Category: Axis Forces: General Works

A fully illustrated and authoritative technical work which includes much operational detail.

Virtually a reference book. This profusely illustrated book considers the crews, commanders, training, and operational life onboard.

A detailed examination of the bunkers from Norway to Bordeaux.

A reference work giving details of every U-boat including lists of patrols and attacks. Appendices round out the picture.

A modern tale, solving the mystery of a U-boat supposedly lost in 1944 supplying a weather station in Labrador. See Showell's U-Boats in Camera for the unvarnished tale.

Heavily illustrated with contemporary pictures and plans of the major Atlantic bases.

A fascinating byway. Describes not only the voyage - which ended in her surrender at the end of the war in Europe - but the cargo, technology, and important passengers she carried.

Six essays by well-known authors consider the careers of Endrass, Merten, Kapitsky, Guggenberger, Oehrn, and Eck.

U-505 was captured in the Atlantic in 1944 and now sits in the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Half a dozen well known authors combine to tell her and her crews tale and put it in context.

An attempt to determine the facts behind the many rumours of landings of agents and secret bases. Organised geographically.

A typical boat of the most successful IXB Class. Her 13 patrols from 1941 to 1944 are fully described.

An updated translation of a 1968 German work. Detailed tables, fully indexed, of all reported attacks. An encyclopaedic work.

A well-illustrated history of German submarine operations, with half devoted to WWII.

Builds up an authentic picture of U-boat life by describing her six wartime patrols up to her sinking in 1943 through the use of logbooks, technical data and personal reminiscences.

This illustrated record is unique in that it charts a complete history of a single patrol and provides a new insight into life aboard through the successes and trials of U-564. Photographed during the summer of 1942 by an onboard war correspondent they show a U-Boat in action in the Atlantic and Caribbean,

The author has pieced together the technical details of the roles of individual crew members with extensive first-hand reports. These experiences - from cooks to engineers and from young recruits to battle-hardened commanders - build up into a picture of life undersea. U-boat men also had a reputation for making the most of time spent ashore, between missions, and a vivid portrayal of life back at the home bases is also drawn.

Formed in 1936, the Second Flotilla fought throughout the war with famous commanders and in renowned actions. A full account based on survivor's accounts as well as personal reminiscences.

A competent account of a fascinating minor theatre of the war where the Axis partners uniquely worked together.

A profusely illustrated type-by-type survey.

Another excellent detailed technical study in this series. A revised edition was published in 2003.

A readable but lurid memoir. Werner first sailed in May 1941 in U 557, became second-in-command of U 612 in 1942 and later moved to U 230. In April 1944 he took command of U 415 and in August 1944 of U 953. He was one of the few men of the U-Boat Command to survive a full war career.

Wentzel was rescued in October 1940 when U 32 was sunk in the Atlantic. He escaped from his British camp with Von Werra but the two were recaptured and sent to Canada where they repeatedly tried to escape – successfully in Von Werra's case.

Follows the careers of several U-boat Commanders and demonstrates that they were a very varied group rather than fitting stereotypes.

An odd mixture of diary, commentary, and philosophy by one of the great U-boat Captains. Excellent however.

More of a reference work than a monograph, full of tables and statistics. Accurate but uninspired.

Suhren's memoirs were originally published in Germany in 1983, although written soon after the war. This is a well illustrated modern translation of the war exploits of the man who fired more successful torpedo shots than any other from the Eastern seaboard to the Indian Ocean, but was regularly in hot water with the authorities.

Looks at U–boat operations in the Far East and Indian Ocean and in particular U 862'swar as one of the "Monsun" Group, ended only by internment by the Japanese in Singapore in May 1945. A good account.

Formed in 1935, the First Flotilla fought until 1944 when its survivors were captured at the fall of Brest. A full account based on survivor's accounts as well as personal reminiscences. Commanders included such names as Kretschmer and Topp.

A fully illustrated technical history of the workings of the standard boat of the fleet. Reprinted by Brockhampton in 1998.

Uses many primary sources and first-person accounts to present some of the most dramatic and exciting incidents of U-boat warfare from both world wars.

U 297 was lost with all hands to a Sunderland west of the Hebrides on her first patrol. This is a brief account of her career and crew with a wreck dive report.

A profusely illustrated attempt to capture life at sea and ashore.

Illustrated with many new photographs, this attempts to explain the tactical development of U-boat warfare.

A good and well-illustrated account of the history, structure, and equipment of the U-boat arm. A second edition was published in 1987, substantially revised to take account of revelations on ULTRA.

A photographic record of U-boats as seen by new trainee crewmen.

First published privately in Germany in 1984, this appears to be the first English edition and is of the third 1996 German edition. A comprehensive listing of the emblems and their creation.

A meticulously researched chronological list with details of each loss.

Information about diving on the wrecks of 11 U-boats from both World Wars in North American waters. In addition to diving data, the histories of the boats are also presented. Boats covered are U 85, U 215, U 352, U 701, U 853, U 1105, U 2513,and U 869.

A heavily illustrated work which attempts to record and depict the life of the U-boat crews using largely contemporary records, diaries, poetry, and art.

Jones looks at some of the less well known U-boat Commanders who sank major targets.

U 333, commanded by Peter Cremer, torpedoed the US tanker Java Arrow off the Florida coast in May 1942. The tanker crew was rescued by the author's father, Kit Johnson, a Coast Guard Auxiliary volunteer, in his fishing boat. This incident is the basis for a story about Cremer and Johnson in war and in old age. The author visited Cremer in Germany and maintained a close association with him until Cremer's death in 1992.

An illustrated record.

A profusely illustrated guide to the WWII U-boat campaigns.

Attempts to describe the rise and fall of the U-Boat arm as a thriller.

One of the series of detailed technical studies, with the usual excellent line drawings. In this case the translation of a 1988 German work, means that the format is a little changed. A revised edition was published in 2002.

A history of this notorious camp.

Hirschmann was an engineer officer, mainly on U-boats and survived the war. This represents the war and travails of an "ordinary" officer who created a large photographic archive of his life at this period. He served in both the Mediterranean and Atlantic.

An interesting and unusual perspective from a PO Telegraphist. He joined up in 1935 and in 1940 was transferred to submarines. The bulk of the book is concerned with his six war patrols in U 109, captained by Axel Bleichrodt. They had very mixed fortune. At the beginning of 1943 he was selected for a Warrant Officer's course. Early in 1944 he joined the new schnorkel boat U 234 captained by Heinrich Fehler. She was not ready for sea until March 1945 when she was loaded with a mixed cargo including uranium for Japan. The tenseness of the U-boats' surrender and subsequent imprisonment of and brutality toward the crews is well described.

Possibly the most comprehensive published photographic record of the U-boat arm. The excellent photographs are accompanied by a very detailed dual German/English text. The English text leaves much to be desired as a translation.

Basing his study on some 250 German novels, memoirs, fictionalized histories, and films, Michael Hadley examines the popular image of the German submarine and weighs the values, purposes and perceptions of German writers and film makers.

A somewhat tedious curiosity in which the PO Telegraphist of U 764 in 1944-45 goes through the war diary of the U-boat line by line to prove that her commander was a liar, coward, and charlatan.

Although strictly a novel it deals with the case of U 852, which sank Peleus then fired on the wreckage killing many of the crew and with the subsequent war crimes trial. Reprinted by Harvill in 1999.

Heyda was captured when U 434 was sunk in the battle around convoy HG76. He was then one of the troublemakers and attempted escapers from his Canadian prison camp.

A short description of the backbone of the U-boat arm.

U 505 was boarded and captured on 4 June 1944 off French West Africa by Task Group 22.3 under then Captain Dan Gallery. She is preserved in Chicago and this pamphlet describes her career and capture and looks at life onboard.

A detailed analysis of the crews - where they came from, how they fought, and how they changed during the course of the war. A good study.

Henke sank 26 ships in the second half of the war and this is his story and that of U 515 up to its sinking and his capture in 1944. He was later shot while trying to escape from POW camp in Washington - represented here as a form of suicide. An interesting account of an unusual character.

During WW2 over 250 Allied warships from a dozen navies were sent to the bottom by German U-boats. This ground-breaking study provides a detailed analysis of every sinking for which source material survives from both the Allied and the German sides, resulting in detailed treatment of the fate of 110 vessels, with the remainder summarised in an extensive appendix.

A well illustrated guide to how U-boats worked, along with operational details, very substantially from WWII.

The story of U 69 from her launch to her sinking in February 1943. Metzler commanded her until mid-1941 and gives a good account of his experiences and a briefer account of his command's later career.

A heavily illustrated basic account which was also issued as a Pan/Ballantine book.

A very dry factual account of their operations and losses. An updated version entitled The Milk Cows was published by Pen & Sword in 2009. ISBN: 9781848840089

One of the series of small technical pocketbooks.

An illustrated guide to U-boat warfare.

Describes the six year task of identifying a U-boat found by divers off the American coast in 1991. Finally identified as U-869, this tells the story of her last cruise and of the mystery of her end.

First published in Germany in 1986. In August 1939, U-48 left Germany, commanded by 'Vaddi' Schultze, to take up a waiting position around England. It scored its first success on 5 September 1939. By 1 August 1941, she had sunk 56 merchant ships of 322,478 gross tons and one corvette. She was then transferred to the Baltic as a training boat. U-48 was scuttled on 3 May 1945.

Photographs and capsule biographies of the 145 (including three Italian) winners of the Knight's Cross in World War II. Translated from the German. A rather bare and unsatisfactory work.

These were the backbone of the German submarine fleet.

Really a photo essay on the life and times of the Wegener Flotilla.

KOOP, Gerhard, & SCHMOLKE, Klaus-Peter. Heavy Cruisers of the Admiral Hipper Class. 208p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Greenhill; Annapolis: NIP, 2002. ISBN: 1853674346.

A heavily illustrated history of the five heavy cruisers of the class, profusely illustrated and which traces their building and wartime deployment, accompanied by much statistical material. Reprinted by Seaforth in 2014 (ISBN: 9781848321953).

WILLIAMSON, G. Aces of the Reich. 219p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Arms &Armour, 1989. ISBN: 0853689865

Looks at the land, air, and sea aces, with short biographies of many of them and appendices with full lists. A useful reference tool.

VON DER PORTEN, Edward P. The German Navy in World War II. xiii, 274p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Barker; New York: Crowell, 1969. ISBN: 021317961X.

A German view of German naval strategy, with a detailed examination of those battles which modified or changed that strategy. A new edition entitled A Pictorial History of the German Navy in World War II was published in 1976.

THOMAS, Charles S. The German Navy in the Nazi Era. xvii, 284p., bibliog., index. London: Unwin Hyman, 1990. ISBN: 0044454937.

A good study concerned mainly with the development of the Navy in the interwar years.

STERN, Robert C. Kriegsmarine: A Pictorial History of the German Navy 1935–1945. 80p., illus. Carrollton: Squadron–Signal, 1979; London: Arms & Armour, 1980. ISBN: 089747094X.

Concentrates on the large surface units.

STAHL, Peter. Kriegsmarine: Uniforms, Insignia, Daggers and Medals of the German Navy, 1935–1945. 43p., illus. Stanford, Calif.: n.p., 1972. ISBN: 0912370084.

The minutiae faithfully recorded.

RUST, Eric C. Naval Officers under Hitler: The Story of Crew 34. xii, 229p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Praeger, 1991. ISBN: 0275937097.

Drawn from a university thesis, this is an astute study of the 318 officer candidates who formed the class of 1934. A quite excellent piece of research.

PRITCHARD, David. The Radar War: Germany's Pioneering Achievement 1904–45. 240p., bibliog., illus., index. London: PSL, 1989. ISBN: 1852602465.

An excellent and full account with sections on naval warfare.

KOOP, Gerhard, & SCHMOLKE, Klaus-Peter. Pocket Battleships of the Deutschland Class: Deutschland/Lützow, Admiral Scheer, Admiral Graf Spee.224p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Greenhill; Annapolis: NIP, 1999. ISBN: 1853674028.

A heavily illustrated technical and operational account which was first published in Germany.  Reprinted by Seaforth in 2014 (ISBN: 9781848321960).

KOOP, Gerhard, & SCHMOLKE, Klaus-Peter. Battleship Scharnhorst (Conway Maritime Modellers Series). 64p., bibliog., illus. London: Conway, 1998. ISBN: 0851777724.

A heavily illustrated and detailed description of the ship, with good plans.

KOOP, Gerhard, & SCHMOLKE, Klaus-Peter. German Destroyers of World War II. 225p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Greenhill; Annapolis: NIP, 2003. ISBN: 1853675407.

A detailed illustrated history, published in Germany in 1995, which traces the building and wartime deployment and includes many rare photographs. Reprinted by Seaforth in 2014 (ISBN. 9781848321939).

KOOP, Gerhard, & SCHMOLKE, Klaus-Peter. German Light Cruisers of World War II. 223p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Greenhill; Annapolis: NIP, 2002. ISBN: 1557503109.

A heavily illustrated history of the six light cruisers, published in Germany in 1983-94, which traces their building and wartime deployment, accompanied by much statistical material. Reprinted by Seaforth in 2014 (ISBN: 9781848321946).

KOOP, Gerhard, & SCHMOLKE, Klaus-Peter. Battleships of the Scharnhorst Class. The Scharnhorst and Gneisenau: The Backbone of the German Surface Forces at the Outbreak of War. 175p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Greenhill; Annapolis: NIP, 1999. ISBN: 185367365X.

An excellent heavily illustrated reference work, which combines detailed design description with operational histories and a critical analysis of design and performance. Reprinted by Seaforth in 2014 (ISBN: 9781848321922).

KOOP, Gerhard & SCHMOLKE, Klaus-Peter. Battleships of the Bismarck Class. Bismarck and Tirpitz: Culmination and Finale of German Battleship Construction. 159p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Greenhill; Annapolis: NIP, 1998. ISBN: 185367320X.

A heavily illustrated technical and operational account which was first published in Germany in 1990. Reprinted by Seaforth in 2014 (ISBN: 9781848321977).

NIESTLÉ, Axel. German U-Boat Losses during World War II: Details of Destruction. viii, 305p., index. Annapolis: NIP, 1998. ISBN: 1557506418.

An up-to-date and authoritative tabular listing of losses, which claims to have revised twenty per cent of previous assumptions on reasons for loss. An important book by an important historian. A new eition was published in the UK by Pen & Sword in 2014 (ISBN: 9781848322103). 

BISHOP, Patrick. Target Tirpitz: X-Craft, Agents and Dam-busters - The Epic Quest to Destroy Hitler's Mightiest Warship. xxvi, 390p., bibliog., illus., index. London: HarperPress, 2012. ISBN: 0007319231.

An excellent narrative account of the many attempts to sink what was regarded as a major threat. Published as The Hunt for Hitler’s Warship in the USA by Regnery in 2013 (ISBN: 9781621570035).

RAEDER, Erich. My Life. 430p., illus. Annapolis: USNIP, 1960.

Raeder was one of the key figures in the Kriegsmarine. This is very much an attempt to put his career in the most favourable light.   

A standard source of information.

ISBY, David C. The Luftwaffe and the War at Sea 1939-1945: As Seen by Officers of the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe. 288p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Greenhill, 2006. ISBN: 1861762569.

Contemporary reports reviewing the war. Reprinted in 2017 by Greenhill, ISBN: 9781784382445.

SCHAEFFER, Heinz. U-Boat 977. 207p., illus. London: Kimber, 1952; New York: Norton, 1953.

An atmospheric biography by the captain credited popularly with carrying Hitler to South America in 1945. Reprinted in 2003 by Wrens Park with a foreword by Nicholas Monsarrat and the new subtitle The True Story of the U-Boat that Escaped to Argentina, ISBN: 0905778871, then again reprinted by Greenhill in 2017, ISBN: 9781784382490, with an introduction by Marcus Faulkner.

MOHR, Ulrich. Atlantis: The Story of a German Surface Raider, as told to A. V. Sellwood. xx, 246p., illus. London: Laurie, 1955; New York: John Day, 1956.

A popular account by one of her crew of the successful career of one of the active fleet of German surface raiders, up to the time of her sinking. US title: Ship 16: The Story of the German Raider Atlantis. Reissued in the UK in 1972 by Hutchinson and in the US by Pinnacle in 1974 as Sea Raider Atlantis, then by Cerberus in 2005 as Phantom Raider: Nazi Germany's Most Successful Surface Raider, ISBN: 1841450286.

BUSCH, Fritz-Otto. The Drama of the Scharnhorst: A Factual Account from the German Viewpoint. 186p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Hale; New York: Rinehart, 1956.

A history of the German warship eventually sunk in 1943. US title: Holocaust at Sea. Reprinted several times. In 1974 printed in paperback by Futura Publications as The Sinking of the Scharnhorst: The German Account, (ISBN: 0860071308) then in 2004 by Cerberus  with the same title ISBN: 1841450383, one of the Fortunes of War series.         

ROBERTSON, Terence. The Golden Horseshoe. 210p., illus., index. London: Evans, 1955; New York: Dutton,1956.

Describes Germany’s most successful U-boat Commander, Otto Kretschmer, and his boat U 99, which bore a golden horseshoe as its crest. His victims included three Armed Merchant Cruisers before he was sunk and captured by Captain Walker in 1941. Reissued in 1980 with the title Night Raider of the Atlantic, which was also the title of the original American edition. Republished in 2000 in paperback by Tempus in the Fortunes of War Series, ISBN: 0752420194.

GERMANY. Kriegsmarine. Fuehrer Conferences on Naval Affairs 1939–1945. 7 vols. Washington: Navy Department, [1947]; London: Admiralty, 1949.

Minutes of staff meetings between Hitler and commanders of the German forces, these records were captured by the Allies at the end of the war. The volumes contain a wealth of detail on the naval problems facing the Germans. Also published in Brassey's Naval Annual for 1948. Reprinted by Greenhill in 1990 (ISBN: 185367060X). Reprinted by Greenhill in 1990 (ISBN: 185367060X), with an introduction by Jak Mallman Showell. That edition reprinted in paperback in 2015 by the History Press (ISBN: 9780750964388).

WILLIAMSON, Gordon, & PAVLOVIC, Darko. U-Boat Crews 1914–45 (Elite Series, 60). 64p., illus. London: Osprey, 1995. ISBN: 9781855325456.

A heavily illustrated basic guide to technology, training, tactics, and uniforms.

ASMUSSEN, John & LEON, Eric. German Naval Camouflage. 2.vols. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press; Barnsley: Seaforth, 2012-14. ISBN: 9781848321427.

Built on years of research this two volume work is comprehensive and very well illustrated. The centrepiece is a series of outstanding, computer-generated, coloured line drawings. Covers destroyers and larger vessels. Volume 1 covers 1939-41 (ISBN: 9781848321427) and volume 2 covers the years 1942-4 (ISBN: 9781848322233).

STEWART, Adrian. The War with Hitler’s Navy. 212p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2018. ISBN: 9781526710574.

A good general history based on secondary sources which retells the story of how the Kriegsmarine faced the Royal Navy. It has a particular focus on how political thinking guided developments.

The first full account of the raids on Diego Suarez and Sydney and of their support for the attack on Pearl Harbor.

VAUSE, Jordan. U-Boat Ace: The Story of Wolfgang Luth. xxi, 235p., bibliog., illus., index. Annapolis: NIP, 1990; Shrewsbury: Airlife, 1992. ISBN: 1853102717.

A biography of one of the most successful but least attractive U-boat captains. He survived the war, only to be shot by a sentry in May 1945. Reprinted by Greenhill in 2017, ISBN: 9781784382742.

SHOWELL, J. P. M. The German Navy in World War Two: A Reference Guide to the Kriegsmarine 1935–1945. 224p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Arms & Armour; Annapolis: NIP, 1979. ISBN: 0853680930.

A profusely illustrated guide which is both well-produced and helpful, covering everything from administration to insignia. A revised edition was published by the Naval Institute Press in 2009 as Hitler's Navy: A Reference Guide to the Kriegsmarine, 1935-1945 (ISBN: 1591143691).

MILLOT, Bernard. Divine Thunder: The Life and Death of the Kamikazes. v, 243p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Macdonald, 1971. ISBN: 0356038564

The story of these attacks and the philosophy behind them. Concentrates on the American Fleet, which suffered most damage.

BOTTING, Douglas. The U-Boats (The Seafarers). 176p., bibliog., illus., index. Amsterdam: Time-Life Books, 1981. ISBN: 0809427249.

Just over half the book concerns WWII and gives a well-illustrated but mundane account of the war fought by the U-boats.

SANDBACH, Betsy, & EDGE, Geraldine. Prison Life on a Pacific Raider: The Adventures of Betsy Sandbach and Geraldine Edge, Nurse Escorts to the First Five Hundred Children Evacuated to Australia. 223p., illus. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1941.

The nurses sailed out on Batory but were captured on the way home when the Rangitane was sunk by the raiders Komet and Orion. Compare the account of Barley.

BARLEY, Geoffrey Alan. Caught by a Nazi Raider. 77p., frontis. London: New Zealand Shipping Company, 1941.

The Engineer Officer of the Rangitane tells of her sinking and his capture on 27 November 1940, in the Pacific. The prisoners were eventually landed on Emirau Island, from which they were rescued. Compare the account of Sandbach.

KOOP, Gerhard, & SCHMOLKE, Klaus-Peter. Battleship Tirpitz (Conway Maritime Modellers Series). 56p., bibliog., illus. London: Conway, 1998. ISBN: 085177749X.

A heavily illustrated and detailed description of the ship, with good plans.

The fullest and still the best history, but inevitably one-sided in its view of events.

War memoirs-cum-war history from the Director of Italian Naval Intelligence.

Italian naval policy from Abyssinia to World War II.

A biography of the legendary commander of the elite unit.

Another in the series which looks at the construction of individual ships in fine detail. Has a consistent and irritating inability properly to spell HMAS "Sidney."

A full account of her war career and in particular of the Battle of Matapan where she was sunk.

Another of the excellent series of pocket-sized guides to the participant Navies of WWII.

Admiral Cocchia gives an anecdotal history of the Italian Fleet before the armistice, ranging from the Bordeaux Submarine Fleet to the sinking of the Roma. US title: The Hunters and the Hunted.

Covers the background, organisation, support facilities and operations both before and after the armistice.

An attempt to resuscitate the reputation of the Italian Navy. They were weak but not cowardly, hampered by shortages of material, and showed much greater courage than in the racist fiction portrayed by most historians.

The story of Italian experience with underwater attack teams and fast assault craft. The author was one of the leading participants and much of the story is told through his career. Reprinted in 1995.

A heavily illustrated design and operational history.

Although largely written in Italian, the captions of the heavily illustrated volume are bilingual, while the leading details of the various ships and classes are readily understood.

A largely illustrated technical work.

A heavily illustrated guide covering both design and operational history.

Boat-by-boat patrol details.

Short reminiscences from 21 survivors - mainly crewmen rather than officers - cover a wide variety of experience.

The dramatised story of a Japanese submarine which attempted an escape from Germany carrying gold and uranium in mid-1944.

This revision of a 1970 German work gives an excellent review of the Japanese Fleet.

Notably well-illustrated, but with only a brief record of the Japanese fight with the non-American Allies.

By a former Japanese submariner and mainly concerned with the fight against US ships. Some limited information on Japanese operations in the Indian Ocean.

The author was a former Lieutenant Commander Imperial Navy constructor. This work was originally written as a report for the Occupation authorities as a guide to the ships surrendered by Japan and published by the Administrative Division of the Second Demobilization Bureau. The main work consists of line drawings of ships arranged by type, with details on history and fate. The work in its reprinted form also has an introduction and some photographs taken at the end of the war for the US Navy.

The author records a plethora of crimes which make chilling reading. These range from the execution of POWs, the abandonment of survivors to the elements and certain starvation, to the infamous Hell Ships. The author who lives in the Far East examines the different culture that led to these frequent and appalling atrocities.

A detailed account of the attacks.

The Japanese midget submarine attack on Sydney harbour failed narrowly. This describes the raid and gives a general background account of the Japanese midget submarine programme. A revised version was published by Angus & Robertson in 1978 as Fire One. ISBN: 0207136203.

An able review of the doctrinal, tactical, and technical failures of a force which performed with great bravery.

Privately published by his widow these memoirs give the view of an enlisted man. It contains many fascinating stories, including chapters on sabotage in Lorient, the suicide at sea of their skipper, bombing raids, sinking ships, etc., and on the capture of U 505. Republished by Savas and Chatham in 2005.

The Japanese Fleets' major encounters were with the Americans, so that British and Australian ships feature on very few pages. Their contributions toward the end of the war are ignored.

A collection of photographs illustrating ships and aircraft of the Japanese Navy and Army.

A profusely illustrated and comprehensive contemporary guide to the Japanese Navy and its equipment.

One of the series of small standard guides, giving technical details by class of each vessel.

One of the series of small standard guides, giving technical details by class.

Toschi was captured when his submarine Gondar was sunk then shipped to India as a POW. The book is mainly concerned with his escape to Portuguese territory.

A popular account of the exploits of the renowned 10th MAS. "They blasted trails of destruction from Cadiz to Crete, from Alexandria to Gibraltar . . . "

The two-volume German edition condensed into a single volume by omitting his career prior to 1928, when he took control of the Kriegsmarine. His apologia.

A fully illustrated history of the dive-bomber that wrought havoc against British shipping in the first three years of war. A new larger edition was published in 1980.

A largely photographic record of everything from seaplanes to Kondors.

A comprehensive encyclopaedia which covers every German artillery piece mounted afloat during the Second World War, from the huge 15-inch (380mm) guns carried by Bismarck to the smallest machine gun used by coastal forces. All marks and variations are described individually, with extensive tabular data

A heavily illustrated general account.

Something of a hotchpotch of information not always easy to use. Well-illustrated.

Although much less well known than their counterparts at Bletchley Park, the German code breakers were just as influential on the course of the war at sea.

Life in Germany under Hitler, as seen by a greaser and stoker.

A general history of the sea war by a leading German participant. US title: Der Seekrieg; The German Navy's Story 1939–1945.

A pocket guide to the fighting ships of the Kriegsmarine, with leading details and fates, including those vessels taken over from other countries and those projected.

A detailed account of the grim campaign against the attacker and shadower of Atlantic shipping.

A little-examined area is well-illustrated.

The German Small Battle Units did not see service until 1944 and were modelled on British and Italian contemporaries. Their story is here pieced together for the first time.

The first English biography of a controversial figure and much concerned with the Battle of the Atlantic.

Originally published in Germany in 1978, this is an uninspiring and largely photographic record of this important aircraft.

The first German biography of Canaris is well researched but this legendary figure remains an enigma.

A well illustrated and well laid out reference work.

Concerned with strategy and diplomacy as displayed in the evidence given at the Nuremberg trials and in the Fuehrer Conferences on Naval Affairs. An important work.

A largely photographic examination of the ship.

A well-illustrated record and itinerary of her career.

A popular history of the German warship which was involved in the Bismarck chase and the Channel Dash. She survived the war and was used by the Americans for testing nuclear devices.

A well-illustrated but limited introduction.

An update of his earlier book, informed by the discovery of the wreck in 2006.

A slight but readable and well researched account of one of the great might have beens.

This is the story in 40 pages of text and over 100 pages of pictures of the "lone wolf of the north." Although she mainly lurked in Norwegian fiords, this tied down a disproportionate part of the Royal Navy. The British attacks are described.

A collection of photographs from private collections and obscure archives.

A photographic account of the ship and her brief career.

A standard reference work with technical details and notes on the service careers of the various vessels listed.

A popular history of the ship which rarely sailed, but whose existence dramatically affected the Royal Navy's dispositions.

Mainly concerned with her fatal final cruise.

The usual wide selection of photographs.

A good selection of pictures.

A profusely illustrated account of her last cruise coupled with the tale of her discovery by a deep sea underwater camera vehicle. Two remarkable tales.

A comprehensive listing.

A history and portrait of the Kriegsmarine and its main actions in WWII. Full of purple prose. US title: Twilight of the Sea Gods.

Good illustrations with a sparse accompanying text.

A mainly photographic record. Volume 1 covers the capital ships and volume 2 covers U-boats, light naval weapons, naval aviation, ports and bases, uniforms, flags, etc.

The first comprehensive history of the K-Verband. It charts the development, structure, selection, training and equipment the Commando unit used together with a detailed narrative of the operations undertaken. The material has been translated from a German text, previously published in Germany in 2003.

The first English biography of Raeder, which illustrates his role as a political activist.

Based on extracts of essays written by nine German Admirals at the end of the war, this gives a very immediate view of their reactions to the Nazi period.

An episodic popular account of the German view of the war at sea. US title: Defeat at Sea.

This German special service unit was not formed until 1944. It proved modestly successful in sinking Allied shipping.

A history of the Kriegsmarine first published in Germany in 1971 and giving the German view of the war at sea.

A lavishly illustrated account of the ships and their operations, by Germany's leading popular naval historian. Reprinted by Chancellor in 1997 (ISBN: 1851525912).

An engrossing account of the mysterious German Admiral whose motives remain a source of speculation.

One of Germany's most successful wartime pilots reviews the Luftwaffe's war in a mix of general and personal history, often involving the RN. First published in Germany in 1949, it was published in the US as Life and Death of the Luftwaffe. Reprinted in 1986.

A general history of the Luftwaffe, which met the Royal Navy most forcefully in the Arctic and the Mediterranean.

A reprint of ONI 204, a recognition manual published during the war.

A fully illustrated directory arranged by country and class, with leading details.

Covers every class of cruiser operated or planned by the Axis powers, with notes on design and on the fate of individual ships.

A set of fascinating images analysed by an intelligence expert.

The naval strength of Germany and Japan is described for each country and analysed in a heavily illustrated reference guide.

A highly coloured account of the career of a German naval officer. He served on a minesweeper, on the raider Atlantis, and in command of U 234. Reprinted by White Lion in 1956 as The Warring Seas.

A well-illustrated but derivative general history.

An operational history in the main, covering all the theaters in which they served.

A brief, well-illustrated account of the German viewpoint.

As a young naval radio operator he was captured at Dieppe in 1944 and this is an account of his POW experiences.

Probably the definitive work on the German Navy. Volume 1 covers major surface vessels and volume 2 covers U-boats and mine warfare vessels.

A photo-essay largely concerned with the FW Condor.

Excellent contemporary photographs are the highlight of this solid history of a neglected area.

The founder of the S- Boat Flotilla Veterans Association produces a solid well illustrated operational history of these fast motor launches.

A detailed account of all 22 British attacks on the Tirpitz by Bomber Command, Fleet Air Arm, and X-Craft.

Dönitz planned the U-boat war, in 1943 became Commander-in-Chief of the Navy and in 1945 was briefly Head of State after Hitler's death. This work is therefore a major source on German naval planning. Reprinted by Greenhill in 1990 (ISBN: 1853670529).

Very little has been written on Germany's "Schnellboote" in the Second World War. Known by the Allies as E-Boats (Enemy Boats) the S Boote played havoc on Allied naval operations in the English Channel and elsewhere. Many of their captains were amongst the most decorated of any branch of the Kriegsmarine.

A photographic record of this versatile plane.

A reference work listing all ships over 100 GRT reported to be under Axis control and in the waters between Gibraltar and Pastime. All vessels flying the German flag on 3 September 1939 are also listed. Details of the ships are given, along with notes on their employment or fate. Every second page is blank, presumably for annotation. This is the fourth[?] and final edition of a handbook produced by various ministries during the war.

A colourful and often anecdotal account of the pocket battleships, raiders, submarines, and Focke Wulf Condors which preyed on Allied merchantmen.

One of the Fotofax series of illustrated guides, showing the various uniforms and insignia.

An overview of internment and POW camps in Canada, including the U-boat POW "Battle of Bowmanville" led by Kretschmer.

A comprehensive review.

The revolutionary boat developed at wars end.

A popular account of the war of the German submarine fleet.

Covers the two French naval bases at St Nazaire and Lorient captured by the Germans in June 1940.

A good well illustrated general reference work comprehensively listing the submarines and unusually arranged by flotilla.

An almost entirely photographic record.

A detailed list of boats with particulars of building and fate.

When the Museum at Birkenhead went into voluntary liquidation, the submarine was taken over by the local ferry company and moved to a new site

A glossy souvenir guide to a U-boat raised off the Danish coast and preserved in the Mersey.

The history of U 85 sunk of the American coast in January 1942 and information about diving on the wreck. Detailed diagrams and underwater photos.

The remarkable story of the cruise of the raider Orion over 17 months in 1940–41.

A heavily illustrated pamphlet. Reprinted by Merriam Press in 2000 and again in 2008.

Jones was a cook on the Mareeba, taken in the Bay of Bengal.

An excellent, thorough and perhaps definitive account.

A fully illustrated account of the ships, how they were operated, their equipment, and fate.

Rogge captained Atlantis during her short but successful career. US title: The German Raider Atlantis.

Records a little known but very gallant action.

Stories from 1700 to 1941, but mainly from the two world wars. From WWII there are good routine accounts of the cruises of the German raiders Atlantis, Pinguin, Kormoran,and Graf Spee.

A rather glamourised and heavily illustrated view of the U-boat war in all its aspects.

Giese was a merchant office in 1939 on the scuttled s.s. Columbus. He made his way via the United States to Japan and joined the blockade runner Anneliese Essberger for the run home to Germany, supplying raiders on route. He joined the U-boats as an ordinary seaman and after training joined U 405 operating in the Arctic. With his office status regained he joined U 181 operating in the Far East. After an abortive sailing for Germany with vital cargo the U-boat was trapped by the end of the war. The book has excellent photographs and is very good on the camaraderie of the crew. It also has a fascinating account of the treatment of German prisoners in the Far East in 1945.

A popular account of the career of U 124. Her crew came mainly from U 64, sunk in shallow water at Narvik in 1940. Most of them commissioned the new U 124 which then saw a dozen highly successful cruises all over the Atlantic before being sunk with all hands attacking a Gibraltar-bound convoy in April 1943.

An early postwar German view of the war fought by the U-boats, written by a former Public Relations Officer on the staff of the Admiral Commanding U-boats.

Prien won early fame for his sinking of Royal Oak in Scapa Flow then built a successful record in the Battle of the Atlantic, until his U 47 was sunk in action on 8 March 1941. The book consists of translations of parts of two German books, the main one of which was published in 1942. To balance the wartime German view, passages from the British official history by Roskill are interspersed with the text.

Follows specific commanders and actions to chart the declining fortunes of the U-boats from 1943-45.

A good contemporary account of the U-boat war.

With their very long range, the giant Type IX U-Cruisers gave Admiral Dönitz's U-boat fleet global reach. Initially these boats operated with considerable success off the East coast of America and in the Caribbean but their main impact was in the Gulf of Guinea, 1942-43 which, due to the closure of the Suez Canal, was a vital Allied supply route. Two submarines in particular (U-68 and U-505) had a profound effect causing major panic by their hugely successful operations.

Looks at every aspect of day-to-day life aboard U-boats.

The rather slight memoir of one of Komet's crew, who served in the galley during this successful cruise.

Part history of the Atlantic Battle, part autobiography from one of the senior surviving U-boat Commanders. An engagingly told story. US title: U Boat Commander. Compare Holm on his duel with Cremer.

A mixture of first and third hand reports by a self-styled research group. There are 22 mainly brief anecdotes, but three extended pieces on the mutual sinking of USS Borie and U 405, the sinking of Ark Royal, and the capture of U 505.

A reprint of the US Navy's 1943 translation of a Kriegsmarine handbook, with additional illustrative and descriptive material.

A photographic guide to the wreck off the Carolina coast.

The Captain and some of the crew of U 852 were convicted of killing the crew of the Peleus with gunfire and handgrenades, after the ship had been torpedoed and sunk. A verbatim account of the trial is preceded by a long background introduction.

Details the service records of some 1,400 officers known to have commanded U-boats between 1935 and 1945.

Attempts a detached but German view of their achievements.

A technical and operational account of the elegant heavy cruisers.

Encyclopaedic coverage.

An extremely full account. An expanded edition entitled German Destroyers of World War Two was published in 1994.

Two well-known French naval historians describe the grand but finally tragic career of the ship.

The senior survivor of Bismarck, who served in her throughout her career, gives his view of the ship's story.

A full description and brief history.

A full description of the ship, with a brief history.

A mainly technical description of the two ships by a former gunnery officer.

A graphic and lively account of the various British attacks aimed at removing this major threat from the Norwegian fiords.

A design and operational history of impeccable detail.

Describes sixty-nine surface actions involving the surface fleet in a mix of narrative and tabular material. An unusual and useful approach.

Small technical pocketbooks. The first volume covers regular naval vessels and the second auxiliaries.

The then commander of the Scheer gives a popular account of her successful cruise in the winter of 1940–41. US title: Pocket Battleship.

Makes full use of the revelations on ULTRA, of particular value in the case of Tirpitz, whose presence in Norway dictated naval dispositions. US title: The Life and Death of the Tirpitz.

The story of the destruction of the Scharnhorst and the clandestine activities around the German naval base in northern Norway are interwoven with the author's personal account of how, after a search lasting many years, he finally succeeded in locating and filming the wreck of the battle cruiser.

A solid professional account of the careers and fate of Germany's seven major capital ships.

The infamous "Salmon and Gluckstein" which so mortified the Royal Navy with the Channel Dash. Based on official records and personal accounts, this is a sound account of the famous pair.

In fact a retelling of the career of the Admiral Hipper as a commerce raider and of the cruise of the Pinguin in 1940-41.

A good account of the very successful converted merchantmen, which preyed on the shipping lanes.

A lurid, passionate and sometimes difficult to follow study of the converted merchant raiders in general and of Widder's sinking of the s.s. Anglo-Saxon in particular. Such sinkings are seen as atrocities.

A history of the main German high seas raiders of both world wars. The second half of the book covers the story of everything from the Graf Spee to the Togo.

Although Nordmark had the more interesting wartime service, she was less famous than her notorious sister ship Altmark. The class was so successful that the survivors were taken over by the Allies in 1945.

The cruise of the raider Atlantis, seen from the viewpoint of Captain Rogge, who is shown as a romantic and chivalrous hero. Republished by Avon Books in 1988.

The story of Fritz Kuert, sole survivor of the sinking in error by U 43 of the blockade-runner Doggerbank.

The British tramp Speybank was captured by the raider Atlantis, and then began her next career as the German disguised minelayer Doggerbank. In March 1942 she was sunk in error by U 43 while attempting to reach Bordeaux.

An expansion of his earlier work, The Ship with Five Names, covering the career of the British tramp Speybank which was captured by the raider Atlantis, and then began her next career as the German disguised minelayer Doggerbank.

The final volume in this set of three, which also cover Allied and American battleships. The US edition, published by the Naval Institute Press was published in 1985 as Battleships: Axis and Neutral Battleships in World War II (ISBN: 0870211013).

A ship by ship retelling of the cruises of the nine commerce raiders.

The author was Captain of the raider Kormoran, one of the raiders used successfully by the Kriegsmarine. She was sunk by the Australian cruiser Sydney.

Pinguin was the most successful of the German raiders, until she was caught by Cornwall in the Indian Ocean. US title: Cruise of the Raider HK 33.

Tells all that was known of the Atlantis at that time. Creagh was on the Commissaire Ramel when she was sunk. He was eventually landed in Italian Somaliland, from which he was rescued by the British advance into the area.

The Tirpitz was a looming presence in Northern Europe. A fresh look at her impact.

An early history of this powerful ship. US title: The Tirpitz and the Battle for the North Atlantic.

These were small fast vessels of about 1000 tonnes numbered T1–T12 which saw much action in coastal waters. Gives operational details as well as plans.