Ship Spotting Books

A SHORT HISTORY OF UK SHIP-SPOTTING BOOKS:

During the early 20th century and between the two world wars, most 'ship-spotting' books (in the form of pocket-sized guides) were published on fighting ships. These were designed to assist the shore-based civilian population and sea-based naval officer corps to identify friend or foe, in much the same way as the equivalent 'Air Spotting Guides' assisted the civilian and air force personnel alike.

Examples of such guides were the Penguin publication 'Warships at Work' by A.C. Hardy (two editions and one reprint piblished between 1940 and 1944) and the Robert Ross equivalent 'Book of Warships of the British Empire' by Robert E. Groves published in 1941.

Also during this period, slightly larger volumes were published by Sampson Low & Marston in hardback format. 'Ships of the World's Battlefleets' edited by Paymr. Lieut.-Comdr. E. C. Talbot-Booth was published in at least three editions (December 1936, April 1938 and October 1940) as was the 'dumpy' book 'All The World's Fighting Fleets' that ran to at least four editions

In 1941, the then editor of 'Jane's Fighting Ships' Francis E. McMurtie, A.I.N.A. compiled 'The World's Warships' for Sampson Low.

Although Merchant Ship fleets had been briefly touched upon in 'pocket' form in the Penguin publication 'World Shipping' (1941 & 1943), also by A. C. Hardy, this concentrated primarily on how to identify different vessel types as opposed to fleets of specific individual ships. The first notable pocket-sized merchant shipping fleet book wasn't published until 1953 and this was by the 'Transport Spotter's friend,' Ian Allan, with their first edition of 'Ocean Liners.'

Ian Allan then went on to publish numerous Merchant Shipping ABC fleetbooks in multiple editions covering both British and Foreign Coastal and Ocean Cargo Liners, Tankers, Passenger Ships and Tugs until 1966. During this period they also produced 'combined volumes' of these pocket books under the title of 'Ocean Ships' which ultimately became a stand alone volume. This was published periodically after the individual ABCs were abandoned and in 2025 is still being published under the title 'Ocean Fleets' by 'Mainline & Maritime.'

The other notable publisher of 'Ship Spotting Books' during this period was Adlard Coles, who released a number of small hardbacks authored by Laurence Dunn for civil and military recognition of individual vessels and a set of slightly larger than pocket-sized paperbacks featuring ships that could be seen at Dover, on the Clyde, Thames and Mersey plus five editions of 'Ships of Southampton & The Solent'

For information on the Ian Allan and Adlard Coles books please visit those sections of this site (Ian Allan 'Sea & Water' section 201 and Adlard Coles sections 10003 and 10008).

Brown, Son & Ferguson - Ships of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company - 1962-1987

Together with the publisher Stephenson & Co, Brown, Son and Ferguson are probably best known for their fleet histories of various UK Paddle Steamer operators, but they also published the grand set of Basil Lubbock's famous Sailing Ship histories, many of which have been reprinted several times over since their initial publication in the 1920s.

Browns also published nine editions of their 'Flags and Funnels' directories between 1926 and 1995.

Although Brown's various Paddle Steamer Company Histories included full historical fleet lists, the only genuine 'easy reference ship spotting guide' they brought to the market was 'Ships of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company,' (five editions) authored in the main by Fred Henry. The front covers and publishing details of all five editions can be viewed in the first scrolling gallery section below.

Marinart - Ship Spotting Fleet Books - 1973-1978

Marinart, based in Deal, Kent were a short-lived publisher of Shipping books for enthusiasts who were mainly active between 1973 and 1978. 

At the time of Marinart's formation in 1973, the regular Ship Spotting ABCs published by Ian Allan (in individual format) had been unavailable for just over a decade, so Shipping Enthusiasts were no doubt pleased to see a new set of pocket books on the market.

A total of 25 titles/editions were published over the next five years, second and third editions in the main being identifiable by the words 'second/third series' on the front cover (although some first editions appeared in the second and third series in their own right).

A number of additional titles included in the various sales list pages within these books were planned but as far as my research has uncovered were never published. These are:

British Coaater Fleets - 2nd Edition 1975 by R.A. Streater

British Short Sea Fleets - 2nd Edition 1977 by R. A. Streater

British Trawler Fleets - 1st Edition 1975 by T.J.M. Wood

Dutch Coaster Fleets - 1st Edition 1975 by D. Ridley-Chesterton.

German Coaster Fleets - 1st Edition 1975 by R. S. Fenton

Ocean Tanker Fleets (Independent Companies) - 2nd Edition 1977 by R. W.  Jordan.

It seems likely that the 1975 First Edition of Dutch and German Coaster Fleets by R. S. Fenton was published as a combined volume of the individual titles listed above instead of the two single titles.

To view the full set of Marinart 'Ship Spotting Pocket Fleet Books' please cursor down to the second scrolling gallery below. Publishing details are included under each image.

Marinart / Kogan Page - Other Shipping Publications - 1975-1981

In addition to their 'Ship Spotting' books, Marinart also published seven other volumes on Shipping subjects and these are summarised as follows:

'Cunard Line - a Post-War History' is a detailed illustrated history of all the vessels operated by this company from 1946 until the date of publication in a nice compact hardback form.

'Merchant Shipping Fleets of the People's Republic of China' is a very scarce publication that lists the fleets operated by Chinese companies as at 1976 with a number of black and white photographic illustrations.  The words 'Romar Publication No. 1' on the front cover appears to suggest that it was intended to be the first of a series although I have not come across any further titles to date.

'Merchant Ship Types of the 1930s' is a super large format volume which chronicles the different types of Merchant Ships in service during the decade in question with many accurate line drawings of typical real examples.

'Merchant Ships Newbuildings' appears to have been published with the intention of becoming a regular release - possibly annually - but the first (1977) edition is the only one I have come across to date.

The three 'Talbot Booth Merchant Ships' volumes and their later supplements are a continuation of the earlier grand tomes published in the 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s by Sampson Low and Marston and The Journal of Commerce and the single Civil and Military volumes on Ship Identification by Ian Allan in 1969/71, compiled by Lt. Cmdr. Talbot Booth RD RNR. These were superceded in the 1980s by the giant 'Jane's Merchant Ships' volumes compiled by Greenman and Streater. Talbot Booth and his later team were all skilled draughtsmen and the 'Merchant Ships' volumes were renowned for containing literally thousands of 'to scale' line drawings/silhouettes of current Merchant Ships from the year of publication.

Again, a number of additional titles in this category included in the various sales list pages within these and the 'ship spotting' books were planned but as far as my research has uncovered were never published. These are:

'A History of the Blue Star Line' originally scheduled for publication in 1975 - author unknown.

'P & O Today' by D. Greenman & M. Ewan earmarked for a 1977 publication date.

'The Last Great Era - The Queen's Rule' originally scheduled for publication in 1975 - author unknown.

Please cursor down to the third scrolling gallery below for front cover images of the Marinart books that fell outside the main Spotting pocket series. Publishing details are included under each image.

Offerpace - Ship Spotting Fleet Books - 1981-1988

The second and third parts of 'Talbot Booth's Merchant Ships' were published by 'Kogan Page' so by 1977 Marinart appears to have been in the process of winding down.

In 1981, the publisher 'Offerpace' was founded to release pocket-sized merchant ship fleet book publications which followed broadly the same 'spotting book' format as the earlier Marinart volumes.

The subtle difference between the Marinart series and the Offerpace one, however, was that the 'Offerpace' books were targeted at the Shipping Industry as much as the enthusiast community as, in additon to the fleet lists, they also included full address, telephone, telex and fax numbers of the companies featured.

There is very little further information available on line regarding the background behind the publisher Offerpace but some references would suggest that a former Managing Editor of Lloyds of London was involved in setting it up.

As with Marinart, Offerpace only existed for a brief period  (around seven years) and the majority of titles only saw one edition. The exception is 'Coasters and Short Sea Vessels - UK and Ireland' which ran to four - 1983, 1984, 1986 and 1988.

To view the full set of 'Offerpace' Merchant Ship Spotting books please cursor down to the final (fourth) scrolling gallery below where you will find images of all the front covers together with salient publishing informaton.

For a fairly comprehensive record of a great selection of the UK and European Merchant Fleets of the 1970s and 80s, I would highly recommend searching out a full collection of the Marinart and Offerpace volumes!