--- product_id: 10534003 title: "A Shipyard at War: Unseen Photographs from John Brown’s Clydebank, 1914-1918 Hardcover – Picture Book, December 15, 2014" brand: "ian johnston" price: "KD 10.72" currency: KWD in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.com.kw/products/10534003-a-shipyard-at-war-unseen-photographs-from-john-brown-s store_origin: KW region: Kuwait --- # A Shipyard at War: Unseen Photographs from John Brown’s Clydebank, 1914-1918 Hardcover – Picture Book, December 15, 2014 **Brand:** ian johnston **Price:** KD 10.72 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** A Shipyard at War: Unseen Photographs from John Brown’s Clydebank, 1914-1918 Hardcover – Picture Book, December 15, 2014 by ian johnston - **How much does it cost?** KD 10.72 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.com.kw](https://www.desertcart.com.kw/products/10534003-a-shipyard-at-war-unseen-photographs-from-john-brown-s) ## Best For - ian johnston enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted ian johnston brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Full description not available ## Images ![A Shipyard at War: Unseen Photographs from John Brown’s Clydebank, 1914-1918 Hardcover – Picture Book, December 15, 2014 - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51PgpwWqBmL.jpg) ![A Shipyard at War: Unseen Photographs from John Brown’s Clydebank, 1914-1918 Hardcover – Picture Book, December 15, 2014 - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41DDohT0VIL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Almost a masterpiece *by D***R on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 11, 2015* John Brown's Clydebank shipyard was in a unique position when it comes to modern naval history. It was the first British shipyard to employ an in-house photography department, it built many of the most famous British ships of the 20th century, and although it no longer exists as a company, more than 40,000 of their negatives are currently stored at the National Records of Scotland. "A Shipyard at War" is both a successor and companion volume to Ian Johnston's "Clydebank Battlecruisers", published to great acclaim in 2011, including mine. Although that book focused solely on the five battlecruisers built at the shipyard, this one offers up a tasty smorgasbord of rare photographs sure to delight the serious maritime history buff.The majority of the photographs focus on the building and fitting out of the 54 ships (including 37 destroyers, four capital ships, three submarines, and two ocean liners) constructed at the yard between 1914 and 1919. The book is presented in a chronological scrapbook manner, book-ended by a brief introduction and a timeline of the yard's wartime activities. For the capital ship fans, "Tiger", "Repulse", and "Hood", are all represented by images cut from "Clydebank Battlecruisers", while "Barham" receives a healthy dose of construction shots. The famous Cunarder "Aquitania" occupies almost the entire first quarter, from keel laying to launching and fitting out. The remainder of the yard's wartime work takes up about three-fifths of the book. There are detailed shots of the interior of the submarine "E35", photos of ships passing down the Clyde or arriving for refits and machinery installations, and images of Mark IV tank hulls under construction, machinery components prior to installation, and female "dilutees" at work. There is a LOT of good stuff here - trying to describe it all would be hopeless!When these photographs were taken, the Royal Navy was the world's largest, and British heavy industry was the envy of the world. Most of the them are presented at extremely high quality, scanned at high resolution directly from the original glass plate negatives. People used to seeing century-old reproductions of warship photographs might have their socks knocked off. You can actually count the number of rivets in the ships' hulls in many shots, and read the chalk markings on structural components. There's even an adorable shot of a tiny narrow-gauge locomotive blowing it's whistle as it steams past the hull of the "Repulse".The only thing really stopping me from giving this book five stars is the somewhat haphazard presentation of some of the photographs. Seaforth still hasn't gotten the hint that it's a bad idea to plop a photograph of a ship across two pages in such a manner that masts and funnels end up falling into the gutter. The problem isn't quite as epidemic here as it is in some of their books, but it's present enough to be irritating. Some of the photographs are overexposed or damaged, and many are faded along the edges. I suspect that some of the photos in "Clydebank Battlecruisers" were subject to some subtle cropping and Photoshopping, but the overall quality of photo reproduction in this book isn't quite as good.A couple of minor issues aside, this book is a little treasure trove, and an invaluable addition to the maritime archaeology of 20th century Britain. With this book, "Clydebank Battlecruisers", and "The Battleship Builders" all published in the last five years, Ian Johnston is definitely a naval historian to look out for. I couldn't help but notice that the introduction mentions that John Browns' photographers took 1,016 photographs of the "Queen Mary" between 1929 and 1936. This liner buff would grab a copy of "Building the Queen Mary" if anyone publishes it in the near future (hint, hint...). ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent! Shows interior hull framing, gun turrets, gun installation, engine rooms, launchings. *by B***. on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 27, 2020* This is an excellent book on the John Brown Shipyard on Clydeside before and during WW I. There are many great photos of pre-war passenger liners and wartime battlecruisers, battleships, light cruisers, destroyers, submarines, and auxiliary or other ships under construction. A couple of the best photos, I thought, show the interior hull framing and engine rooms of the passenger liners "Aquitania" and the "City of New York" before the decks were constructed. I also found the photos of the construction of the battlecruiser and battleship gun turrets and installation of the guns to be fascinating. The famous 150-ton cantilever crane is featured in many photos.Unfortunately, there are no tabulations of ship dimensions or performance characteristics. There are also no ship design development histories. There are a couple of interesting charts that depict the building times on the slipways and in the fitting-out basin. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A necessary companion volume *by M***R on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 8, 2015* Excellent necessary companion volume to the author's earlier "CLYDEBANK BATTLECRUISERS" of identical format. The quality of the photographic reproduction is excellent overall, which is a major accomplishment when the 100 year age of the glass plate negatives is considered. That they have survived at all is a marvelous windfall for historians, but to have done so in such excellent condition is nearly miraculous. This volume gives a much more comprehensive overview of the numerous and varioius processes involved in warship construction of all types a century ago than the battlecruiser volume, which is why I consider it a necessary companion. The ratio of text to photos is just right, and the captions are most informative. the author going to great pains to point out details that are clearly visible, but not immediately obvious to the untrained eye. It is only because of the astonishing quality of the original images and their state of the art reproduction that many of these details can be seen at all. The serious First World War historian's library is woefully incomplete without these two volumes. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.com.kw/products/10534003-a-shipyard-at-war-unseen-photographs-from-john-brown-s](https://www.desertcart.com.kw/products/10534003-a-shipyard-at-war-unseen-photographs-from-john-brown-s) --- *Product available on Desertcart Kuwait* *Store origin: KW* *Last updated: 2026-05-17*