The German Pocket Battleship Admiral Graf Spee

Author: Stefan Draminski
Publisher: Top Drawings
ISBN: 9788364596308
Category : Battleships
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
The Deutschland-class ships were the first heavy vessels of the German Navy after the First World War. In Germany they were classified as "Panzerschiffe", but in other countries the term "pocket battleships" was very popular. The third and last vessel of this class was Admiral Graf Spee. She was laid down on 1 October 1932, launched on 30 June 1934 and commissioned on 6 January 1936. During the Spanish Civil War the ship patrolled coastal waters of this country. Before the outbreak of the Second World War, on 21 August 1939 the ship steamed out for the Atlantic. From 26 September she was fighting Allied shipping, sinking nine British vessels. On the morning of 13 December Graf Spee encountered a group of Allied warships (the heavy cruiser HMS Exeter and light cruisers HMS Ajax and HMNZS Achilles) near South American coast. The gun battle that ensued went to the history as the Battle of the River Plate. Both the Exeter and her German enemy were damaged during the course of the engagement. The commander of Graf Spee, Kapitän zur See Hans Langsdorff decided to break off the battle and enter the nearby port of Montevideo in Uruguay. According to the international law the German corsair could not stay in a neutral port longer than 72 hours. Convinced that massive British forces were concentrating in the vicinity and hence the escape was impossible, Langsdorf decided to save the crew and scuttle the ship. On 17 December Admiral Graf Spee steamed to the roadstead and there the explosive charges were fired. The German ship sunk in shallow waters and her commander shot himself three days later in a hotel in Buenos Aires. The wreckage was penetrated even during the war by British divers in order to recover more valuable items and obtain information about German technology. In the post-war years many single parts of the ship were recovered.

Pocket Battleships of the Deutschland Class

Author: Gerhard Koop
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 1473846714
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 469

Book Description
A concise, authoritative, heavily illustrated summary of this class of German WWII-era warships, covering their design histories and careers. The Deutschland class included three ships of a design so revolutionary that it defied conventional categories. Deutschland (later renamed Lützow), Admiral Scheer, and Admiral Graf Spee were simply termed Panzerschiffe (armored ships) by the Germans, but they were known to their opponents by the far more evocative term Pocket Battleships. Part of a six-volume series on the German Navy’s WWII-era warships written by Gerhard Koop and illustrated by Klaus-Peter Schmolke, this book contains an account of the development of the Deutschland class, a detailed description of the ships with full technical details, and an outline of their service, heavily illustrated with plans, battle maps, and a substantial collection of photographs.

German Pocket Battleships 1939–45

Author: Gordon Williamson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1780966180
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 102

Book Description
After the end of World War I, the German Navy came up with the concept of the Panzerschiffe, or Pocket Battleship, as a method of circumventing treaty limitations on the size and types of ship Germany was permitted to build. New, more modern production methods, where welded construction prevailed over the older riveting process, were combined with the development of modern engines capable of fast speeds and a very powerful armament, far superior to that on any enemy Cruisers. This book covers these three sister ships, the 'Deutschland', the 'Admiral Graf Spee' and the 'Admiral Scheer', which formed the core of the Kriegsmarine's fighting power at the start of World War II.

The Battle of the River Plate

Author: Dudley Pope
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1590136942
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Book Description
This tale of the Battle of the River Plate follows the machinations of the German war machine as Kapitan zur See Hans Langsdorff commands the pocket battleship Graf Spee on a mission to cripple British shipping. Through clever subterfuge and daring, the Graf Spee takes ship after ship, ultimately forcing the British Navy to send twenty ships in search of the elusive German vessel. Pope presents a true, enthralling account of the men, ships, and tactics that culminated in this naval action which so brilliantly began Britain's war at sea.

Langsdorff of the Graf Spee, Prince of Honor

Author: Joseph Gilbey
Publisher: Hillsburgh, Ont. : J. Gilbey
ISBN: 9780968599402
Category : Rio de la Plata, Battle of the, 1939
Languages : en
Pages : 224

Book Description

German Capital Ships of the Second World War

Author: Siegfried Breyer
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 147381460X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 686

Book Description
“Outstanding . . . covers the major units starting with the Deutschland Class, through the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, to the Bismarck and Tirpitz.” —WW2 Cruisers The Kriegsmarine’s capital ships—Deutschland, Admiral Scheer, Graf Spee, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Bismarck, and Tirpitz—continue to generate intense interest among warship enthusiasts, despite the fact that no new source of information has been unearthed in decades. What has come to light, however, is a growing number of photographs, many from private albums and some that lay forgotten in obscure archives. These include many close-ups and onboard shots of great value to modelmakers, as well as rare action photos taken during wartime operations. This book is a careful selection of the best of these, but on a grand scale, with around one hundred images devoted to each ship, allowing in-depth coverage of its whole career, from launching and fitting out to whatever fate the war had waiting for it. For sake of completeness, there are even sections reproducing the various design studies that led to each class, while an appendix covers the uncompleted Graf Zeppelin, Germany’s only attempt to build an aircraft carrier, the vessel which clearly displaced the battleship as the capital ship of the world’s navies during the war. Essays on technical backgrounds and design origins by the well-known expert Siegfried Breyer and explanatory captions by Miroslaw Skwiot draw out the full significance of this magnificent collection of photos. “Highly recommended for those who wish to admire seven of the most magnificent warships built anywhere in the twentieth century. We will certainly never see their like again.” —Journal of the Australian Naval Institute

Admiral Graf Spee

Author: Miroslaw Skwiot
Publisher: Super Drawings in 3D
ISBN: 9788362878567
Category : Crafts & Hobbies
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
The text part of this book describes technical specifications of the ship and her operational history in detail. This is accompanied by more than 100 color illustrations showing Admiral Graf Spee's appearance during the Battle of River Plate. Elements that are shown in detail include armament, rangefinders, radar, searchlights, catapult with aircraft, etc. In addition, superstructure's different camouflage schemes from the 1939 raid are shown. Blueprints in 1:350, 1:200, 1:100 and 1:50 scales (general views and details) are included on a separate sheet. This publication is an invaluable help to any modeler working on this ship's replica. REVIEWS Tackling Trumpeter's 1:350 kit? Fact-checking 1:700 offerings? Make this handy handbook your Graf Spee guide. Cybermodeler

River Plate 1939

Author: Angus Konstam
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472817966
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 100

Book Description
Days before the outbreak of World War II a handful of German commerce raiders put out to sea to prey on Allied merchantmen. Amongst them was the Panzerschiff ('armoured ship') Graf Spee, a formidable warship that boasted the firepower of a battleship but the size, speed and range of a cruiser. When World War II commenced, under the command of Captain Langsdorff the Graf Spee began a hunting spree across the South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean that eventual took her to the River Plate in search of her next victim – an Allied convoy. Instead she found three Royal Navy cruisers under the command of Commodore Harwood, eager to put an end to the 'pocket battleship' that had been terrorizing Allied merchant ships. Featuring full colour artwork, archive photographs and meticulous research, this comprehensive volume explores the thrilling story behind the Battle of the River Plate, an engagement that unquestionably demonstrated the effectiveness of British seapower and diplomacy on an international stage.

Battleship Bismarck

Author: William H. Garzke
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1526759756
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 968

Book Description
“A complete operational history of the Bismarck . . . with period photos [and] underwater photography of the wreck, allowing a forensic analysis of the damage.” —Seapower This new book offers a forensic analysis of the design, operation, and loss of Germany’s greatest battleship, drawing on survivors’ accounts and the authors’ combined decades of experience in naval architecture and command at sea. Their investigation into every aspect of this battleship is informed by painstaking research, including extensive interviews and correspondence with the ship’s designers and the survivors of the battle of the Denmark Strait and Bismarck’s final battle. Albert Schnarke, the former gunnery officer of Tirpitz, Bismarck’s sister ship, aided the authors greatly by translating and supplying manuscript materials from those who participated in the design and operations. Survivors of Bismarck’s engagements contributed to this comprehensive study including D.B.H. Wildish, RN, damage control officer aboard HMS Prince of Wales, who located photographs of battle damage to his ship. After the wreck was discovered in 1989, the authors served as technical consultants to Dr. Robert Ballard, who led three trips to the site. Filmmaker and explorer James Cameron has also contributed a chapter, giving a comprehensive overview of his deep-sea explorations on Bismarck and sharing his team’s remarkable photos of the wreck. The result of nearly six decades of research and collaboration, this is an “encyclopedic and engrossing” account (Naval Historical Foundation) of the events surrounding one of the most epic naval battles of World War II. And Battleship Bismarck finally resolves some of the major questions around her career, not least the most profound one of all: Who sank the Bismarck, the British or the Germans?

Attack on Pearl Harbor

Author: Alan D. Zimm
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1612001971
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 480

Book Description
ÒNothing previously published has offered such a close examination of Japanese strategy . . . an in-depth study of the Japanese planning, preparation and execution of the attack with particular focus on factors not thoroughly considered by other historians, if at all . . . detailed analyses that lead to a much better understanding of what the Japanese did, why they did it, and especially how the attack was very nearly an abject failure instead of a stunning success."ÑNaval Institute Proceedings "For seven decades, conventional wisdom has extolled the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor as brilliant in its planning and execution . . . this masterful analysis topples that pillar of Pacific War history . . . with its amazing depth of meticulous research and analysis, this forceful book is essential reading for anyone with a serious interest in Pearl Harbor."ÑWorld War II "The first militarily professional description of the Pearl Harbor attack, and for those who are serious about military history and operations, it is a joy to read. . . . a superb military analysis of the attack . . . not only renders all other histories of Pearl Harbor obsolete, it has set the bar high for other histories of the Pacific War."ÑWar In History