Gordon Williamson - Hitlers Navy: The Kriegsmarine in World War II

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This electronic edition published in 2022 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

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First published in Great Britain in 2022

Osprey Publishing Ltd, 2022

Gordon Williamson has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work.

This book is based on previously published Osprey books in the New Vanguard, Elite, Warrior, Campaign, Raid and Duel series, with new chapters written by the author. For a complete list of the source books, see Further Reading.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Noted U-Boat and Kriegsmarine historian Jak P. Mallmann-Showell has been, for many years, a good friend and great source of inspiration and support and was instrumental in introducing me to the U-Boat Archiv.

I would also like to express my thanks to the following individuals for their assistance:

Dave Bloor

Chris Boonzaier

Josef Charita

Thomas Huss

Detlev Niemann

Francois Saez

PHOTO ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

DEDICATION

This book and those individual volumes that preceded it would not have been possible without the gracious assistance of Horst Bredow, founder of the U-Boot Archiv, now known as the Deutsches U-Boot Museum. Herr Bredow and his wife Annemarie were a gracious host on my visits to the Archiv in Cuxhaven, allowing me not only access to the Archiv, but to reside in the Archiv building during my trips. Horst provided much help and encouragement and made available the photographic collection for my work. The U-Boot Museum is the world's foremost repository of information and photographs on the subject not only of the U-Boats of the Kriegsmarine but also of their forerunners in the Kaiserliche Marine of Imperial Germany and other aspects of the Kriegsmarine in World War II.

Horst Bredow sadly passed away on 22 February 2015 and is greatly missed.

CONTENTS

Unlike other maritime nations such as Great Britain, Germanys emergence as a major sea power did not occur until the late 19th century. Its access to the sea is of course along its northern borders, with its most important ports being those of the Hanseatic League, cities such as Hamburg, Lbeck, Bremen etc. Prussia, the most powerful of the Germanic nations, had its own navy, founded in 1701, this giving birth in 1867 to the so-called North German Federal Navy ( Norddeutsche Bundesmarine) when Prussia, primarily a land power, joined the North German Federation. Naval forces, such as they were, were primarily concerned with protection of the merchant fleet though there were some small scale skirmishes with French naval vessels during the Franco -Prussian War of 187071.