Warships (WW 2) - Germany: Books - History (1/2)

German Capital Ships of the Second World War : The Ultimate Photograph Album

Few warship types have had as much written about them as the Kriegsmarine's capital ships - Deutschland, Admiral Scheer, Graf Spee, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Bismarck and Tirpitz continue to generate intense interest among warship enthusiasts, despite the fact that no new source of information has been unearthed in decades.
What has come to light, however, is a growing number of photographs, many from private albums and some that lay forgotten in obscure archives. These include many close-ups and onboard shots, of great value to modelmakers, and rare action photos taken during wartime operations.

This book is a careful selection of the best of these, but on a grand scale, with around 100 images devoted to each ship, allowing in-depth coverage of its whole career, from launching and fitting out to whatever fate the war had waiting for it.
For sake of completeness, there are even sections reproducing the various design studies that led to each class, while an appendix covers the uncompleted Graf Zeppelin, Germany's only attempt to build an aircraft carrier, the type that during the war clearly displaced the battleship as the capital ship of the world's navies.

Essays on the technical background and design origins by the well-known expert Siegfried Breyer and explanatory captions by Miroslaw Skwiot draw out the full significance of this magnificent collection of photos.

German Commerce Raider vs British Cruiser - The Atlantic and the Pacific 1941 (Osprey)

During World War II, the Kriegsmarine armed a number of merchant vessels with concealed guns and torpedo tubes for surprise attacks against Allied shipping. To counter this deadly threat, the Royal Navy employed cruisers and their intelligence-gathering apparatus to find and destroy the disguised German commerce raiders. This Duel title covers the deadly game of cat and mouse, fought by these surface vessels during World War II.

Contents: Introduction - Design and development - Technical Specifications - The Combatants - Combat - Statistics and Analysis - Conclusion - Further Reading.

German Naval Guns - 1939-1945

This hugely comprehensive encyclopaedia covers every German artillery piece mounted afloat during the Second World War, from the huge 15-inch (380mm) guns carried by the Bismarck to the smallest machine gun used by coastal forces.

All marks and variations of these weapons are described individually, including their mountings and the ammunition fired, with extensive tabular data, but the feature that makes this book unique is the range, precision and detail of the illustrations.
Almost every known close-up photo of these weapons is included, usually reproduced large enough to see every detail, plus accurate three-view drawings perfect for modelling purposes.

However, the most spectacular element of the illustration is provided by computer-generated full colour representations of the guns and their mountings, seen from every conceivably useful angle.
The number of illustrations of all kinds totals well over 1000, making this the most thorough and complete reference available to modelmakers, enthusiasts and naval historians.

Deutsche Kriegsschiffe - Grosskampfschiffe, Zerstörer, Torpedoboote 1933-1945

Nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg waren viele Kriegsschiffe zerstört oder an die Alliierten übergeben. Der Versailler Vertrag begrenzte die Anzahl, Bewaffnung und Tonnage neuer Schiffe.
Doch die Weiterentwicklung des Dieselmotors und der Herstellung und Verarbeitung von Stahl schufen die Grundlage für den Aufbau einer neuen Flotte unter den Nationalsozialisten.

Jak P. Mallmann-Showell gibt einen Überblick der Kriegsmarine im Zweiten Weltkrieg: Schlachtschiffe, Panzerschiffe, leichte und schwere Kreuzer, Zerstörer und Torpedoboote sowie der Flugzeugträger "Graf Zeppelin" werden mit technischen Daten, Fakten und Bildern beschrieben.

Deutsche Marine-Artillerie - Schiffs- und Küstenartillerie bis 1945

Zwischen dem 18. und 19. Jahrhundert war ein Seegefecht eine einfache Sache: Die feindlichen Flotten formierten sich in einer Linie und fuhren aneinander vorbei, wobei sie sich gegenseitig mit ihren Geschützen breitseitig auf kurze Entfernung beschossen.
Später stiegen Kaliber und Reichweiten, es kam zu Seegefechten über größere Entfernungen. Große Kaliber ließen sich gar nicht mehr auf Schiff einsetzen.

Hans Karr widmet sich in diesem Band allen Geschützen, die auf hoher See ebenso wie an der Küste zum Einsatz kamen. Ein umfassender Überblick über die technischen Besonderheiten und Typen aller Kaliber, die die Deutsche Marine einsetzte.