xi + 432pp, 2 plates, 505 illus (photos, line illus, many multi-view), 77 plans (30 folding), large handsome format (32cm x 25cm), dw. AJS: The first purpose-built whalecatcher was built in 1862 in Norway, when Svend Foyn of Tonsberg founded the modern whaling industry by solving the technical problems involved in the successful hunt of the fast-swimming rorqual whales, and their recovery for processing. The outbreak of war in 1939 was a signal for Allied navies to requisition over 200 catchers, which performed sterling work as anti-submarine vessels and minesweepers.