The Naval Annual was a periodical 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.Preface to the first edition of The Naval Annual, July 1886. During its life it underwent a number of title changes.

The Annual was started by Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey, in 1886. Though often compared with Jane's Fighting Ships, 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 Source:Editors from 1886–1986 from Ironclad to Trident, pp. v–vi.

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 EyalRoyal United Services Institute and Brassey's Defence Yearbook, 1989 1990 editorial board: Group Captain David Bolton RAF (rtd), Helen MacDonald, Henry Stanhope, Jennifer Shaw, Maj-Gen (rtd) A.J. Trythall, Jonathan EyalRoyal United Services Institute and Brassey's Defence Yearbook, 1990 1991 editorial board: Group Captain David Bolton RAF (rtd), Henry Stanhope, Jennifer Shaw, Maj-Gen (rtd) A. J. Trythall, Jonathan EyalRoyal United Services Institute and Brassey's Defence Yearbook, 1991 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

See also Brassey's Publishers Ltd : publisher associated with the annual Jane's Fighting Ships (originally Jane's All the World's Fighting Ships) : competing publication Combat Fleets of the World : competing publication

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. .

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