The Ship Model Forum

Mac,
Thanks for the insight on this book. I have a large collection of books on Naval History and can find almost any German action of Minesweepers on up to the BB's. But it would be nice to have a full reference book like this. Yes, there were alot of German naval actions that are little know or written about. Germany's Minesweeper fleet was one of the most underlooked forces in German naval history. They fought many convoy actions against Coastal Command anti shipping aircraft and a number of surface actions against RN warships. The destroyers were very active throughout the war meeting their RN counterparts a number of times. It really pays to look beyond the famous actions from time to time, it puts German Naval forces into a better perspective. I'll be getting this book soon I hope.
Bob B.

Bob,

I got the book and have now read about half of it. Some of the battle descriptions are pretty short (less than 1 page). The author explains in the introduction the parameters for the battles included. He set a displacement minimum to eliminate all the patrol only actions.

I like the book a lot because it tells a largely untold story of the Kreigsmarine. It shows that there was constant naval activity going on even when all the capital ships were stcuk in port.

Mac

I have it on my list of must buy books. It is published by the US Naval Institute Press here in the US. It claims to cover all surface actions by major German warships. From BB down to the minesweepers I expect. It is said to cover some 68 or so actions. It would be a nice reference book to have around. Alot of smaller actions took place that are little covered in naval literature.
Bob B.

Has anyone read this book? It's supposed to cover the German fleet's operations over the whole war, rather than just U-boats and capital ships.

Mac