German S-Boote at War: 1939-1945 [Hardcover]

Jean Dallies-Labourdette (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2003

Too little has been written to date on Germany's "Schnellboote" in the Second World War. Known by the Allies as E-Boats (Enemy Boats) the S Boote played havoc on Allied naval operations in the English channel and elsewhere. Many of their captains were amongst the most decorated of any branch of the Kriegsmarine.

Jean-Philippe Dallies-Labourdette is a noted expert on the Kriegsmarine in World War Two and was the author of the best selling (and now sadly out of print) U-Boote, published in 1996 by Histoire and Collections.

This highly detailed book examines all aspects of the S-Boote, from design to deployment and notes all the major engagements for which they are famous. As with all Histoire and Collections books, you are guaranteed a visual feast of excellent descriptive graphics and previously unseen photographs.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The author is one of the world's leading specialists in the history of the German Navy during World War Two. His companion book U-Boote 1939-1945 was published in 1996. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Histoire and Collections (July 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 2913903495
• ISBN-13: 978-2913903494
• Product Dimensions: 12.3 x 9.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,451,247 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Astonishing errors in a fluffed-up scrapbook., January 31, 2010

By 

Cross of lron (NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: German S-Boote at War: 1939-1945 (Hardcover)

There is a lot less to this book than first meets the eye. This book has a few great photos, but the text, illustrations and photo captions are worthless. The book's main value is in the French archival photos of the S-30 class boats with a few good S-38 class photos. Sorry, this book is NOT going to be a big help in detailing the Italeri or Revell S-100 class kits.

Regarding the photos, besides the failure to deliver quality photos of armored bridge boats, I was further disappointed by the inclusion of useless fluff. Many of the photos and illustrations that bulk up the book are irrelevant padding.

Blatant factual mistakes in the text make for an irritating read, not to mention the many spelling errors. I suspect the author pounded out some quick blah-blah, with little attention to accuracy, in a flippant attempt to give a scholarly appearance to a scrapbook. The book would have been better without the blundered attempt to "class it up" with text. Many mistakes are totally obvious, the fact that they weren't immediately apparent to the author demonstrates his feeble grasp of the subject matter and renders the entire text suspect. None of the captions or text should be taken at face value.

Here are just a FEW EXAMPLES of MANY MISTAKES and FLUFF that spoil this book:

*On page 158 the insignia identified as the 8th flotille actually belongs to the 9th. The insignia identified as the 9th belongs to the 6th. And the insignia identified as the 6th flotille is probably a personal marking. The insignias are crudely rendered with vague resemblance to the originals.

*The top photo on page 28 features a photo of a 1943 or later armored bridge boat. Birnbacher and at least one other crewman are wearing 2nd pattern S-boot badges that weren't instituted until 1943. The other crewmen are wearing first pattern S-boot badges not instituted until 1941. But the caption states the date is "probably 1939." Hello??

*On page 126, the author displays his ignorance of technical details by showing a photo of a radio DF loop under the heading "radar".

*On page 172 a portrait is labeled Klaus Feldt. Despite Feldt being one of the most famous, easily recognized and highly decorated officers of the KM and S-boot service, it is obviously not a photo of Klaus Feldt. Incredible! The real Klaus Feldt is shown on page 112 on the far left side of the top photo, and its no surprise that he is not identified in the caption.

*On page 116 the caption states S-boot making preparations, but its an old fishing trawler! Had the author been paying attention he might have also noticed the crewmen are wearing the cap badges of the 8th Picket Ship Flotilla which deployed converted fishing trawlers as V-boote.

*The crude color profile on p 144 sports an undocumented and probably bogus camo scheme that originated in a c.1999 Russian paperback.

*The photo on page 99 is repeated on 105.

*The photo on page 148 is labeled an "experimental design" when it is clearly an incomplete vessel still fitting out. The civilian flag should have been a clue.

*Many illustrations are filler that have no reason to be in this book, such as the painting of a stuka attack on a Malta convoy on page 83; a full page portrait of a man in a rain slicker on p 47; the crewman taking up half of page 98 (the artillery headset he wears was intended for larger vessels with centralized fire control and is not S-boot hardwear) and so on.

To summarize, this book is a jumble of photos with misleading captions and astonishingly erroneous text. The detail photos are limited to S-30 class boats, and a few of the S-38 class. Otherwise, this book is unreadable and a waste of money. I believe those expressing a favorable impression, gave it a superficial look, or were attracted by its size and flashy layout. Finally to add insult to injury, the oversized proportions won't fit in any of my bookshelves!

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wolves unto sheep, March 3, 2005

By 

N. Trachta (Colorado Springs, CO United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: German S-Boote at War: 1939-1945 (Hardcover)

Jean-Philippe Dallies-Labourdette and Bruno Pautigny book S-Boote, does a very good job of telling the story of the German Navy's version of MTB's/PT-Boats (note: S-Boote were bigger, initially more heavily armed, and used more effectively than their allied equivalent). In this book, the authors tell us about the initial development of S-boote (their pre-war years) and follow it up with a very good year by year summary of how the S-boote did and what their equivalent were like at the same time period.

Overall, this book is really a 4.5 star book, but since Amazon doesn't support half stars, I had to round down this time because there aren't that many descriptions of engagements, especially given the price of the material. However, the pictures are great, there's interesting material on the types of mines the German Navy used, and some good general material that can keep wargamers, modeler, or historians interested.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Photo Book, October 16, 2003

By 

D. Schafer (Oregon, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: German S-Boote at War: 1939-1945 (Hardcover)

Another great large format photo book from "Histoire & Collections". Hundreds of quality photos supplemented with many two page artist color renderings of different S/E boat types and Flotilla insignia. Included are many photos of crew members showing uniforms and personal equipment. The text covers construction, history, types, tactics and personnel. A must for the hobbiest and those interested in the Kriegsmarine.