Oscar Parkes OBE (8 October 1885 – 24 June 1958) was a Royal Navy surgeon, naval historian, marine artist, and editor of Jane's Fighting Ships from 1918 to 1935.

[6] His talent for spotting ships sometimes from aircraft came to be recognized,[5] and towards the end of the First World War he served in the Naval Intelligence Division under Admiral Sir Reginald Hall at the Admiralty.

[7] He was aboard the battleship Agincourt during Operation ZZ, and witnessed the internment of the Imperial German High Seas Fleet following the end of the war.

[17][18] It would be reprinted in seven revised editions the next 15 years, and had a change of title to Ships of the Royal Navies (British Commonwealth of Nations) in 1935.

[20][21] Also from 1935 to 1940, he was being widely quoted in American newspapers and the United States Congress, warning about Japanese naval development and expansion, pointing out, that is where the focus of world powers should lie.

[22][23][24] Between the wars, he set up a specialist practice in Hans Crescent, Knightsbridge,[25] acting between 1920 and 1924 as a neurological adviser to the Ministry of Pensions.

[28] As a physician, Parkes wrote medical articles on the control of disease, rheumatism, electro-therapy, ozone therapy, and other subjects.

[33] Prior to his death, Parkes had been planning a new book listing the ships of the Royal Navy from 1820 to 1860, for which he had amassed much research.

[27] Aside from playing rugby, football and cricket at university, he was an accomplished pianist, yachtsman, gardener, ship modeler, and avid photograph collector.