E-Boat vs MTB

E-Boat vs MTB PDF Author: Gordon Williamson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472859618
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 82

Book Description
An examination of the 'small boat' war between the Germans and the British in the English Channel. During the Second World War, German E-Boats were so active in the English Channel that the narrow stretch of water became known as 'E-Boat Alley'. To counter the threat of these E-Boats, Britain brought its coastal forces to bear – flotillas of small Motor Torpedo and Gun Boats (MTBs and MGBs) and Motor Launches (MLs). As the Germans sought to maintain their supremacy in Channel waters, they continued to develop their E-Boat designs to accommodate more armor and more firepower. Rather than matching the newer E-Boats for armament, the British developed several types to fulfill the varied roles for which the Kriegsmarine were attempting to use the E-Boat. Illustrated with high-quality photographs and battlescene artworks, this book details this developing conflict, examining the evolution of the boats involved, and covering their battles from fights in the Thames Estuary to the build-up for D-Day.

The War of the Motor Gun Boats

The War of the Motor Gun Boats PDF Author: A. J. Chapman
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1783462248
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 193

Book Description
Tony Chapman was born in Southampton in 1924. Aged 16 he watched with horror as the historic High Street of Southampton burnt to the ground in a firestorm caused by a heavy German bombing raid on the night of 30 November 1940. He vowed to join up and fight back. Tony joined the Navy.??Within hours of being posted to his first Motor Gun Boat, Telegraphist Tony Chapman was involved in an epic Coastal Forces engagement when his flotilla took on a force of thirty E-boats. Although their unit of two MGBs sank three E-Boats, it was at a high cost. Half of Tony's shipmates were killed or injured.??This was the start of an eventful and dramatic wartime service with these little warships. Tony's flotilla operated in the Mediterranean and Aegean where the Motor Gun Boats played a key role in this important but often neglected theatre.rnDaily life on these small ships is vividly described. The flotilla had a busy time showing the flag in the Levant and on combined operations in the Aegean with the Greek Sacred Regiment of Commandos. The culmination of their efforts was when Tony's boat, ML838, took the surrender of the Island of Kos in 1945.rnrnWritten from the perspective of one of the “other ranks”, War of the Motor Gun Boats fills an important gap in the literature of the Second World War.??As featured in the North Devon Journal and Exmoor Magazine.

Hitler's Navy

Hitler's Navy PDF Author: Gordon Williamson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472847938
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 416

Book Description
A complete illustrated study of the German Kriegsmarine throughout World War II. Hamstrung at first by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, during the 1930s, the German Navy underwent a programme of rearmament in defiance of the restrictions, building modern warships under limitations which forced technological innovation. Submarines were strictly prohibited by the treaty, and yet, following years of covert development, they became one of the Kriegsmarine's most deadly weapons. Blooded in the Spanish Civil War, the surface ships of the Kriegsmarine went on to play a crucial role in the opening salvoes of World War II during the invasions of Poland and Norway, although serious losses here set back plans for the invasion of Britain, and by the end of the war, only a handful of surface vessels remained to be divided up among the Allies. From the beginning of the war, but especially after the fall of France, the dreaded and extraordinarily successful U-boats stalked the Atlantic, threatening vital British shipping convoys and choking off the lifeline of munitions and supply from the US. Once Italy and Japan entered the war, German naval operations expanded to the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. This highly illustrated volume is a comprehensive study of the German Navy throughout the war, from pocket battleships to torpedo boats.

British Submarine vs Italian Torpedo Boat

British Submarine vs Italian Torpedo Boat PDF Author: David Greentree
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472814134
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 84

Book Description
As the war in North Africa escalated, Axis war efforts became increasingly dependent on supply lines across the Mediterranean. To try to cut off these lines of supply the British deployed submarines from the besieged island of Malta with the directive to sink as much merchant convoy tonnage as possible. Italy responded by sending her Torpedo boats to protect and escort Axis convoys. Featuring specially commissioned full-colour artwork and carefully chosen archive photographs, this engaging study assesses the evolving battle between Britain's submarines and Italy's torpedo boats in the struggle for primacy in the Mediterranean at the height of World War II.

The War for England's Shores

The War for England's Shores PDF Author: G H Bennett
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 1399077929
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 342

Book Description
The War for England's Shores examines the Kriegsmarine's S-Boat offensive along the English Channel and the North Sea from 1940 to 1945, together with British and, later, Allied responses to nullify that threat. Very fast, and armed with torpedoes and mines, S-Boats posed a serious threat to the convoys that were forced to run close along the British coast on a daily basis. Despite the significance of this campaign and the real threat to the whole British war economy, it has been, until now, strangely overlooked by historians. Indeed, the book highlights issues around the maritime identity of those states and navies that see themselves in oceanic terms, at the expense of engagement with, and operations in, coastal waters. Using an array of archival materials from Britain, Germany and the USA, The War for England’s Shores examines why the Germans failed to make the most of this opportunity to disrupt British trade. G H Bennett analyzes how the British slowly countered the threat by embracing new technologies and developing a system of sea control that gradually forced the German S-Boat arm from the offensive against Britain's coastal convoys, and on to the defensive in the months leading up to the invasion of France. The author also looks at the S-Boat campaign along these convoy routes in the context of present-day interest in littoral warfare, so that the work has a vital and current appeal and offers significant and surprising insights. The book offers an unparalleled exploration of a key moment in the development of coastal warfare, and will appeal to historians and enthusiasts as well as defense analysts and naval personnel.

Decision in the Atlantic

Decision in the Atlantic PDF Author: Marcus Faulkner
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 1949668037
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 334

Book Description
The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest campaign of the Second World War. This volume highlights the scale and complexity of this bitterly contested campaign, one that encompassed far more than just attacks by German U-boats on Allied shipping. The team of leading scholars assembled in this study situates the German assault on seaborne trade within the wider Allied war effort and provides a new understanding of its place within the Second World War. Individual chapters offer original perspectives on a range of neglected or previously overlooked subjects: how Allied grand strategy shaped the war at sea; the choices facing Churchill and other Allied leaders and the tensions over the allocation of scarce resources between theaters; how the battle spread beyond the Atlantic Ocean in both military and economic terms; the management of Britain's merchant shipping repair yards; the defense of British coastal waters against German surface raiders; the contribution of air power to trade defense; antisubmarine escort training; the role of special intelligence; and the war against the U-boats in the Arctic and Pacific Oceans.

Stand By for Action

Stand By for Action PDF Author: William Donald
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 1473818575
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 228

Book Description
A naval memoir of the Second World War by a sea-officer who was awarded a DSC for providing anti-aircraft defense along the Norwegian coast. The author of this compelling memoir proved himself one of the most successful small ship commanders during the Norwegian campaign in 1940, and then served at sea continuously throughout the rest of the War. In Norway, as second-in-command of a Black Swan sloop, he experienced the suspense and nervous strain of operating in the narrow waters of a twisting fjord under heavy air attack, but his humor was never far away. “I don’t want to appear fussy, but are we going to be greeted by cheers and kisses from Norwegian blondes, or a hail of gunfire from invisible Huns?” he remarked to his officers on approaching the small town of Andalsnes. His next task—in command first of a corvette and then a destroyer—was escorting East Coast convoys, and his experiences reflect the danger of this work against the menaces of E-boats, enemy aircraft and mines. He then took part in the landings at Anzio and the Normandy landings in 1944; finally, he rescued internees from the Japanese prison camp on Stanley, Hong Kong. His career was much helped by his highly developed sixth sense for danger, the deep affection of his crews and his affinity with cats which he believed brought him luck. This record of varied and almost incessant action ranks among the most thrilling personal stories of the war at sea.

The War at Sea in the Mediterranean 1940-1944

The War at Sea in the Mediterranean 1940-1944 PDF Author: John Grehan
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1783462221
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Book Description
Despatches in this volume include those covering the Battle of Matapan in 1941, Fleet Air Arm operations in 1940, the Battle of Sirte in 1942, the action with the Italian Fleet off Calabria (Central Mediterranean) in 1940, the engagement between British and Italian forces off Cape Spartivento (Central Mediterranean) in 1940, the Mediterranean convoys between January 1941 and August 1942 – which includes the famous Operation Pedestal, operations in the Aegean in 1943, the engagement with an Italian convoy in 1941, and the despatch covering Coastal Force actions, including those in the Mediterranean.??This unique collection of original documents will prove to be an invaluable resource for historians, students and all those interested in what was one of the most significant periods in British military history.??The Coastal Forces despatch also includes those vessels assigned to the Levant, Dover and Nore stations – i.e. outside of the Mediterranean theatre.

The Captain Class Frigates in the Second World War

The Captain Class Frigates in the Second World War PDF Author: Donald Collingwood
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473812984
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 218

Book Description
This is the first book to fully document the story behind the Frigates that played such a vital role during World War Two.
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