''The Naval Annual'' was a

periodical A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a journal are also example ...

that provided considerable text and graphic information (largely concerning the British Royal Navy) which had previously been obtainable only by consulting a wide range of often foreign language publications. During its life it underwent a number of title changes. The ''Annual'' was started by

Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey (11 February 1836 – 23 February 1918), was a British Liberal Party politician, Governor of Victoria and founder of '' The Naval Annual''. Background and education Brassey was the eldest son of the railway m ...

, in 1886. Though often compared with ''

Jane's Fighting Ships ''Jane's Fighting Ships'' by Janes Information Services is an annual reference book of information on all the world's warships arranged by nation, including information on ships' names, dimensions, armaments, silhouettes and photographs, etc. Ea ...

'', the two British annuals were, in fact quite different. The Brassey series began a dozen years earlier, and its special strength was the dozen or more detailed articles on naval (plus, from 1920 through 1935, merchant marine) matters, authored by experts. They covered British and other nations' naval developments ranging from the latest ships to overall policy. The first five or six Brassey volumes used a second printing colour (a light blue green) to highlight armored portions of naval vessels' hulls. Through 1949, the series was also known for its extensive tabular presentations of individual ship details. But unlike ''Jane's'', the Brassey series was not designed for use in identifying ships at sea. Starting with the 1950 volume, content broadened to cover air force and army topics in addition to naval material, with a continued emphasis on British forces. Long runs of the Brassey volumes are relatively uncommon in American libraries.

Editors of Brassey's Annuals 1886–1992

''Naval Annual''

*1886–1890 Lord Brassey *1891–1899 T. A. Brassey *1900–1901 John Leyland *1902–1905 T. A. Brassey *1906 John Leyland and T. A. Brassey *1907–1913 T. A. Brassey (Viscount Hythe from 1911) *1914 Viscount Hythe and J. Leyland (The title became ''Brassey's Naval Annual''.) *1915–1916 John Leyland (These two volumes excluded many details of Royal Navy vessels so as not to aid the enemy.) *1917–1918 ''Not published'' *1919 2nd Earl Brassey and J. Leyland

''Naval and Shipping Annual''

(For this 15-year period, the ''Annual'' covered naval and merchant shipping, plus occasional articles on maritime aviation.) *1920–1928 Sir Alexander Richardson and Archibald Hurd *1929 C. N. Robinson *1930–1935 C. N. Robinson and H. M. Ross

''Brassey's Naval Annual''

*1936 C. N. Robinson *1937–1949 H. G. Thursfield (The 1948 volume differed from all before and after—it was devoted to printing Hitler's naval conference proceedings.)

Brassey's Annual – ''The Armed Forces Yearbook''

*1950–1963 H. G. Thursfield *1964–1973 J. L. Moulton

''Royal United Services Institute and Brassey's Defence Yearbook''

*1974–1975 editorial board: S. W. B. Menaul, R. G. S. Bidwell, R. H. F. Cox *1976 editorial board: S. W. B. Menaul, A. E. Younger, R. H. F. Cox *1977–1979 editorial board: A. E. Younger, E. F. Gueritz, R. H. F. Cox *1980–1982 editorial board: E. F. Gueritz, Henry Stanhope, Jennifer Shaw *1983–1984 editorial board: Group Captain David Bolton RAF (rtd), Henry Stanhope, Jennifer Shaw *1985 editorial board: Group Captain David Bolton RAF (rtd), Henry Stanhope, Jennifer Shaw, Maj-Gen (rtd) A. J. Trythall. Editor: B. H. Reid *1986–88 ??? *1989 editorial board: Group Captain David Bolton RAF (rtd), Group Captain G. Gilbert AFC RAF (rtd), Henry Stanhope, Jennifer Shaw, Maj-Gen (rtd) A. J. Trythall, Jonathan Eyal *1990 editorial board: Group Captain David Bolton RAF (rtd), Helen MacDonald, Henry Stanhope, Jennifer Shaw, Maj-Gen (rtd) A.J. Trythall, Jonathan Eyal *1991 editorial board: Group Captain David Bolton RAF (rtd), Henry Stanhope, Jennifer Shaw, Maj-Gen (rtd) A. J. Trythall, Jonathan Eyal *1992 editorial board: Group Captain David Bolton RAF (rtd), Jennifer Shaw, Maj-Gen (rtd) A. J. Trythall, Jonathan EyalRoyal United Services Institute and Brassey's Defence Yearbook, 1992

Footnotes

References

* Brassey, Thomas (ed.), ''The Naval Annual'', Portsmouth: Griffin & Co., 1886. * Brooks, Richard. ''Fred T. Jane: An Eccentric Visionary'', Coulsdon, Surrey: Jane's Information Systems, 1997. * Ranft, Bryan (ed.), ''Ironclad to Trident, 100 Years of Defence Commentary, BRASSEYS's 1886–1986'', Brassey's Defence Publishing (part of the Pergamon Group), 1986. . * Royal United Services Institute and Brassey's Defence Yearbook, 1989. . * Royal United Services Institute and Brassey's Defence Yearbook, 1990. . * Royal United Services Institute and Brassey's Defence Yearbook, 1991. . * Royal United Services Institute and Brassey's Defence Yearbook, 1992. .

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naval Annual, The Books of naval history Publications established in 1886 1886 establishments in the United Kingdom