Authoritative study of the battleship in World War II - Stirring episodes of naval combat - Covers the famous chase after the Bismarck the sinking of the Scharnhorst, the coastal bombardments on D-Day, and other actions 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 Graf Spee off the coast of South America. The war would hasten the battleship's decline, but not before producing dramatic moments at sea.