The U.S. Navy against the Axis tells the story of the U.S. Navy’s surface fleet in World War II with an emphasis on ship-to-ship combat. The book refutes the widely-held notion that the attack on Pearl Harbor rendered battleships obsolete and that aviation and submarines dominated the Pacific War. It demonstrates how the surface fleet played a decisive role at critical junctures. It was crucial to America’s ultimate victory and its story holds many lessons for today’s Navy and the nation as a whole.The U.S. Navy against the Axis describes how swift adaptability and intellectual honesty were fundamental to the Navy’s success against Japan. The underlying premise is that the nation cannot assume that in a conflict against conventional or asymmetric enemies; it holds title to the same virtues the Navy demonstrated three generations ago. Instead those lessons need to be constantly studied and affirmed in the face of postwar mythologies; lest they be forgotten.
#1466159 in Books Gerhard Koop Klaus Peter Schmolke 2014-04-15Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.40 x .50 x 7.40l; .0 #File Name: 159114163X160 pagesBattleships of the Bismarck Class Bismarck and Tirpitz Culmination and Finale of German Battleship Construction Warships of the Kriegsmarine
Review
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Good but not greatBy Max PrendergastThis is a good; concise history of the ships of the Bismarck class (Bismarck and Tirpitz). Since at least the 1980's; the books by the late Gerhard Koop (he died in 2005); originally published in Germany as hardcovers; were universally respected and considered excellent technical reference books on the Kriegsmarine. The chance to get them now in new paperback editions at very affordable prices is certainly good news; and those interested in this subject will definitely want to consider getting this edition. Nonetheless; with the passage of time; this may not be quite the pinnacle of references it once was. A number of carping details detract from the overall package:First; be clear that this is primarily a technical reference rather than an operational history. The Bismarck's operating career rates just a few paragraphs. The Tirpitz had more history; so gets more text; but still not much on operations. And oddly (IMHO); with text at a premium; two pages are devoted to brief biographies of both Chancellor Bismarck and Admiral Tirpitz.Second; this is a small book (roughly 9"x7" and 160 pages). As a consequence the detailed deck plans (pp 32-34) are nearly illegible. Careful application of a magnifying glass then reveals that the labels and captioning on the plans are in untranslated German.Third; illustrations are entirely in black and white; including camouflage paint scheme diagrams; and this does detract from them. Nonetheless; the book is profusely illustrated with photographs; which is certainly very good. While reproduction quality does not always seem to be of the highest (though the book is printed on slick paper); this may simply be a reflection of the quality of the originals. This may also be the only illustrated history of this class that does NOT include the famous underexposed shot of the Bismarck firing during the Battle of the Denmark Strait.None of the above makes this a bad book by any means. If you are interested in Bismarck or Tirpitz you really can't go wrong with this volume at a price under $30; just don't be disappointed.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A great book; but...By Book GuyLike all the books in this series; this is packed full of details and photographs. A very useful book for those interested in this subject. Here's where the but comes in... I have had two copies of this particular edition and both were/are missing pages 1-7 and page 14 is blank. In the first copy I purchased; which I returned for the above reason; I discovered this fault. The replacement copy repeated the original problem. So I decided to retain the second copy regardless of the fault seeing as how the problem was likely to effect all or most of the books in this edition. So buyer beware...0 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Excellent material!!By Mr. D. R. FirbankAs a "wanna be" modeller; research material such as Mr. Koop's' is invaluable. The only thing missing is info that is not available to anyone; or still being filled away un-noticed.
