Customer Reviews

German S-Boote at War: 1939-1945

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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!

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.

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.

This book is one of the few that deals with the German Schnell-Bootes - a small but ferocious and important corps.
The Schnell-Bootes, or in English: E-Boats, were the fastest ships on the sea, using special scientific advances. They were the scourge of British coastal convoys. This book is also recent so the author has included the Lyme Bay attack, which nearly averted D-Day, and thus could have change the war.
The text is short and to the point, all important aspects covered. The photos are just stunning!

Good book for anyone interested in these great boats and the men who manned them. I am very happy I purchased this book. I am in the process of building a 1/35 scale model of one these boats and have found this book very helpful on numerous levels.

S-Boote, German E-Boats in Action, is a very complete, stand alone history of the German `fast boats' used in WW2. Author Jean-Phillippe Dallies Labourdette traces the creation of these torpedo boats back to WW1, the intra war development and operational use from 1939-45.

This is a hard bound, high glossy page book with good quality photos, line drawings (several in color), mostly b&w, but some color photos and maps. German propaganda magazine photos and posters are shown here to provide insight of the living quarters and layout of the boats. Each variant is described, as well as tactics, weapons of the German Navy as well as the opponents - there are descriptions of Italian, British, Soviet, US boats here as well. The author shares operational stories to show tactics, conditions used. There are organizational charts, descriptions of the various flotilla and WW2 photos of some of the Captains of the E Boats.

Some surprises in the text - S Boats were made of plywood (but since larger, more seaworthy than PT boats) and had longer range than PT Boats. According to the author, there were problems early in the war with the magnetic warheads on the torpedoes which paralleled problems in the US Navy. 239 were made of all types. As with the PT boat, the weapons were beefed up throughout the years to add more and higher powered cannon on board. Color cutaways are used to show different torpedoes used, mines are also given attention here, as are photos of Naval Bases in French ports, the Allied use of Tallboy bombs to try to knock out the bases.

One down side for modelers, the line drawings are not 3-D, so you only see one side. However, the WW2 photos make up for that showing various angles of the boat during use. This book is much more comprehensive than the New Vanguard book, at this price, it should be. I am very pleased with this book since it covers the boats, weapons, gives a flavor of the operations and tactics and as a bonus, compares the S Boote to the competition, something I always like to see.

The content is wide and varied, with coverage of actual actions you don't usually see in this type book. There are many vignettes scattered about telling the story of certain people or operational aspects and events. One problem that may bother some is that there is very little organization to the book. Pictures and information on the the S-boats' typical enemies are also included, but it can be distracting because it is scattered around. You can't really sit down and read it straight through, but in my view it is mainly for reference anyway. In that role it is the best book available on the Schnellboote currently available.

Best book to date on the German Schnellboot, tons of photos and information, must have.

This well detailed highly insightful book on this formidable weapon of the Kriegsmarine is a must have for anyone interested in the naval actions of WWII. It gives insightful information on these ships, their weapons and the men who manned them, the tactics they used and as their battles.

Excellant book