U-boats of the Kaiser's Navy (New Vanguard) (Paperback)

~ Gordon Williamson (Author), Ian Palmer (Illustrator) "Overall administrative control of the Imperial Navy was the responsibility of the Reichs Marine Amt (Imperial Naval Department or RMA)..." (more)
Key Phrases: deck armament, officer accommodation, four torpedo tubes, Kaiserliche Werft, German Navy, Great Britain (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

As was the case in World War II, one of the greatest threats to Britain during World War I was the German U-boat menace. This book traces the development of the U-boat threat from the Brandtaucher, designed by Wilhelm Bauer, the father of the German submarine arm, in 1850, through to the commissioning of Germany's first U-boat to go into service, the U-1, in 1906. It then covers the main types of World War I U-boat, detailing the operational history of the U-boat service in depth, with a particular focus on the campaigns in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, as well as the slow build up of anti-submarine measures by the allies.

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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.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (March 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841763624
• ISBN-13: 978-1841763620
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.1 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #643,673 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Notable by what is missing, April 16, 2002

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

U-Boats of the Kaiser's Navy is a brief survey of the early development of the German submarine service in 1906-1914 and operations in the First World War. Much of this thin volume is focused on the technical characteristics of the early U-Boats, and it does succeed in detailing the main features of the various early German submarine classes. Various sections cover the early development years, the various U-Boat classes, power plants, weapons and optics. German U-Boat operations in the First World War are covered in the last 13 pages of this volume, with sections covering one year at a time. The illustrations in the center of the volume mostly depict the various U-Boat classes, as well as a 2-page interior cutaway diagram of a Type UBIII submarine. Overall, U-Boats of the Kaiser's Navy is an adequate survey of its subject, but the coverage of some areas is marginal to nil.

A major deficiency of this volume is the lack of much statistical compilation effort by the author. While the author does mention the total number of U-Boats built, he fails to mention that a total of 178 were lost in the First World or that 5,000 crewmen were lost with those boats. The cause of U-Boat losses in the First World should also have been included, but it is not. The author does not ever bother to tally up total U-Boat achievements in either terms of tonnage or vessels sunk, nor are several top U-Boat commanders even mentioned. None of these statistics would have taken much space, just effort. Finally, the author's narrative ends at the armistice in 1918, without even bothering to mention the ultimate fate of the Kaiser's U-boats. The fact that Germany lost its entire U-Boat arm as a result of the war is not even mentioned.

The author provides very little assessment of the U-Boat campaign, but what he does provide is faulty; he notes, "the U-Bootwaffe [service] had represented Germany's only real chance to achieve a successful conclusion to the war." This assessment is ridiculous because it ignores the fact that Germany's idiotic decision to pursue unrestricted submarine warfare was the primary cause of American intervention in the war. Had the Kaiser forbidden unrestricted submarine warfare, the United States would have remained neutral and after 1917 Germany would have been fighting only a one-front war against the exhausted French and British armies. Without unrestricted U-boat warfare, Germany had a very real chance to achieve a military stalemate and a favorable negotiated peace in 1918. Furthermore, the great German U-boat campaign that the author promotes completely failed to stop the shipment of 2 million American doughboys to the Western Front; only 56 American servicemen were lost to U-Boat attacks. The author's final conclusion that the Kaiser's U-boats were not militarily defeated rings hollow; 50% of the boats commissioned were lost and while they inflicted serious damage, German U-boats failed to achieve their strategic objectives.

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative, May 7, 2009

By	Bernard Clemmons III "Soldier369" (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an excellent book for the novice. It contains enough information to wet your appetite.