Submarines of World War Two [Paperback]

Erminio Bagnasco (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2000

Over 2,500 submarines saw action during WWII from all combatant nations, and for the first time all classes and types of submarines are covered in a single book. From midgets to large U-cruisers, along with projected and experimental designs, a mass of detail records technical characteristics for each class of submarine. Exhaustive charts and hundreds of valuable photos tell the facts and figures about construction, displacement, dimensions, speed, range, operational depth, fuel load, armament, and complement. Each submarine's performance is chronicled, including the fate of each member of the class. An outline of the evolution of the submarine and the development of submarine warfare offers a rare view of the role of design improvement in the outcome of the war.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Italian

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Cassell; New edition edition (August 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1854095323
• ISBN-13: 978-1854095329
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 9.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,739,597 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:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cost Effective Overvue, December 31, 2000

By 

Eric N. Bates (Madison, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Submarines of World War Two (Paperback)

Submarines of World War Two is excellent overvue of pretty much every submarine type of the war. There is a large amount of information crammed into this medium sized soft bound book. Be prepared to read in good lighting however; as the print is quite small and some of the section plans will have you looking for a magnifying glass.

Mr. Bagnasco covers Eighteen different navies as well as some neutral forces. Each section includes a wealth of statistics and production data on each class of submarine (and its variants), as well as line drawings and photographs (all B&W). Major types are given additional space and many extras such as wartime conning tower modifications and section drawings are covered.

If you need to know about every WWII sub ever built; and don't have room in your shelf (or budget) for a four volume set, this is the book for you.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fairly comprehensive account., August 7, 2007

By 

Ned Middleton (British professional underwater photo-journalist & author) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Submarines of World War Two (Paperback)

There is a certain fascination for the submarine. When it first appeared it was thought to be so "un-British" it should be banned internationally - just like, say, poisonous gas warfare is banned today. Nevertheless, the submarine, in all it's many forms, went on to be a most potent weapon and was last used in a combat situation during the Falklands War of 1982.

The countries; France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, USA and USSR are set out in alphabetical order and are then followed by a chapter headed "The lesser powers." Within each of these main headings all the submarines used by that country are fully described with many being illustrated both by photograph and diagram.

The vast majority of the photographs are simply excellent. Why the author should include the occasional out-of-focus image is, as always, beyond me, especially when such an image is used as a double-page spread.

That, however, is my only criticism of what is an otherwise excellent product. This book is now becoming hard to find and, may I suggest, you grab one while you still can. You will not be disappointed and, like me, you might just learn a great deal from the content.

NM

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars technical gem, October 5, 2001

By 

jim (ottawa,) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Submarines of World War Two (Paperback)

This book covers the technical side of the WW2 submarine story.
There are no adventure stories, just a country by country breakdown of the models of sumarines and their series within groups. Specs on history, physical size, range, armament,numbers
fielded, etc are generous. Diagrams and pictures are in good balance and there is a section on sub developement up to WW2.
This review is on the y2000 printing which I purchased sight unseen. The value of the book was 5 stars without doubt.