After an epic 56 year period of research, the heavyweight history of the Bismark must be the definitive book on this subject. This beautifully produced book, with its fabulous selection of photographs, charts and drawings is not to be missed – Most Highly Recommended
NAME: Battleship Bismark, A Design and Operational History FILE: R2949 AUTHOR: William H Garzke jr, Robert O Dulin jr, William Jurens, James Cameron PUBLISHER: Pen and Sword, Seaforth Publishing BINDING: hard back PAGES: 610 PRICE: £55.00 GENRE: Non Fiction SUBJECT: WWII, World War Two, World War II, Second World War, battleships, armoured warships, capital ships, KMS Bismark, Kriegs Marine, HMS Hood, HMS Prince of Wales, carrier aircraft, Catalina PBY, commerce raider, Brest, U-Boats, air cover, torpedo bomber, Fleet Carrier
ISBN: 978-1-5267-5974-0
IMAGE: B2949.jpg BUYNOW: tinyurl.com/y2wd9aad LINKS: DESCRIPTION: After an epic 56 year period of research, the heavyweight history of the Bismark must be the definitive book on this subject. This beautifully produced book, with its fabulous selection of photographs, charts and drawings is not to be missed – Most Highly Recommended The Bismark was a massive dinosaur that died under the guns and torpedoes of the Royal Navy after an epic chase. How much Bismark, and her sister Tirpitz, actually returned to Germany from the massive investment in building, storing, crewing and operating is debatable. By the time her keel touched water, the battleship was already being replaced by the carrier as the capital ship of major navies. Certainly, the potential threat of German capital ships at anchor required the Royal Navy to tie up expensive capital ships at Scapa Flow as a counter, but the German commerce raiders and submarines provided a significantly better return on investment. The authors, and film maker James Cameron, have collectively produced a highly detailed history and review of a powerful battleship that will always be remembered. Hitler dictated all aspects of German policy from the moment he became Chancellor. Unfortunately for the Germans, he had only risen to the rank of corporal in the Bavarian Army during WWI, had limited knowledge of land forces operations and virtually no knowledge of naval and military aviation matters. For him, surface warships were primarily a status symbol. He never achieved understanding of what they might achieve or how they related to the U-Boat fleet and Luftwaffe naval aviation. He also failed to fully understand the importance of naval capabilities in supporting an invasion of the British Isles. The result was that his surface fleet spent much time in port and their crews were raided to crew the rapidly expanding submarine fleet, to compensate for its horrific casualties. This is one of the most exhaustive studies of any warship. The publishers have done remarkably well, not just in a fine production, but in offering the book at such an aggressive price. This should ensure the maximum sales. The only sadness is that the great reduction in the numbers of lending libraries and their book stocks will mean that some readers will never see this fine work. The story of how the Bismark was created is told in as much detail as the technical and operational history of the vessel in service. In addition to that, the hunt for the wreck of the Bismark is told in detail. Seaforth Publishing rightly enjoys a high reputation for the quality of its naval histories and this book will not disappoint in the wealth of illustration, including photographs of large scale models and the wreck hunt in full colour. Many of the photographs are rare and previously unpublished in a Bismark history. To this outstanding selection of images in illustration are added charts and line drawings.