The opening comparison separates the Royal Navy's small monitors from the famous large-gun and American examples that usually dominate popular memory. M17 illustrates the practical form: one heavy forward gun, smaller stern and close-range weapons, and very shallow draught. That combination made the type suited to operating close to coasts where a larger warship could not safely go. It also corrects the capital-ship bias that can hide the numerous, workmanlike vessels on which fleets depended.
Chapter · 3:14-8:24
What a First World War monitor actually was
The M15 class shows the ordinary First World War monitor: a shallow-draught gun platform rather than a miniature battleship or a copy of USS Monitor.