The Falklands Factor

The Battle that Changed the Shape of Ships

David Laurent Giles

$78.99

Hardback

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English

Unicorn Press Ltd
17 April 2025

History; Military history; Naval forces & warfare; Ship design & naval architecture

After the failure of Britain’s latest air-defence destroyers in the 1982 Falklands War, a public controversy began over an alternative: The S90 ‘Short Fat’ frigate designed and proposed by Peter Thornycroft and David Giles. This is the almost incredible but well-documented story of the author’s 40-year-long hard-fought battle with naval authorities and governments on both sides of the Atlantic, to prove the virtues of his designs which they had rejected on the basis of theory rather than fact, and then eventually to win substantial compensation after they covertly infringed his patents in two new classes of warship. With a Foreword by the late Admiral Lord Hill-Norton, Former Chief of the Defence Staff; Technical Appendices; Glossary and Dramatis Personae.

By: David Laurent Giles
Imprint: Unicorn Press Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781739164072
ISBN 10: 1739164075
Pages: 360
Publication Date: 17 April 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

David Giles, son of the famous yacht designer, Jack Laurent Giles, first discovered the possible benefits of a hull’s ‘lifting’ properties in a racing dinghy, and from his father’s explanation with a teaspoon dangled under an open tap. After National Service as a submarine officer, he learnt the principles of advanced wing design for increasing the size and speed of jet airliners while working for the de Havilland Aircraft Company. Then in 1976, he formed a partnership with the naval architect, Peter Thornycroft, whose success with the design of small lifting hulls convinced him that these could be scaled up and applied to larger faster vessels as had been proved with aircraft .