In the 1980s and 1990s, the U.S. Naval Institute (USNI) printed the Combat Fleets of the World series of reference books. In those long-past pre-internet days these publications rivaled—or even arguably surpassed—the Jane’s Fighting Ships series of books. Alas, with the rise of the internet and the general decline in publishing, Combat Fleets all-but-disappeared.
USNI is now bringing Combat Fleets back but in the form of video shorts, not books. The series is still young with less than a dozen videos posted but shows great potential. The videos are a mix of photos, live action, computer-generated graphics, and schematic drawings. Each video focuses on a single class of ship and generally are around five minutes or less.
Some wargames, like Harpoon 5 from Admiralty Trilogy Games, have similar reference books. The USNI videos are a great compliment to these wargame-specific (or adjacent) products.
The entire playlist is available here.
Feature image courtesy USNI Combat Fleet YouTube Channel
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