This up-to-date guide describes, type by type, all the world's major military vessels that stand prepared to protect the sovereignty of nations. Although the inflation of recent years has prompted almost universal reductions in construction programmes, the combination of theoretical developments with practical experience has persuaded maritime powers of the vital contribution to be made by an effective navy, and a significant number of vessels remain that have been rebuilt, refitted and rearmed in readiness for action. Each section of this catalogue is introduced by a short account of the role of the type concerned, ranging from the aircraft carrier, the most complex of fighting machines known to man, to the relatively cheap fast attack craft deployed on coastal patrols