An illustrated reference featuring the superbly drawn plans for these highly effective anti-submarine ships.   The technical details of British warships were recorded in a set of plans produced by the builders on completion of every ship. Known as the “as fitted” general arrangements, these drawings represented the exact appearance and fitting of the ship as it entered service. Intended to provide a permanent reference for the Admiralty and the dockyards, these plans were drawn with exquisite skill in multi-colored inks and washes that represent the acme of the draftsman’s art.   Today they form part of the collection of the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, which is using the latest scanning technology to make digital copies of the highest quality. This book is one of a series based entirely on these drafts, depicting famous warships in unprecedented detail—complete sets in full color, with many close-ups and enlargements that make every aspect clear. Captions point the reader to important features, and an introduction covers the background to the design.   This volume is devoted to the sloops of the Black Swan class and its improved derivatives, widely regarded as the “Rolls-Royce” of Second World War convoy escorts. Heavily armed and superbly equipped for their role, they were among the most effective anti-submarine ships of the battle in the Atlantic. The design was gradually improved and this book uses plans of four selected ships to chart that development. These comprise: Black Swan as built; Flamingo as modified later; Starling, the single most successful U-boat hunter of the war, as in 1943; and Amethyst, as refitted after her clash with Chinese communists on the Yangtze in 1949. " Black Swan Class Sloops focuses on the distinguished wartime escort vessels that played a leading role in winning the Battle of the Atlantic. It is a well-produced, high-quality book that maintains the high standards being set by an innovative and highly informative series." --Warship "This book is useful for knowing how the ships were designed, what their characteristics were, etc. It is very useful not only to historians and enthusiasts but also to modelers because it carefully describes the different details between the various ships and even between the same ships at different times. Another beautiful book." --On the Old Barbed Wire "Black Swan Class Sloops covers a very important and significant class of Royal Navy warships during World War II, it is glorious in its appearance, and it is amazingly informative. Anyone with an interest in escort ships from this period needs to add it to their library immediately." --Nautical Research Journal LES BROWN is a leading light in the Small Warships Group of the IPMS and the editor of their newsletter. He is the author of a number of titles in the ShipCraft series, including two on British destroyers, and, with John Lambert, he produced two larger volumes, one on 'Flower' class corvettes and another on Allied torpedo boats.