Jane's Fighting Ships is an annual reference book (also published online, on CD and microfiche) of information on all the world's warships arranged by nation, including information on ship's names, dimensions, armaments, silhouettes and photographs, etc. Its annual editions cover the warships used by the different national naval and paramilitary forces, and provide data on their characteristics.
It was originally published by John F. T. Jane (usually known as "Fred T.") in London in 1898 as Jane's All the World's Fighting Ships, in order to assist the public in playing naval wargames. Its success launched a number of military publications carrying the name "Jane's". It is a unit of Jane's Information Group, which is now owned by IHS.
The following is a list of major works which followed the format of Jane's original work:
The Jane's editions of 1898, 1905, 1906, 1914, 1919, 1924, 1931, 1939 and 1944 were reissued in facsimile reprints by Arco Publishing in 1969.