Recommended reading on the Kriegsmarine

Discussions on all (non-biographical) aspects of the Kriegsmarine except those dealing with the U-Boat forces.
Tiornu
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Post by Tiornu » 12 Apr 2007 11:11

"Kriegsmarine" means the German navy, especially from 1935 to 1945.

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NASAFAN101
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Post by NASAFAN101 » 12 Apr 2007 16:11

ok
nikki

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Xavier
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Post by Xavier » 12 Apr 2007 16:31

last year of the kriegsmarien by v.e. Tarrant
more or less detailed losses on actions of the kriegsamrine from april 1944 to last operations on 1945. including K-verband operations and actions by midgets and R/C boats agaisnt invading fleet. detaisl of u-boats lost while in cosntruction. good reference points.
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Der autodidakt

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NASAFAN101
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Post by NASAFAN101 » 12 Apr 2007 22:19

i gress what i'm really asking is can it also be on the ships too.
NIKKI

Tiornu
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Post by Tiornu » 12 Apr 2007 23:24

Are you asking whether or not warships are included in the navy?
[rhetorical question]

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NASAFAN101
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Post by NASAFAN101 » 12 Apr 2007 23:26

can the books also be on the ships to?
NIkki

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WalterS
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Post by WalterS » 21 May 2007 17:11

I highly recommend:

"Grand Admiral" by Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, and

"Ten Years and Twenty Days," by Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz

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fredleander
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Post by fredleander » 22 May 2007 12:00

Günther Naims/Lothar Frädrich: "Seekrig im Ârmelkanal".

A different Kriegsmarine-book which depicts the story of the 15th Vorpostenboot-flotilla in the Channel - from September '40 till the end. Most KM seagoing personell actually served on these types of vessels - 2.5 times as many as on the proper warships. This unit, among several others, was the mission to escort small convoys both directions along the French/Belgian/Dutch coast. Their worst enemy was the Coastal Command, but also the increasing number of Allied MTB's and MGB's which were lurking along their sea lanes. The author served in the actual unit.

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SaniUffz
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Post by SaniUffz » 26 Sep 2007 16:35

Does anyone know of any books specifically regarding KM Coastal Artillery Units?

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Panzer_Lehr
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Post by Panzer_Lehr » 01 Oct 2007 10:51

I recommend Memoirs (Ten years and Twenty days) by Karl Donitz
Also My Life by Grand Admiral Erich Raeder.
They are both great reads, especially Raeder's gives you a great insight to Hitler's early think towards the Navy nad how Raeder changed that. I say a must read for anyone interested in the German Navy.

KB

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fredleander
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Post by fredleander » 18 Dec 2007 10:54

Die Deutsche Kriegsmarine 1935-1945 by Ulrich Elfrath. This is originally in three volumes covering different subjects, heavy units, lighter units ands submarines together with shore installation, ancillary equipment and crew training but can also be had in one volume altogether. Gives a good overview, also lists all Allied naval losses by the KM and Luftwaffe.

Can be purchsed on German eBay - Books...

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redalb2253
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Post by redalb2253 » 24 Jan 2008 16:40

I'm reading an old book printed in 56 Holocaust at sea the drama of the Scharnhorst by Fritz otto Busch pretty good so far.

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Post by Andreas » 26 Jan 2008 12:51

Just for info, Busch was AFAIK a war correspondent serving with the KM. He wrote quite a bit after the war, I have his book on Narvik. I would be very careful about statements not relating to things he could directly observe though. He was a propaganda journalist by trade, and a prolific writer. The original title of the book in German seems to have been "Tragödie am Nordkap" (Tragedy at the North Cape), which is in my view a bit more palatable as a title.

All the best

Andreas

stefaan
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Re: Recommended reading on the Kriegsmarine

Post by stefaan » 03 Oct 2008 20:17

Hello there,

My name is Stefaan living in Bruges, Belgium and I want to call your attention to a very interesting and novel book.

It's called " From Both sides of the Periscope" was written by veteran John Mears .
During the war he served as a merchant seaman. He is presently living in Australia.

What's interesting about this book is the fact that John MEARS not only writes about his own experiences.
In his book there are a number of chapters written by his former enemies, the seamen of the german U-Boat UD-5

This U-Boat sunk John's ship "The PRIMROSE HILL" in 1942.

If anyone is interested in this book, you can contact John throuht me at calusstefaan@hotmail.com

Kind Regards,
Stefaan

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Richard Hargreaves
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Re:

Post by Richard Hargreaves » 03 Oct 2008 21:18

Andreas wrote:Just for info, Busch was AFAIK a war correspondent serving with the KM. He wrote quite a bit after the war, I have his book on Narvik. I would be very careful about statements not relating to things he could directly observe though. He was a propaganda journalist by trade, and a prolific writer. The original title of the book in German seems to have been "Tragödie am Nordkap" (Tragedy at the North Cape), which is in my view a bit more palatable as a title.

All the best

Andreas
Busch was indeed a war correspondent who accompanied the Kriegsmarine on numerous sorties/missions, including the Schleswig-Holstein in Danzig and the Prinz Eugen on its sortie with the Bismarck. The latter resulted in one of the better propaganda books, Prinz Eugen im ersten Gefecht, which is profusely illustrated. Andreas is quite right to add a word of caution though. Certainly on his pre-1945 books, at times it's hard to tell what Busch actually witnessed and what others experienced... plus there's all that bombastic tubthumping. There's not a lot that's actually interesting, for example, in his book on the Polish campaign... It would be interesting to compare his propaganda and post-war books on Norway to see how they differ.

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