Accurately
identifying enemy ships has always been difficult. During World War Two
the Navy Department produced booklets with information on the ships of
other nations. They compiled what was known about these ships and formatted
it in a form that could be used to train lookouts on ships. American Ship
Silouettes are available from History on CD-ROM in a form you can
access on your computer.
The CD contains two Adobe Acrobat PDF files, one is a catalog
listing the other CD's available. The other file is actually a the entire
book converted to PDF format in one searchable file. Most computer users
already have Acrobat on their systems as it is probably the most popular
document exchange format. If not it is included on the CD, or you can download
the latest version free from Adobe.com. If Acrobat is on your system already
then simply double click the file on the CD and it will load into a window
similar to your internet browser. You now browse from page to page or use
the menu on the left to jump to the ship type that interests you. Pages
can be displayed as tiled images or zoomed in for a closer look. There
are 42 page on this CD describing 124 Individual Ships or Classes of Ships;
with 124 different silhouettes.Individual spotting notes are included such
as those on the New Orleans Class CA pictured on the right.
Conclusions:
This CD works well with both a Windows PC or a MAC computer or any operation
system that can run Adobe Acrobat. If you would rather have a printed copy
then simply print what you need as the pages are scanned in at 600 dpi.
A test print of several pages shows that the output is at least as good
as the reprint of a USN Book that I have in my library. This CD is available
for $29.95. It is CD-ROM number N500. You can buy it direct via the
website using credit card, money order or check.
Click the logo above to check out this CD or any of the many others
in their catalog.