U Boat Crews 1914 45

If one single weapon in Germany's arsenal can be said to have come closest to winning the war for the Third Reich, it was without doubt the U-Boat. German U-Boat technology, training, tactics and combat successes far exceeded those of any of the other combatant nations, and even as the Third Reich was crumbling, technically advanced vessels such as the Type XXI, many years ahead of its time, were being put into volume production. Gordon Williamson provides a fascinating overview of the achievements of the U-Boat Waffe in both wars, together with a study of the uniforms and insignia worn by U-Boat crews.

Osprey's study of the U-Boat and its crews during World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945). If one single weapon in Germany's arsenal can be said to have come closest to winning the war for the Third Reich, it was without doubt the U-Boat. German U-Boat technology, training, tactics and combat successes far exceeded those of any of the other combatant nations, and even as the Third Reich was crumbling, technically advanced vessels such as the Type XXI, many years ahead of its time, were being put into volume production. Gordon Williamson provides a fascinating overview of the achievements of the U-Boat Waffe in both wars, together with a study of the uniforms and insignia worn by U-Boat crews.

If one single weapon in Germany's arsenal can be said to have come closest to winning the war for the Third Reich, it was without doubt the U-Boat. German U-Boat technology, training, tactics and combat successes far exceeded those of any of the other combatant nations, and even as the Third Reich was crumbling, technically advanced vessels such as the Type XXI, many years ahead of its time, were being put into volume production. Gordon Williamson provides a fascinating overview of the achievements of the U-Boat Waffe in both wars, together with a study of the uniforms and insignia worn by U-Boat crews.

If one single weapon in Germany's arsenal can be said to have come closest to winning the war for the Third Reich, it was without doubt the U-Boat. German U-Boat technology, training, tactics and combat successes far exceeded those of any of the other combatant nations, and even as the Third Reich was crumbling, technically advanced vessels such as the Type XXI, many years ahead of its time, were being put into volume production. Gordon Williamson provides a fascinating overview of the achievements of the U-Boat Waffe in both wars, together with a study of the uniforms and insignia worn by U-Boat crews.

The scourge of Allied shipping during World War II, the U-Boot Waffe was one of the most feared components of Hitler's war machine, yet the Kriegsmarine was the least political branch of the Third Reich. The sailors of the U-boat arm were courageous, highly skilled seamen, who fought a war in the toughest conditions: subject to immense tension, and forced to cope with the challenges of the Atlantic, life for a U-boat recruit was far from easy. This title explores the life of a typical U-boat crewman, from recruitment, through training and service conditions, to combat experience throughout the war. Illustrated with many previously unpublished images, this book offers a fresh insight into the experiences of the men in Dönitz's legendary 'wolf packs'.

Q ships came in all shapes and sizes – coastal steamer, trawler, barque, yacht or schooner – but all had to look harmless in order to lure their opponents to the surface and encourage them to attack. Armaments differed according to ship size; steamers commonly had 4in guns mounted amidships and in the bow, trawlers 3-pdrs and sailing ships 12-pdrs. Those who served on Q ships had to accept that their U-boat opponents would be able to strike first. Q ship captains kept ready a 'panic crew', which was trained to act out an elaborate evacuation to convince the U-boat commander that the ship was being abandoned by its crew. The Q ship captain would remain behind with a handful of other crewmen manning the guns, which remained hidden until the most opportune time to unmask and engage the U-boat. The Q ship concept had emerged early in the war when no other method seemed likely to counter the U-boat threat, and flourished until new technologies and tactics were developed, tested and implemented.

The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest continuous military campaign of the Second World War, raging from 1939 to 1945. It saw the might of the Royal Navy pitted against the Kriegsmarine. Germany's secret weapon was their fleet of U-boats. They had the largest fleet of submarines in the world and this enabled them to play cat and mouse with the Allied forces to devastating effect. Hunting in 'wolf-packs' they would prey on merchant shipping and naval vessels. In this startling new book, Jak P. Mallmann Showell tells the story of this battle as viewed through the conning towers of these U-boats. Using surviving logs, written as the action unfolded. You taste the salt, smell the nauseating stench of the U-boats and hear orders being whispered quietly while diving back in time to the horrendous inhumanity of the Battle of the Atlantic.

Eerie, and full of suspense, The Passenger is a supernatural thriller by F. R. Tallis, author of the Vienna Blood series. 1941. A German submarine, U-330, patrols the stormy inhospitable waters of the North Atlantic. It is commanded by Siegfried Lorenz, a maverick naval officer who does not believe in the war he is bound by duty and honour to fight in. U-330 receives a triple-encoded message with instructions to collect two prisoners from a vessel located off the Icelandic coast and transport them to the base at Brest, and British submarine commander, Sutherland, and an Norwegian academic, Professor Bjørnar Grimstad, are taken on board. Contact between the prisoners and Lorenz has been forbidden, and it transpires that this special mission has been ordered by an unknown source, high up in the SS. It is rumoured that Grimstad is working on a secret weapon that could change the course of the war . . . Then, Sutherland goes rogue, and a series of shocking, brutal events occurs. In the aftermath, disturbing things start happening on the boat. It seems that a lethal, supernatural force is stalking the crew, wrestling with Lorenz for control. A thousand feet under the dark, icy waves, it doesn't matter how loud you scream . . .