Recommended reading on the Kriegsmarine

[uhu]

A Perfect Lady is a pictorial history of the Horst Wessel written by a former crew member, Tido Holtkamp.
Most of the photos are unpublished from the author's collection. The author was a cadet on one of the last cruises during the war, and now is a guest on it. The author has been collecting photos of the Horst Wessel for most of his life and this book is his way of sharing it with us.

[Pips]

One of my favourite craft is the small, lethal S-Boats. And have finally found a book that does justice to the subject. It covers the development of the fast torpedo boat concept from 1916 through to the end of WWII. Brilliant photo's, many very interesting first person acounts and the book address all theatres (in detail) where the S-Boats operated.

[Optiow]

If it has not already been mentioned, The Admirals Wolfpack is a great book if you want to learn about the German U-boat war. It covers it from start to finish. It tells about some of the U-boat raids, the U-boat happy times, Hitlers views on the U-boats and Kriegsmarine in general. It also tells of the names of the U-boats in specific raids, eg ones sent to America, so it is a good resource as well.

[Charles78]

The Odyssey of a U-Boat Commander by Erich Topp is perhaps the most contemplative and most haunting all U-Boat memoirs. Topp was the UBoot Kommandant who torpedoed the USS Reuben James. From reading his memoir it is clear that he was a well educated and cultured man who spent most of his adult life trying to understand and come to resolution of his war time years serving the Third Reich. In the course of reading books on the Third Reich for the last 30 years researching my recently published novel, An Honorable German, I find some good, most not so good. I will post thoughts on some of the several thousand books I read. A lot of books aren't worth reading and perhaps I may save you some time by pointing out which books I don't think are worth the time or you can just say to yourself that I don't know what I'm talking about--which can certainly be the case when discussing WWII. It is such a vast subject.


Charles McCain, author of An Honorable German, a U-Boat novel of WW II

[zansocap]

Hi All. I posted a recommendation on the U-boat thread, but thought I'd put one in here, too. There is a recent historical novel called Grey Wolf A Novel In History which is available on Amazon.com which I think is a great novel. Its based on Schuhart's patrol (U-29) in September '39 during which he sank the aircraft carrier HMS Courageous. It is written very well and has a great deal of technical detail. It just won an Honorable Mention award from the Military Writer's Society of America and is available in print and Kindle. Also, for those of you in Europe, its available through Amazon.uk.

More info is available at the book's website at: http://www.greywolf-anovelinhistory.com/

Hope you enjoy.

[Mischa]

Band 1. 1919 bis 1939(Ende August); Aufbau der Marine von der Reichsmarine bis Kriegsmarine
Spis treść:
I. Versailler Friedensvertrag und die Weimarer Republik (1919-1929)
II. Deutschland auf dem Weg von der Demokratie zur Diktatur
III. Deutsche Annexionspolitik
IV. Die deutsche Kriegsmarine in Vorbereitung auf einen Seekrieg
V. Die militaer – politische Lage am Vorabend des Krieges – August 1939

Band 2. 1939 Vom 1. September bis 31. Dezember 1939
I. Am Vorabend des Krieges – August 1939
II. Der deutsche Angriff auf Polen
III. Der deutsche Seekrieg in der Ostsee
IV. Die sowjetische Okkupationspolitik gegenueber den baltischen Staaten
V. Der sowjetisch-finnische Krieg – “Winterkrieg”
VI. Anhang: Schiffsverluste (9. – 12.1939)

Band 3. 1940
I. Der deutsche Seekrieg in der Ostsee
II. Operation “Weseruebung” (April/Mai 1940)
III. Die Grossoffensive im Westen
IV. Die deutsch-finnischen Militaer- und Wirtschaftsbeziehungen
V. Die deutsch-sowjetischen Wirtschafts- und Militaerbeziehungen
VI. Die deutsche Ruestung im Kuestenbereich der Ostsee
VII. Die Ostsee als Ausbildungs- und Waffenerprobungsgebiet fuer die Wehrmacht
VIII. Anhang: Schiffsverluste 1940

Band 4. 1941
I. Die Organisation der deutschen Seekriegsfuehrung im Operationsgebiet der Ostsee
II. Von den deutsch-finnischen Militaerbeziehungen zur Militaerkoalition
III. Der deutsche Angriff auf die Sowjetunion – Operation “Barbarossa”
IV. Die britischen Bombenangriffe auf deutsche Kuestenstaedte und Industriezentren im Bereich der
Ostseekueste
V. Die deutsche Ruestung im Kuestenbereich der Ostsee
VI. Anhang: Schiffsverluste 1941

Band 5. 1942
I. Die Organisation der deutschen Seekriegsfuehrung im Operationsgebiet der Ostsee
II. Die deutsch-finnische Militaerkoalition
III. Der Seekrieg in der Ostsee
IV. Die britischen Bombenangriffe auf deutsche Kuestenstaedte und Industriezentren im Bereich der Ostseekueste
V. Die deutsche Ruestung im Kuestenbereich der Ostsee
VI. Die Ostsee als Ausbildungs- und Waffenerprobungsgebiet fuer die Wehrmacht
VII. Anhang: Schiffsverluste 1942

Band 6. 1943

I. Die Organisation der deutschen Seekriegsfuehrung im Operationsgebiet der Ostsee
II. Der Seekrieg in der Ostsee
III. Die westalliierte Bombenoffensive auf deutsche Kuestenstaedte und Industriezentren im Bereich der Ostseekueste
IV. Die deutsche Ruestung im Kuestenbereich der Ostsee
V. Die Ostsee als Ausbildungs- und Waffenerprobungsgebiet fuer die Wehrmacht
VI. Anhang: Schiffsverluste 1943

Band 7. 1944

I. Der Seekrieg im Befehlsbereich des Kommandierenden Admiral Skagerrak
II. Der Seekrieg in der noerdlichen Ostsee und im Finnischen Meerbusen
III. Das Ende der deutsch-finnischen Waffenbruederschaft (September 1944)
IV. Die Kriegsmarine im Kampf an der Nordwestflanke der Heeresgruppe Mitte
VI. Die westalliierte Bombenoffensive auf deutsche Kuestenstaedte und Industriezentren im Bereich der Ostseekueste
VII. Die deutsche Ruestung im Kuestenbereich der Ostsee
VIII. Die Ostsee als Ausbildungs- und Waffenerprobungsgebiet fuer die Wehrmacht
IX. Anhang: Schiffsverluste 1944

Band 8. 1945
I. Der Seekrieg im Befehlsbereich des Kommandierenden Admiral oestliche Ostsee
II. Der Seekrieg im Befehlsbereich des Kommandierenden Admiral westliche Ostsee
III. Der sowjetische Vormarsch im Rahmen der “Berliner Operation”
IV. Die Kriegsmarine im Kampf an der Nordwestflanke Heerresgruppe Mitte
V. Die westalliierte Bombenoffensive auf deutsche Kuestenstaedte und Industriezentren im Bereich der Ostseekueste
VI. Die deutsche Ruestung im Kuestenbereich der Ostsee
VII. Die Ostsee als Ausbildungs- und Waffenerprobungsgebiet fuer die Wehrmacht
VIII. Anhang: Schiffsverluste (1.- 5. 1945)

[Mischa]

Hi,
on 11.th February 2013 I`ve got book # 2 (august - december 1939).

[fredleander]

Interesting book series. Tks for posting.

Fred

[Haratio Fales]

For My research on Plan Z ship designs, and scratch model building I have in my collection of books. 1. PLAN Z The Nazi Bid for Naval Dominance, by David Wragg. published by Pen and Sword books ltd. It doesn't contain much info about the ship designs, however it gives a good historical account of the demise of the high sea's fleet and implications of what Germany was trying to do with Plan Z and why the economy wouldn't have allowed the full realization of it. 2. German Naval Guns 1939-1945. Published by Naval Institute Press. This is a revised book in English that was 2 books written in Polish by Miroslaw Skwiot. This is highly valuable volume for anyone who wishes to view any aspect of any gun from the 15 inch guns and turrets on Bismarck down to the smallest anti aircraft machine gun mounted on a Shnell Boat. It is 400 pages and contains a copious plethora of pictures and line plans with metric scales / measurements. A must for KM scratch builders. 3. I have a series of 5 books published by Osprey publishing ( New Vanguard ). These are soft back volumes and are all written by Gordon Williamson . Illustrated by Ian Palmer. These volumes can be purchased separately however I recommend the whole set. They are titled German Destroyers 1939-1945, German Light Cruisers 1939-1945, German Heavy Cruisers 1939-1945, German Pocket Battleships 1939-1945, and German Battleships 1939-1945. The last book covers Bismarck, Tirpitz, the Schlesien's and the Scharnhorst classes. These are all 50 page books and are nice tidy historical summaries of the types of ships that existed in the Kriegsmarine during WW2 with ship histories and fates along with good 3D illustrations, and an abundance of pictures. Each of these volumes are 50 pages so they are the thickness of a moderate magazine. I hope this helps out, Smooth Sailing as always. Haratio.

15 cm gun turret with range finders. German Naval Guns 1939-1945.

[uhu]

Fascinating book on relatively unknown KM operations. Take a look at the "Look Inside" for a tour. All of the photos are unknown to me and I doubt they have been published before.

http://www.amazon.com/HITLERS-SECRET-CO ... +commandos

[genstab]

Regarding previous posts, I believe "My Life" and "Grand Admiral" by Erich Raeder are the same book. They both have 430 pages and DaCapo, which published "Grand Admiral" is a reprint publisher of classics. "My Life" was originally published by the US Naval Institute in 1959. "Grand Admiral" is no doubt the reprint in 2001.

A biography of Admiral Doenitz which also looks at his warts is "Doenits: the Last Fuehrer" by Peter Padfield. I reocmmend it.

Of especial interest from the high command viewpoint is "Fuehrer Conferences on Naval Affairs", originall ypublished by the British Admiralty from the transcripts of Hitler's conferences with first Raeder and then Doenits throughout the war. There is a newer edition edited by Jak P. Mallmann Showell and copies are available for $10 or under on Amazon and the other book search sites.

One more good one is "Der Seekrieg: the German Navy's Story" by former Vice Admiral Friedrich Ruge and published by the US Naval Institute in the 1950s. There are very inexpensive copies of this appearing on the book search sites also.

Best regards,
Bill in Cleveland

[eliorossetti]

Hello, I just registrated to this forum today and let me start by saying the knowlegde in this forum is of the most amazing helpfullness! Thank you all

[fredleander]

One of my favourite craft is the small, lethal S-Boats. And have finally found a book that does justice to the subject. It covers the development of the fast torpedo boat concept from 1916 through to the end of WWII. Brilliant photo's, many very interesting first person acounts and the book address all theatres (in detail) where the S-Boats operated.

There are many books covering the German S-boote (MTB's) - some from my own collection:

Harald Fock: Die deutschen Scnellboote 1914-1945
Hans Frank: Die deutschen Schnellboote in Einsatz - Von den Anfängen bis 1945
Franz Kurowski: Korvettenkapitän Werner Töniges
Volkmar Kühn: Schnellboote im Einsatz 1939-1945
Mike Whitley: Deutsche Seestreitkräfte 1939-1945 Einsatz im Küstenvorfeld
Jean-Philippe-Labourdette: Deutsche Schnellboote 1939-1945
Friedrich Kemnade: Die Afrika-Flotille

The best one: Gerhard Hümmelchen: Schnellboote im Zweiten Weltkrieg

This is an interesting one - published in 1943: Hugo Bürger: Schnellboote Vor!

Fred

[steverodgers801]

its expensive but there was a game called "great naval battles of the atlantic" that gamed the z plan scenario. Ive seen it on ebay

[aj906]

I would also recommend:
U-boat Far from Home - David Stevens (U-boats in the Pacific, focusing on U-862)
Secret Diary of a U-Boat - Wolfgang Herschfeld (similar to Iron Coffins, this time be six-patrol veteran of U-109)
War Against the Nazi U-Boats - L Douglas Keeney (air operations against Atlantic bases)
German Navy in the Nazi Era - Charles Thomas (academic work on the inner politics)
Führer Conferences on Naval Affairs - Showell (an absolute must)
Room 39 - Donald MacLachlan (British Naval Intelligence in WW2)
Battle of the Atlantic - Marc Milner (as it says....)