War Built Destroyers O-Z Classes
by Alan Raven and John Roberts

Reviewed by: Mike Dunn

Almost 25 years ago this book, the sixth in the Ensign series, was published. Originally widely available and costing £2.70, you will be hard-pressed finding a copy today under £40 - and that assumes you can find one at all! So, bearing in mind the scarcity and expense of this book, why review it? Simple - one of the aims of SMML is to have reviews of out-of-print books that are valuable resources for the modeller, and this volume certainly falls into that category.

Consisting of 80 vessels making 10 flotillas in all, these ships became the workhorse in the destroyer fleet, ranging from the Arctic waters to the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and English Channel to the Pacific. Indeed, many of the destroyers can claim to have been involved in the more famous battles, for example the S class vessels Scorpion, Stord, Saumarez and Savage (together with the O class Opportune and the V class Virago) were responsible for the stopping of the Scharnhorst when it seemed the German vesel was escaping from her final battle. In all, only 10 of the destroyers were lost during the war.

After giving the history behind these classes of destroyers, all of the units are listed in their flotillas, together with their builder, their completion date and build time. There are details on the armament of these vessels, as well as the radar and machinery fits. The war service of the ships is covered, detailing the high points of their careers. Lastly, the armament variations between classes and individuals in a class is covered.

In addition to this information, the book is packed with diagrams and photos, eg comparing a 4.7" gun on a Mk XVIII mount with that on a Mk XXII mount. The photographic record includes 8 close-ups of Orwell during her final fitting out prior to service, 10 close-ups of Oribi during 1942/43, 7 shots of Tumult's final fitting out, and has 54 general photos of vessels among these classes.

If this wasn't enough, the centre spread is a double fold-out that opens into a four-page colour diagram of Oribi in late 1942. The detailing is superb, and the camoflage scheme and weathering makes a paintjob of Oribi almost too easy. To assist further, the reverse of half of this fold-out details no less than eleven other camoflage schemes in colour (see side image of HMS Roebuck for an example), with the remaining pages on the other side and one more (effectively making a 3-page fold-out) detailing all the deck surfaces and seven sections at frames 14, 42, 45, 57, 67, 71 and 98 to the same scale - you could almost scratch-build the hull from this.

If you are aiming to build an O to Z class destroyer, this book really is a "must-have". Putting the Tamiya O class kit against any of the O class photos, or preferrably the centre diagram, shows you the areas you need to pay attention to, especially if you want to do one of the lesser-known O class ships. Ditto if you want to build a P class (the kit handles both of these classes, as they differed only in armament - indeed, several of each class were modified & swapped across). For super-detailing, the O-P class photo-etch from White Ensign Models is a must, and they also do a range of resin replacements for various pieces of armament and ships boats. Armed with this book, and the WEM accessories, there is no excuse for not making an accurate O or P class vessel from the Tamiya kit.