Work on the present Edition of " FIGHTING SHIPS " was begun in December, 1918, and was pushed on without intermission during the succeeding months. The results now presented, although a little delayed, will, we feel sure, be satisfactory to our readers.

The labour incurred in preparing this Edition has been exceptionally heavy; we doubt if any issue of our Annual has occasioned so much anxiety. The Editors have had to deal with large masses of information, withheld from publication by the belligerent Naval Powers since 1914 They have also lead to investigate the demobilisation of the War Fleets to a peace footing. The indeterminate state of the late Enemy Navies, and the chaotic conditions of the Russian Fleet, have presented very perplexing problems.

Dealing, as is our custom, with the various sections of this book in sequence, we offer the following comments on the present Edition.

GLOSSARY.

The glossary of technical terms was overhauled thoroughly last year, and brought up-to-date. This year, our lists of foreign naval expressions have been completed by the addition of French and Swedish terms.

BRITISH NAVY.

Various new Maps have been added, and the Gunnery Tables have been renovated by Captain R V. Walling, R. G. A. (retired). Mr. E. L. King has kindly allowed us to make use of his " Silhouettes of Effective British Warships." These drawings depart very largely from the usual scale and form of " FIGHTING SHIPS " Silhouettes. We should be glad to have our readers' opinions, whether Mr. King's form of drawings should be generally adopted for all Navy sections. The British Ship Pages have been entirely renovated this year. Plans and illustrations of British Warship types have been prepared on a lavish scale. Since the signing of the Armistice, the Admiralty have been able to release much information which, undoubtedly, has raised the standard of accuracy in British Warship data. All textual details are founded on the latest and most reliable information that can be secured. One of the most interesting features added is Aircraft recognition Views, presenting British Warships from a new angle of vision. We tender our grateful thanks to British Shipbuilders, for the very large amount of information they have kindly placed at our disposal. Exigencies of space have prevented us from using all the excellent photographs furnished to us by British Shipbuilders. The views which we could not use have been presented to the Imperial War Museum, where they will form a permanent record of the magnificent output of British shipyards during the war.

UNITED STATES.

This section has been revised from the latest official data, placed at our disposal by the U.S. Naval Headquarters in London. We are happy to say that we have, once more, the valuable services of Lieut. Henry Reuterdahl, U.S. N. R. F., the distinguished naval artist and critic. It is largely through his kind assistance that we are able to publish so many new and up-to-date illustrations of U.S. Warships.

JAPAN.

The Navy Department, Tokyo, has once again verified all the technical details of this section. A considerable number of Japanese Minelayers and Fleet Auxiliaries, hitherto unheard of, have been added. Some very valuable notes, received shortly before publication, are given on an Addenda page.

FRANCE.

During his attendance at the Versailles Peace Conference, Capt. R. V. Walling, R.G.A., approached Mons. Leygues (the Minister of Marine) and Admiral le Bon (then Chief of Staff) on our behalf, with a view to the French Navy Section being officially revised. M. Leygues and Admiral le Bon readily assented to the proposals made, and authoritative details of French warships are now given. We may add that very cordial relations have been established between " FIGHTING SHIPS " and Capitane le Marquis de Balincourt, Editor of our esteemed contemporary " Flottes de Combat." We are indebted to Capitane le Marquis de Balincourt for a large series of very useful notes, dealing with the World's Navies.

ITALY.

Pressure of work again prevents Mr. Charles de Grave Sells from preparing his Engineering Article, but it was largely through his kind interest that we secured an official revision of our Italian Navy Section. Attention is called to that extraordinary creation, the Monitor Faa' de Bruno - a vessel which approaches the future naval " hippopotami," as defined by Admiral of the Fleet, Lord Fisher of Kilverstone.

MINOR NAVIES.

During the war, the edicts of the Allied Censors debarred us from paying too close attention to the Allied Navies. The barriers erected by our late Enemies also made it very difficult-at times to secure information regarding their Fleets. Attention was therefore concentrated on the field of the Neutral Navies and these were put in a satisfactory condition. This year the Minor Navies have not been neglected, but have been .checked from the latest official information. Among the new Navy Sections will be found the Belgian and Esthonian Navies. Details were specially prepared for us by the Naval Staff at Reval at the request of Mr. John Piitka, the Marine Agent of Estonia in London. The Hellenic Naval Section has been revised by command of Admiral Condouriotis, the Minister of Marine. The Chinese and Siamese pages, although they occupy but a small space, have given a considerable amount of trouble during the past four years. It was found extremely difficult to secure reliable details of these Navies. Thanks to the kindness of Correspondents, they have both been brought up-to-date.

LATE ENEMY AND RUSSIAN NAVIES.

The treatment of these Sections leas been the subject of much anxious thought. No steps have yet been taken to dispose of the German ships salved at Scapa Flow. Although the future establishment of the German Navy is strictly laid down in the Peace Treaty, Germany has (as yet) taken no steps to reduce her Navy to the status required by the Allies. The Austrian Fleet, the Hungarian Danube Flotilla, the Bulgarian and Turkish Fleets are all interned under Allied and U.S. supervision. The disposal of the warships belonging to these Powers is still a matter of pure speculation. The Russian Fleet is rent between contending factions, and various units of the Russian Navy have been temporarily added to the Allied Navies. temporarily these Navies have been relegated to the end of this Edition, on the ground that they cannot be considered as effective fighting forces at the present moment.

SPECIAL ARTICLE

Five years have elapsed since Illustrations of British Warships have been allowed to appear in "FIGHTING SHIPS." British Illustrations have been re-instated, but H.M. Ships appear in so altered a guise, compared with their 1914 build, that some lay and foreign readers may be perplexed by the changes carried out between 1914 and 1919 A short and non-technical article has been prepared by the Editors, dealing with the War's influence on British Naval Construction. It consists largely of notes, generally covering all British Warship types, which could not be accommodated in the British Navy section without an undue degree of repetition.

WAR LOSS SECTION.

Mr. Francis E. McMurtrie has prepared a Final Summary of the naval casualties of the late War, based on official and authoritative information. The lists given afford the most complete compendium of information on this subject ever presented ; they are the outcome of the perseverance and care of Mr. McMurtrie in collecting information. The long tables detailing the circumstances and dates of destruction of German Submarines will be scanned with interest.

CONCLUSION.

It may be .finally said that, in this Edition, there is only one page which was transferred in unaltered form from 1918 "FIGHTING SHIPS." Particulars of the world's warships now given are based on highly reliable information. The number of illustrations added or renovated this year runs to nearly eight hundred.

Shortly before his lamented death, the late Mr. Fred T. Jane made arrangements that this annual should be edited in conjunction by Dr. Oscar Parkes and Mr. M Maurice Prendergast.

These plans have been held in abeyance. Dr. Oscar Parkes joined H.M. Navy in 1916, as Surgeon Lieutenant, R.N. Being stationed in the Mediterranean, he was unable to give the degree of assistance planned by the late Mr Jane. Mr. Maurice Prendergast therefore carried on the work of Editorship up to the date of the Armistice. Surgeon-Lieut. Oscar Parkes, O.B.E., R.N. has now joined Mr. Prendergast as Joint Editor, and is largely responsible for the splendid series of British Warship Photographs added to this Edition. To them, our Editors, we offer our cordial thanks for their labours in preparing our present Edition - an Edition which we know has been anxiously awaited by our patrons. Under the control of Surgeon-Lieut. Parkes, R.N. and Mr. Prendergast - and through the assistance of our innumerable correspondents throughout the world - future Editions of " FIGHTING SHIPS " will not fall below the high standard of the Edition we now issue.

The copyright of all Plans, Silhouettes and Sketches appearing in this book is strictly reserved. Photographs may not be reproduced without express permission. We are compelled to lay emphasis on this, on account of the increasing infringements by foreign naval books and periodicals.