Category: German Armed Forces

A comprehensive listing.

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.

HELLWINKEL, Lars. Hitler’s Gateway to the Atlantic: German Naval Bases in France 1940-1945. 256p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth, 2014. ISBN: 1848321996.

A comprehensively illustrated and detailed account of the occupation, creation of bases and Allied attacks.

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.   

SHOWELL, Jak P. Mallmann. Dönitz, U-Boats, Convoys: The British Version of His Memoirs from the Admiralty's Secret Anti-Submarine Reports. xvi, 208p., illus., Barnsley: Frontline, 2013. ISBN: 1848327013.

Combines Dönitz’s memoirs in a parallel text with the Admiralty’s secret Monthly Anti-Submarine Reports to give a novel view of the U-Boat war.

HELLWINKEL, Lars. Hitler’s Gateway to the Atlantic: German Naval Bases in France 1940-1945. 256p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth, 2014. ISBN: 9781848321991.

A comprehensively illustrated and detailed account of the occupation, creation of bases and Allied attacks.

TENT, James Foster. E-Boat Alert: Defending the Normandy Invasion Fleet. xvii, 287p., bibliog., illus., index. Shrewsbury: Airlife; Annapolis: NIP, 1996. ISBN: 1853107921.

Looks at German E-boat and small boat action in the Channel in the spring and summer of 1944.                

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.

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

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 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.

DIXON, Jeremy. The U-Boat Commanders: Knight’s Cross Holders 1939-1945. 352p., bibliog., illus., index.   Annapolis, Naval Institute Press, 2019. ISBN: 9781526718730.

In all, there were 123 recipients of the Knight’s Cross. Dixon's highly illustrated book offers a guide to all these men and their wartime service. There are almost 200 archive photographs. Full details are given of their tours of duty, the operations they took part in, how they won their award, how many ships they sank and their subsequent careers.

BENNETT, G.H. The War for England’s Shores: S-Boats and the Fight Against British Coastal Convoys. xx, [2], 273p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth, 2023. ISBN: 9781399077910.

An experienced author examines the Kriegsmarine's neglected S-Boat campaign in the English Channel and the North Sea from 1940 to 1945. A wide-ranging and thorough work.

TURNER, Barry. Karl Doenitz and the Last Days of the Third Reich. xii, 302, [4]p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Icon Books, 2015. ISBN: 9781848319226.

 A good straightforward recapitulation of the end of the Third Reich drawn from secondary sources.

SPAJIC, Hrvoje. Schnellbootwaffe: Adolf Hitler s Guerrilla War at Sea: S-Boote 1939-45 (Images of War). 184p., illus. Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2021. ISBN: 9781399091756.

An almost entirely photographic record showing how these very effective craft operated.

GREAT BRITAIN. ADMIRALTY. NAVAL STAFF. TRAINING AND STAFF DUTIES DIVISION. Light Coastal Craft Operating in the North Sea and the English Channel September 1943 (B.R. 834.). 39p., illus. London: Admiralty, 1943.

A comparative study and recognition manual for British and German Coastal Forces.

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).

CARRUTHERS, Bob. Hitler’s Forgotten Armies: Combat in Norway and Finland. 382p., illus., index. Slough: Archive Media Publishing, 2012. ISBN: 9781781580998.

An official study of German operations in Norway and Finland, seeking lessons from their experience of an amphibious attack and of Arctic warfare. Based in large part on captured German military and naval records it covers firstly the campaign in Denmark and Norway in 1940 and secondly the campaign in Finland against the Russians in 1941-45. Originally published by the US Department of the Army in 1960 and entitled The German Northern Theater of Operations 1940-1945, with Earl F. Ziemke as author, q.v.

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).

PATERSON, Lawrence. Eagles Over the Sea 1943-45: A History of Luftwaffe Maritime Operations. xvi, 432p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth; Annapolis, NIP, 2020. ISBN: 9781526777652.

This second volume takes the story from Operation Torch to wars end with an increasingly undertrained and under-resourced force operating increasingly obsolete aircraft overwhelmed by the Allies.

PATERSON, Lawrence. Eagles Over the Sea: Luftwaffe Maritime Operations 1935-1942. xvi, 464p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth; Annapolis, NIP, 2019. ISBN: 9781526740021.

An operational history which gives a comprehensive overview of German developments and inter-service rivalries from the Spanish Civil War to the Middle of WW2. The first of two volumes.

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

JACOBSEN, Hans-Adolf. Dunkirk: German Operations in France 1940. xxx, 234p., bibliog., illus., index. Oxford: Casemate, 2019. ISBN: 9781612006598.

Originally published in German in 1958, this is the first appearance of an English translation. Although much has been written and researched in the last sixty years this is a good solid account which is unusual in offering a German perspective.

COLVIN, Ian. Chief of Intelligence. 223p.,bibliog. London: Gollancz; New York: McGraw-Hill, 1951.

In a series of essays on Canaris and German Intelligence, tries to describe Canaris's character, his views, his role in the Abwehr and in German intelligence, and his place in German opposition to Hitler.The US edition is entitled Master spy, the incredible story of Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, who, while Hitler's Chief of Intelligence, was a secret ally of the British. Reprinted by George Mann in 1973 as Canaris, Chief of Intelligence, ISBN: 0704100231.

PATERSON, Lawrence. Hitler’s Forgotten Flotillas: Kriegsmarine Security Forces. xv, 352p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth, 2017. ISBN: 9781473882393.

This book describes the work of the wide array of German small vessels including patrol boats, minesweepers, submarine hunters, barrage breakers, landing craft, minelayers, and even the riverine flotilla that patrolled the Danube. 120 flotillas served from the Arctic to the Mediterranean and this tells their story.

FORSYTH, Robert. Shadow Over the Atlantic: The Luftwaffe and the U-Boats 1943-45. 312p., bibliog., illus., index. Oxford: Osprey, 2017. ISBN: 9781472820457.

FAGr 5 flew Ju290’s from Western France on long range reconnaissance missions over the Atlantic, spotting convoys for U-boats. Draws on unpublished records to tell this story for the first time.

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.

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).

SCUTTS, Jerry. The Fw200 Condor: A Complete History. 264p., illus., index. Manchester: Crecy, 2010. ISBN: 0859791319.

A chronological history of the Condor. From 1940-42 it operated almost unopposed as a maritime reconnaissance aircraft which sank thousands of tons of allied shipping.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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).

Good illustrations with a sparse accompanying text.

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

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

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.