Finding naval material and readiness information

Where can a researcher find naval material and readiness information?

Use current specialist reference services for present-day information and historical annuals such as Brassey's for earlier periods; the right source depends on the era.

Jane's and GlobalSecurity are suggested for current naval information, while Brassey's is a more useful route into earlier periods. Current readiness data may also require a subscription and careful attention to when it was compiled. Historical annuals answer a different kind of question because they preserve what informed readers could know at the time. The right source therefore depends on the period, the intended audience, and the precise readiness claim being investigated.