German E-boats 1939-45 (New Vanguard) [Paperback]

Gordon Williamson (Author), Ian Palmer (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: New Vanguard | Publication Date: September 18, 2002

By the outbreak of World War II, Germany had done much to replace the Kaiser's High Seas Fleet, which was scuttled following their surrender at the end of World War I. Forced to build anew, the Kriegsmarine possessed some of the most technically advanced warships in existence. Although the heavy units of the fleet were too small in number to pose much of a threat, Germany was particularly well served by her Navy's smaller vessels, in particular the U-Boats and the S-Boats. Known to the allies as the E-Boats ('Enemy'), they performed sterling duties in the Black Sea and English Channel, where they became a particular scourge.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The unrivalled illustrated reference on fighting vehicles, transport and artillery through the ages. Each volume is illustrated throughout, making these books uniquely accessible to history enthusiasts of all ages.

About the Author

Gordon Williamson was born in 1951 and currently works for the Scottish Land Register. He spent seven years with the military Police TA and has published a number of books and articles on the decorations of the Third Reich and their winners. He is author of a number of World War II titles for Osprey.

Product Details

• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (September 18, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841764450
• ISBN-13: 978-1841764450
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 0.1 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #957,592 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Account on Neglected Subject, October 4, 2002

By 

R. A Forczyk (MD, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: German E-boats 1939-45 (New Vanguard) (Paperback)

Most accounts of the German Navy in the Second World War focus on either the U-Boat arm or the occasional sorties of celebrity warships such as the Bismarck or Scharnhorst. However, very little has been written about the small surface warships of the Kriegsmarine that fought throughout the war and in many theaters. This Osprey Vanguard Edition on E-Boats (or the German S-Boats), provides a good summary of the equipment and operations of the German motor torpedo boats in the Second World War.

German E-Boats consists of short sections on the development of fast motorboats in the German Navy, a general description of the E-Boats, armament, power plant, color schemes, radar, organization of the E-Boat squadrons, and operational use. Technologically, the E-Boats suffered from lack or radar and this deficiency would reduce their effectiveness by 1943. The book includes seven color plates: four depicting various E-Boat configurations, two action scenes and one cutaway diagram.

The author spends almost fifteen pages detailing E-Boat operations in the North Sea, the Channel, the Baltic, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. Several points are interesting. First, the E-Boats could inflict substantial damage and sank or crippled a surprising number of enemy destroyers. Second, the E-Boats were capable of massed attacks on convoys with up to 20-30 boats involved in one action. Third, the Germans lost a significant number of E-Boats in accidents. Fourth, despite complete Allied air superiority, the Germans were still able to conduct E-Boat attacks on coastal convoys as late as April 1945 (given the complete suppression of the U-Boat arm by this point, the ability of E-Boats to score successes in 1945 is phenomenal). Although the author's narrative is succinct, he does mention individual E-Boat successes and losses.

There are a few deficiencies in the volume, but given the size constraints of the series, understandable. The author does not discuss E-Boat tactics in any detail, and it would have been worthwhile to mention exactly how 10-20 E-Boats would attack a convoy (how was command and control accomplished? Was it a decentralized or centralized method of attack? How did E-Boats deal with convoy escorts?). There is also no final tally of how many E-Boats were built, how many were lost and what their total successes were in terms of tonnage sunk. Finally, it would also have been useful for the author to discuss E-Boat construction (where? How long? How much did they cost?) and what kind of resource trade-offs the Kriegsmarine made in regard to E-Boats, U-Boats and the surface fleet. Nevertheless, this account sheds further light on this neglected aspect of the Second World War.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars German Schnell Boats, June 3, 2011

By 

cpt matt (tanktown, DE) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: German E-boats 1939-45 (New Vanguard) (Paperback)

If you've ever purchased a New Vanguard book, you can anticipate what this is like. 48 pages, concise history of the subject, a few color drawings to show the paint schemes used and some B&W photos to show the subject in action. The cutaway in the middle of the book is good, but the binding makes some of it hard to see.

E-Boats are a very interesting topic - most similar to American PT Boats, the Schnell boats were 30% larger, with a crew of 24 vs. 13 on US PT Boats. Pound for pound, I think PT Boats would be a better buy - they packed more of a punch than the E-Boats, but were smaller. Both were made of wood (the Germans did later develop an armored bridge) and therefore vulnerable. E-Boats used diesel engines, had a slightly longer range. PT Boats and E Boats both have a mixed history of success, although in later WW2, PT boats were devastating to Japanese barges and small supply ships. Factoid - E Boats sank more Allied shipping during the Normandy invasion than any other weapon in the German arsenal.

If you do not want to spend a lot of money on this subject, this is a good intro to the E Boats. For modelers, the photos are very small as are the color drawings. Very small. Many photos were taken on the sea, so they are grainy and hard to see.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars German E-Boats 1939-45 Review, October 13, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: German E-boats 1939-45 (New Vanguard) (Paperback)

Despite its limited number of pages the volume is quite fact packed and detailed in a well structured and easily readable way.
The tactics employed in the use of the E-boats are unfortunately not covered in the volume (or only covered in a very superficial way).
Nor is there much mentioning of the personalities of the e-boat service.
The side view illustrations are ok, but the cutaway illustration is rather rough and the "in action" drawings/illustrations of the boats are also somewhat rough and un-life like and reminds one quite a bit of the sort of graphics one encounter in computer games (and have probably been created with the same sort of software (i.e. Maya) with the limit of such graphical tools with regards to the level of detail one can put into the illustration.
I also miss cross section drawings of the hulls, that can be quite handy with regards to getting a real impression of the hull shape of the boats.
And though the author is undoubtedly knowledgeable about the subject of his book, through some phrases here and there in the book, I somehow get the impression that the author are somewhat lacking with regards to sea-legs and knowledge of nautical terms.
F.ex if a picture shows e-boat crew wearing fur-skin caps, it doesn't have imply that the picture is taken mid winters.
As anyone who has done a bit of sailing in European waters know, you don't need to go all that far offshore to experience a quite noticeable drop in temperature even well into the spring/summer season, from what one's accustommed to on the shore.