Customer Reviews

The Type VII U-Boat (Anatomy of the Ship)

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This is the sort of high quality work that one has come to expect from the Anatomy of the Ship series. There are excellent line drawings illustrating the variants and components of World War II Germany's Type VII U-boat, the type most in use during the war. Text is fairly sparse, but in addition to the line drawings, there are some color illustrations of individual U-boat markings and other support material. Essential reading for the U-waffe fan.

Third in the series of thirty six, this volume is aimed directly at modeller's, as such it lacks the technical detail of many of the others in the series (I found the 'Submarine alliance' the benchmark in Submarine reference).

Over 700 type Vii's were produced, this book covers the technical data for the major variants of the type. There are numerous photos and some history, but you buy a book like this for the line drawings, which, as usual are unsurpassed.

Almost impossible to get, there are a lot of cheaper alternatives, but it's like investing in a Rolls in comparision to a mass produced Hyundai.

Gunther Prien had one (U47 - the Snorting Bull), Otto Kretschmer had one (U99 - the Golden Horseshoe) and others too numerous to mention here also had one. What was is they had? A Type VII U-Boat and both collectively and individually those commanders made this craft one of the most successful submarines of all time. With that success came both fame and notoriety - not only for the dashing and daring captains, but also for the submarine itself. Even today, almost 60 years after the Type VII fired it's last torpedo, there are websites and members' clubs in many different languages dedicated to researching the finest detail of this specific ship and every aspect of the battles they fought. For all those ardent enthusiasts, for all those with a more general interest in World War Two and (speaking as an underwater photo-journalist) for scuba divers the world over, this book is exactly what is required.

Conway Maritime Press are well known for their "Anatomy of the Ship" series in which they provide the finest documentation for specific ships or ship types ever published. "The Type VII U-Boat" is hard-back measuring 10¼" (wide) x 9¾" with 95 pages of detailed and factual information. The wide format allows the publishers to produce first class detailed line drawings of every aspect of the ship in a size that is easy to see and follow. All the information is there - right down to the last nut and bolt.

Commencing with a potted service history of the Type VII and it's evolution during WW2, we are then treated to a series of "Tables" which provide us with the technical details of each derivative (i.e. Type VIIA through Type VIIF) followed by similar details for both the torpedoes, deck guns and their mountings. Next is 10 pages of historic photographs followed by 70 pages of detailed line drawings and technical information.

And detailed they are too; Under just one main heading "General arrangement - external" we have drawing after drawing showing every aspect of the 6 variants of this submarine itemising each of the slight changes made as the vessel evolved and improvements in design were made. Not only is the entire hull shown in both elevation, plan and cross-section, there are individual close-ups showing the different bridge layouts and deck gun configurations. Then everything is repeated for the internal features both longitudinally and by cross section - compartment by compartment, including such features as propulsion, steering, control room, engine room and quarters - to name but some.

Finally, we have the armament and fittings. With the original boats having one deck gun and later versions having two and with different calibre guns being introduced as the ship was improved, this section covers them all in great detail. This is followed by similar information on the shells fired before coming onto the different torpedoes used throughout WW2. Finishing off with various incidental fittings, this book is complete and I congratulate both the author and publishers for a job well done.

NM

This volume illustrates in fairly exquisite detail the inner workings and fittings for the Type VII U-Boat. The strutural interelation of the various compartments is particularly well presented. I found the quite detailed drawings of the deck weapons to be most interesting. The accompaning perspective drawings help give depth to the numerous sectional diagrams.

That said, the captional descriptions which are with the photographs are limited in what they convey. A prior knowledge of the development and deployment, as well as the operational evolution of the U-Boat service in the employment of the Type VII was helpful in comprehending the content of this book. As the title indicates, of course, this is not a technical or entirely historical treatment of the subject. Having a museum submarine (USS Drum at Mobile, AL) was also helpful in enjoying this book.

Good information on the type VII for general information. I was hoping for in-depth details on the actual systems. High pressure air system. Medium pressure and low pressure air systems. Bilge pump specifications. Hydraulic systems. Detailed pictures form the shipyards. Hull welds, type of rods used with HY80 steel, ie. high tinsel/high carbon center with softer cap welds? steel used in pressure hull ribs. How was the 2" thick pressure hull formed, maybe cold rolled, or pulled around the ribs with straps/cables/hydraulics and then welded or mabe even stamped? I would like to know the real how it was done. To build those boats under such stressful times with such quality is unbelievable. Those are crafts should not be forgotten. This book is great for the modeler and am very glad I bought it. I was hoping for more though.

As a WW2 u-boat historian - and a model u-boat builder- I recommend this book by David Westwood.
It gives overall informations of the type VII- especially VIIC- german u-boat workhorse of the WW2 u-boat war. Photographs, facts and very detailed and easy read drawings ( worked out from the original plans )gives the reader unpayable knowledge of the class.

Everyone interested in the history of u-boats will benefit from this book.

For model builders it is a great help in the work of completing their models and make them as detailed as possible.

Joergen H. Borgholt, Copenhagen, Denmark

The Battleship Yamato from Anatomy of the Ship series has all measures that you want to know, to buit your model. And it's regarding a ship that does not existe anymore. It's the opposite of this book: We have a Type VII C to study (U-995), and this book does NOT have any decent measures of the parts of this U-Boot. It's useless to the modeler that intends to buit from scratch. This book is only interesting at the pictures part. Nothing else. A great disappointment !!

Great book with many detailed pictures. Line drawings diagram many parts of the boat which will aid the modeler in a more accurate reproduction.

This book is a great reference for the plastic models buildings.
I recomend!
Best regards,