In the inter-war years Richard Perkins, an amateur photographer and avid collector, amassed one of the world's largest personal collections of warship negatives. He eventually donated the collection to the National Maritime Museum, where it still forms the core of the historic photos naval section. While he was actively acquiring photos, Perkins found that many were neither identified nor accurately dated, so he began to compile an album of his own drawings, which incorporated as much detail as possible on individual ships that could be amended as he discovered more information. This project grew into an enormous resource covering virtually every Royal Navy ship from 1860 to 1939, when security restrictions forced Perkins to stop work. This project material was also donated to the National Maritime Museum, where it was bound into eight large folio volumes that became a key reference for the curators of historic photos, but unknown and almost inaccessible to the interested public. As a result, the actual publication of the volumes is an event of utmost importance for every enthusiast and ship modeler.
These albums will be important to every enthusiast and ship modeler, who will now be able to own a copy of this unique and invaluable reference work for the very first time.
