Tarawa and Wasp Class Assault Ships

Tarawa / Wasp Class General Purpose Assault Ships

If you are building the 1/700 Dragon-Shanghai Tarawa or Saipan, the Italeri Nassau or the Revell Wasp, this book is the single source of reference photos you will need.

The book begins with a short introduction to amphibious operations, and starts you off with B+W photos of some of the existing amphibious ships, as well as their predecessors, including the WWII Casablanca class, modified Essex class and the early helo carriers such as the LPH Guam and Okinawa. There are also photos of the LPDs, LSTs and LSDs.

Click this image to buy Tarawa / Wasp-Class General Purpose Assault Ships from Amazon.com

Tarawa Class

What follows are dozens of B+W and color photos of the the Tarawa class ships, showing the vessels from all angles and in close up and from farther away. Also clearly illustrated are the helicopters and other aircraft carried on the assault ships, including CH-46's, CH-53's, Harriers and Broncos. Close-ups include mast and radar shots, the UNREP station, stern doors, deck elevators and the characteristic massive island structures of these ships. Of interest but less utility to the modeler are shots inside the ships, showing mess and medical facilities.

Wasp Class

The last third of the book offers the same treatment for the Wasp class assault ships. In addition to the details of the ships themselves (as before, stern gates, masts and radars, etc.), you are treated to several nice images of the embarked LCACs (hovercraft) and of vehicles being made ready in the welldeck of the ship. A couple of amazing pictures of a Wasp class ship being constructed round out the book.

For Modelers...

The appeal to modelers of these assault ships lies in large part in the amount of detail that can be added. The variations on what to show with your model are wide: multiple helos being readied to descend on a hostile beach, hovercraft pulling out of the well deck or even the as-yet-not-ready for prime time Osprey's spooling up. This book provides the photographic references needed to accurately model these massive ships.

If you are interested primarily in photos, this book is your source. For those interested in more of the history of these classes of ships, as well as amphibious tactics in general, you may prefer U.S. Amphibious Ships and Craft: An Illustrated Design History instead.

Can't find what you want? Try searching Amazon.com.

Search:
Keywords:

Questions about these reviews? Want to recommend a book for review? Want to send us a book you publish for review? Email peter@modelwarships.com

All contents © Copyright 1999-2002 Peter Van Buren except as noted. All rights reserved. Inclusion of links does not imply endorsement of contents.