Monitor warships mounted the biggest guns ever deployed by the Royal Navy, and played an undeniably important part in Allied efforts during World War I and World War II. Built as cheap and "disposable" from ship scraps, monitor warships astonished allies and enemies alike with their devastating ability to accurately reach targets up to ten miles or more inland. This volume covers the origins of monitors and their evolution from birth as eighteenth century bomb ketches to the heavily armored warships of World War II.

The design and construction of the various classes of monitor are examined as well as the warship''s effectiveness in comparison with other classes of ships.