building plans, but no.

Very good

Love it. Was delivered before the due date, good quality

If you're a crazed submarine history buff, then don't go on living without this one.

Nice

Haynes have at last produced a really worth-while warship book. Their first, on the RN Type 45 Destroyer was quite good, albeit reading more like a sales brochure for BAE in many parts, but the two subsequent books were exceedingly disappointing on most levels.This however is a good book for everyone from the casual Alliance museum visitor to model-makers and the serious historical and technical buffs.It comprises A chapter giving a necessarily brief history of British submarine development 1901 -1945. Nothing new, but a good introduction for the non-naval reader A very much more detailed chapter on the development and service of the "A" class submarines , and a little on the subsequent classes Chapters covering basic submarine operation and very considerable details of Alliance's construction, internal arrangements, machinery, weapons, sensor systems, operation and crewing. All well illustrated Short chapters on submarine escape and her restoration and conservation Appendices of sources, specifications of the "A" class and a glossary of terms . Plus a handy list of worldwide preserved submarines currently open to the public. An Index - adequate but not perfectThe Good, the Bad , and the UglyGoodThe photos on the whole are good, plenteous, varied and appropriate. In particular the interiors vary from exceedingly good to perfectly acceptable.Some very unusual shoots, including the capstan for a towed array - I'd not realised they ever had a towed array ! Whether this was a sonar or for a communication aerial is not certain.The diagrams, mainly from varying dates of "BR 1963: Handbook for Submarines of the "A" class", are outstanding and show the splendid colour printing of the older Books of Reference. Oh , that the modern ones were of similar quality ! At least one have been revamped by a Mr Roy Scorer in an exemplary way.There is a general internal colour cutaway view - uncredited and unlabelled but gives a good impression of the overall vesselThe technical coverage is superb, going into great detail and extensive coverage. A real Haynes manual at last !The editoral overall balance of the book is excellent. Virtually everything a serious reader wants is there, and easy to find . A thirteen year old , with no prior knowledge of naval vessels will still find it an interesting read although they may skip the more technical sections. Some people may consider the extensive use of Admiralty BR drawings of obscure engineering minutiae a little excessive but I love them !BadSome very elementary proof reading mistakes and omissions. The excellent picture captioned as "Alliance .... in 1965" shows her with the 4" gun which was removed in 1960. By 1965 I believe she carried only a 20mm gun , as shown in the camouflaged view below it . . I suspect the photo is actually probably Andrew .The list of preserved ships states that all except " Redoubtable , which is nuclear-powered...are powered by diesel engines". I seem to remember that the also listed USS Nautilus (SSN-571) was nuclear as well ! But such errors are fewThere is the strangest statement :-"The first torpedoes embarked would be loaded directly into each of the torpedo tubes (with warheads pointing towards the rear end of the tube )".The author gives us no idea why this was done. If indeed it was, which I doubt, as I'm almost certain there is not enough internal room for the torpedo to be withdrawn and reversed for firing. Even with the warhead section separated .The coverage of radars and sonars is somewhat perfunctory. . I feel more emphasis should have been given to these, especially the sonarsUglyThe last page of the index is actually stuck to the back cover as an endpaper. Horrible !Overall the book is extremely good and highly recommended.Mr Goodwin and his editor are to congratulated on as near perfect a book as is possible.

Well, you might not be able to carry a maintainance servicing routine on the Alliance after reading this, but you will certainly have gained a real insight into RN submarine operations during the early Cold War in general, into the design and operation of a typical diesel boat of that generation and the principles of submarines in general. There's even a fascinating section on the restoration of the Alliance.There's a wealth of pictures and explanatory text, but I was a little disappointed by the lack of decent systems general arrangement drawings and diagrams. Those that are included are few and far between and reproduced so small that the annotations are virtually unreadable.I strongly recommend a visit to the Alliance at the RN Submarine Museum at Gosport and certainly advise doing it after having read this volume - it adds a whole new dimension to the experience.

First class p & p, first class condition and first class seller. I'm building a model of this submarine and thanks to this book I'll be able to get all the details right.

Another brilliant manual from Haynes so very informative and interesting.

Purchased this for the father in law who was a chief engineer on this actual Submarine - Absolutely fantastic, he even recognised some of the crew.