BISMARCK: The Final Days of Germany's Greatest Battleship [Hardcover]

Niklas Zetterling (Author), Michael Tamelander (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 26, 2009

A gripping tale of heroism -and doom-on the high seas . . .?

The sinking of the German battleship Bismarck-a masterpiece of engineering, well-armored with a main artillery of eight 15-inch guns-was one of the most dramatic events of World War II. She left the port of Gotenhafen for her first operation on the night of 18 May 1941, yet was almost immediately discovered by Norwegian resistance and Allied air reconnaissance. British battlecruiser Hood was quickly dispatched from Scapa Flow to intercept the Bismarck, together with new battleship Prince of Wales. They were ordered to find the ship quickly because, on their way from the USA, several large convoys were heading for Britain.

On 24 May, Bismarck was found off the coast of Greenland, but the ensuing battle was disastrous for the British. The Hood was totally destroyed within minutes (only 3 crewmen surviving), and Prince of Wales was badly damaged. The chase resumed until the German behemoth was finally caught, this time by four British capital ships supported by torpedo-bombers from the carrier Ark Royal. The icy North Atlantic roiled from the crash of shellfire and bursting explosions until finally the Bismarck collapsed, sending nearly 2,000 German sailors to a watery grave.

Tamelander and Zetterling's work rests on stories from survivors and the latest historical discoveries. The book starts with a thorough account of maritime developments from 1871 up to the era of the giant battleship, and ends with a vivid account, hour by hour, of the dramatic and fateful hunt for the mighty Bismarck, Nazi-Germany's last hope to pose a powerful surface threat to Allied convoys.

NIKLAS ZETTERLING, a researcher at the Swedish Defense College, is most recently co-author of The Korsun Pocket: The Encirclement and Breakout of a German Army in the East, 1944. Together with MICHAEL TAMELANDER, a part-time military author, they have written books about the battleship Tirpitz, the D-Day landings and the 1940 campaign in Norway.

REVIEWS

"... a very interesting and useful history ...once you start... you will be very hard pressed to stop until the smoke has cleared and the ship is sunk."Internet Modeler, 08/2009

"...unable to put it down...I highly recommend this book for anyone that likes the study of naval battles or just wants to read about an action-packed sea battle."IPMS, 08/2009

"outstanding book about naval warfare...real time, you are there style that conveys all of the anxiety of actual combat at sea." WWII History, Winter 2009

"essential background and new historical insights make otherwise inexplicable elements of the Bismarck story much clearer, without diminishing the drama of the epic sea chase and its vivid, human details."World War II Magazine, 11/2009

"A fresh look at the life and death of the most famous German warship of World War II."The NYMAS Review, Fall-Winter 2009

Editorial Reviews

Review

...essential background and new historical insights make otherwise inexplicable elements of the Bismarck story much clearer, without diminishing the drama of the epic sea chase and its vivid, human details. -World War II Magazine --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Casemate Pub; First American edition (May 26, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1935149040
• ISBN-13: 978-1935149040
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #701,920 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Wait for a revised edition, February 14, 2010

By 

M. Lin (Holmdel, New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: BISMARCK: The Final Days of Germany's Greatest Battleship (Hardcover)

The legendary naval battle is an inherently exciting topic, but unfortunately I was just not able to enjoy this book as a casual weekend read, due to its shockingly poor writing. If you can overlook the numerous basic spelling errors found throughout the text -- no exaggeration, things spell check would detect -- you will find it slow and difficult to read due to its disorganization, repetitiveness, and pervasively confusing grammatical structure. I am not super picky about writing style in general, but the publisher has seriously dropped the ball here.

No doubt it is thoroughly researched and historically accurate.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enthralling account of WW2 naval warfate, July 3, 2009

By 

Bruce Trinque (Amston, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: BISMARCK: The Final Days of Germany's Greatest Battleship (Hardcover)

Surely, the raid of the German battleship Bismarck into the North Atlantic in May, 1941, and the Royal Navy's search for and destruction of the feared ship is one of the best-known incidents of World War II naval warfare, but perhaps never before has such a comprehensive, thoughtful analysis of the event been published as in Niklas Zetterling and Michael Tamelander's "Bismarck: The Final Days of Germany's Greatest Battleship", looking at what happened from both the German and British perspectives. The Bismarck's mission is carefully placed in the context of the German strategy of commerce raiding, with a comprehensive look at the strategic and tactical problems faced by the commanders of both sides, and possibly alternative actions at each stage are carefully explored. The text is well-illustrated with large-scale maps showing the changing positions of hunter and hunted, making clear the development of events. The narrative text is highly detailed
but does not, as books on naval history so often do, descend into a merely technical hardware descriptiion in which seemingly every bolt is counted and described. Instead, authors Zetterling and Tamelander concentrate upon the human element, always keeping in mind what each side knew and did not know at any given moment, with the result that a feeling of tense suspense builds, even though the reader already knows the Bismarck's fate. All in all, a gripping account.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ..pursuit and death of the Schlachtschiff Bismarck, October 19, 2009

By 

N. Page (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: BISMARCK: The Final Days of Germany's Greatest Battleship (Hardcover)

..exciting and competent re-telling of the hunt, pursuit and final destruction of one of the mightiest battleships ever to put to sea. A tremendous British victory, the heroism of the sea-and-airmen involved is calmly and dispassionately portrayed in this fine account. After the shock of the loss of the Royal Navy's battleship Hood with virtually all hands, the attempts to shake off the pursuing pack and the desperate attacks flown by the Navy's venerable Swordfish torpedo bombers are nicely built up by the authors to the final denouement, as the Bismarck, crippled by a torpedo strike, is shelled into oblivion..
A couple of criticisms; the authors don't bring much new information to the table and their style is ponderous and leaden to say the least. This is not helped by the authors attempt to weigh up and evaluate the decision making process undertaken at each stage of the hunt by the various interested parties. On the German side they rely heavily of course on Mullenheim-Rechberg's memoir but don't appear to realise that an English translation was published. The authors are not native-speakers and sentence construction is predictably and unfortunately rather wooden in places, while this work has more typos and omissions than any other similar work I've ever read. In short the text desperately needed copy editing. Recommended despite these shortcomings.