Submarines (WW 2) - Great Britain: books - history and ships

British Submarine vs Italian Torpedo Boat : Mediterranean 1940-43 (Osprey)

As the war in North Africa escalated, Axis war efforts became increasingly dependent on supply lines across the Mediterranean. To try to cut off these lines of supply the British deployed submarines from the besieged island of Malta with the directive to sink as much merchant convoy tonnage as possible. Italy responded by sending her Torpedo boats to protect and escort Axis convoys.

Featuring specially commissioned full-colour artwork and carefully chosen archive photographs, this engaging study assesses the evolving battle between Britain's submarines and Italy's torpedo boats in the struggle for primacy in the Mediterranean at the height of World War II.

Contents: Introduction - Chronology - Design and Development - The Strategic Situation - Technical Specifications - The Combatants - Combat - Statistics and Analysis - Conclusion - Further Reading - Index.

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British Submarines 1939-45 (Osprey)

The submarine was the invisible but formidable weapon of the Royal Navy during World War II.

This book examines the three major classes - 'S', 'T' and 'U' - detailing their design, development and modification. The major submarine engagements of the war are recounted, including the Norwegian campaign, the battle of Malta in March 1942, Operation Pedestal, and many other engagements in all theatres between the British subs, German U-Boats and Japanese subs.
Using many previously unpublished sources and his own extensive underwater explorations, Innes McCartney gives a highly detailed account of the British submarine.

Contents: Introduction - The S-Class submarine - The U-Class Submarine - Other British Submarine Classes - Operations, 1939-40 - The Mediterranean - The Far East - Bibliography -Colour Plate Commentary - Index.

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Tirpitz in Norway : X-craft midget submarines raid the fjords, Operation Source 1943 (Osprey)

In September 1943, under the cover of darkness, six British midget submarines crept into the heart of enemy territory, penetrating a heavily guarded Norwegian fjord in an attempt to eliminate the threat of the powerful German battleship, the Tirpitz. Numerous previous attempts to attack the ship from both air and sea had failed, and this mission was carefully strategized, and undertaken by skilled operatives who had undergone extensive training in an isolated sea loch. Though five of the six X-Craft submarines were either lost or captured, two crews had just enough time to lay their explosive charges, which detonated after they were forced to the surface, putting the Tirpitz out of action for a crucial six-month period.

Masterminded from a top-secret naval headquarters on the east coast of Scotland, Operation Source has been memorialised as one of the most daring naval raids of World War II. This new study tells the complete story of this epic operation in unparalleled detail, supported by full-colour illustrations and contemporary photography.

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X.1: The Royal Navy's Mystery Submarine

The 'X' stood for experimental, but it might equally have meant extraordinary, exotic or extravagant, as this giant submarine attracted superlatives - the world's largest, most heavily armed, and deepest diving submersible of the day. X.1 was a controversial project conceived behind the backs of the politicians, and would remain an unwanted stepchild. As British diplomats at the Washington naval conference were trying to outlaw the use of submarines as commerce raiders, the Admiralty was designing and building the world's most powerful corsair submarine, to destroy single-handed entire convoys of merchant ships.

This book explores the historical background to submarine cruisers, the personalities involved in X.1's design and service, the spy drama surrounding her launch, the treason trial of a leading RN submarine commander, the ship's chequered career, and her political demise.
Despite real technical successes, she would finally fall foul of 'black propaganda', aimed at persuading foreign naval powers that the cruiser submarine did not work. However, it was completely ignored by other navies, who went on building submarine cruisers of their own, some larger than, but none so sophisticated as, X.1.
The book analyses in detail the submarine cruisers built by the US Navy, the French and the Japanese, plus the projected German copy of X.1, the Type XI U-Boat, paying belated tribute to the real importance of the mysterious X.1.

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