The Complete Book of US Naval Power, published by Publications International in 1991, is a “coffee table” book intended for an audience with some general interest in US naval history and US Navy ships and aircraft. This book is organized similarly to Jane’s Fighting Ships, but features more general information and has much larger and glossier color photographs. Apparently, based on the organization of this book, it is intended to help readers to learn something about the capabilities and characteristics of different classes of Navy ships and to help them to discriminate between these.

The visual included with the description of the California-class guided missile cruiser is a good example of a poor visual communication design choice. The picture is a very large color photograph and fills the entire recto page. The picture depicts USS South Carolina steaming from a low-angle bow-on point of view. Two other ships can be seen in the background. The photograph is almost entirely blue and has very little contrast in hue or luminance. The choice to use a visual in order to help readers learn to identify this type of warship is a sound one. Because warships are generally differentiated by the spatial arrangement of weapons and structures, and because such spatial information is communicated directly to the visual system directly, in the same way that it would be if the viewer was viewing the actual ship, it makes sense to express such information visually. However, in this case, the photograph was poorly chosen.

Primary Weakness—Point of View:

The text description speaks in great detail, inefficiently, about the spatial positioning of weapon systems on the ship:

“…California ships are distinguished by the ASROC Mark 16 launcher, and by a five-inch Mark 45 dual-purpose gun mounted on the aft deckhouse rather than on the deck itself.”

“The port launcher is mounted on the superstructure’s 01 deck behind the aft five-inch Mark 45 gun. The starboard launcher is mounted amidships between the fore and aft deckhouses.”

“ …Mark 16 Launcher located on the main deck just in front of the deckhouse but behind the forward five-inch dual-purpose Mark 45 gun.”

A better point of view for the photo, especially a side or quarter view of the ship, could have better conveyed the arrangement of weapons in a much more efficient manner. The weapons on a ship are primarily arranged fore and aft along the centerline axis; therefore a bow-on shot does not effectively depict the arrangement of weapons. In addition, the text describes a lot of features on the aft end of the ship and these are clearly not depicted in the front view.

Indeed the weakness of the choice of a front view photo is evidenced within the photo. The numbers, types, and arrangement of weapons, deckhouses, masts and stacks are the predominate characteristics for differentiating among ship classes. Because these features are all arranged along the centerline of the ship, they obscure one another in a front view. Comparing the three different ships in the photo demonstrates this weakness. They do not appear much different. Combat ships simply do not look very distinct when compared from the front.

Other Weaknesses:

  • Most of the features described in the text are completely obscured in the photograph. Even the forward five-inch gun is obscured; let alone any of the aft end features.
  • The most explicit context for the photo is the caption. The Mark 13 Launcher, called-out in the caption as the subject of the photo, is hard to see, does not have adequate contrast and is largely obscured by the stem of the ship.
  • The photograph is much too large for the little value that it provides. If the MK 13 launcher is the subject of the photograph, its relative importance is poorly conveyed.
  • Color is relatively useless in this depiction because of the fairly monochromatic nature of the subject. A black and white photograph would have more clearly highlighted the features of the ship by highlighting the luminance differences.
  • If scale were important, then the only real reference would be the personnel on the signal-bridge of the ship. They are very difficult to see. The destroyer and frigate in the background are too far away to offer any value in scale comparison.