German E-boats 1939–45 (New Vanguard, 59)

I gave this to my 90-yr old friend who served on an "Schnellboot" during WWII. He was thrilled to see pics of his old boat and it brought back a lot of wartime memories for him. He is now a retired MD living in Arizona. This book has a lot of technical info and interesting, seldom seen photos of these torpedo boats in action. A good buy if you are making a model of an S-100 patrol boat.

Having read accounts of American PT-Boats in the ETO that had to contend with what they called "E-boats", I purchased Osprey New Vanguard #59 - German E-boats 1939-45 by Gordon Williamson. Really, I just wanted a good overview of these fast, lethal craft the Germans launched during WWII and I got a very good treatise on the subject. I was impressed with this book for packing a lot of data into such a small package. the author does a very good job of introducing the reader to the E-boat beginning with the impetus for such craft. He covers the development of this class of vessel as well as the construction, powerplants (they had a lot of trouble with suitable diesel engines - something you wouldn't expect for Germans), armament and internal layout. I must admit these craft seem more substantial than the American PT-Boat. I thought it interesting the Germans decided on internal torpedo tubes rather than being mounted on the deck as in the American equivalent. That these fine boats were never fitted with radar is very surprising. The different types of armament was interesting and certainly as heavily armed as their opponents. The author does give a brief operational history of the craft but not in the kind of detail one would like. It only briefly mentions their successes such as the disaster at Slapton Sands. Also, and unfortunately, there are no first-hand accounts from commanders or crew of these ships - something I consider a flaw in too many Osprey books. On the whole, this is a good title from Osprey and I give it four stars.

This came as described except for cover damage in packaging. I was given a partial refund and the item is fully functional. I am a bibliophile and can work on books, so the damage will be properly dealt with. The seller’s response was quick, less than 24 hours. I am very satisfied.

Easy to read and follow. Good photos and illustrations. Good reference material.

Typical of the new Vanguard books, the actual information is both limited and superficial, although the photos and diagrams partially make up for this shortcoming. Still, the overall quality is nothing like the old books. Basically, the new Vanguard books (including this one) are probably best viewed as a small collection of decent photos and good diagrams, for which you pay a relatively high price.

Great resource for German E-Boot model builders. Plenty of options model types and classes to help decide on your finished model.

This small book on German fast torpedo boats during World War II (E boats) makes the interesting claim that they were among the most cost-effective weapons systems of the German Navy. Although they needed to operate near the coast and were very vulnerable to air attack, the author notes that they sank a number of merchant ships, some destroyers, and even a handful of LSTs. Under these conditions, it is easy to see the value of arming merchant ships. The author also points out successes that the E boats had in laying mines in places where allies ships were expected to sail. As usual with the Osprey Vanguard series, the artwork and photographs are superb.

Again, my husband writes near term Science Fiction novels and uses these books as resource information as he develops plot lines dealing with time travel. Thank you for getting the book to me on time for his birthday!

ナチスドイツ海軍の魚雷艇の話です。 ドイツ海軍と言えばU－ボート（潜水艦）が有名ですが、もう一つ忘れてはならないのが、高速ボート達と思います。 再軍備後、数年で第二次世界大戦に突入し大型艦を揃える事が出来ず、英国海軍に対し圧倒的に不利な立場でしたが、短期間に大量を建艦可能な小艦艇は、それなりに健闘しています。 用途別に、S－ボート（魚雷艇）R-ボート（高速掃海艇）M-ボート（掃海艇）と分かれますが、本書はその中でもS-ボートの活躍を描いています。 245隻の魚雷艇は、ダイムラーベンツ、ディーゼル6000馬力のエンジンを響かせ、英国海峡や地中海、黒海と活躍しました。 島国である日本が、軽量小型のエンジンを開発できずアメリカの魚雷艇（PTボート）に後れを取ってしまったのとは対照的です。 この本は、題名をE－ボート（ENEMY＝敵）としたり、多分に批判的な記事が有る事も、英国で出版された本である事を感じさせます。 類書が他にないので、気楽に読める本としてはお薦めです。

Wenn jemand historische Romane ließt, und dann mal einfach wissen möchte, wie die Boote wirklich beschaffen waren, ist die information einfach sehr gut. Das gilt wirklich für die gesammte Buchreihe. Ich bin einfach nur ein gewöhnlicher Leser und bekomme mit diesem Büchlein genau das, was ich suche. Eine Vorstellung vom historischem Schnellboot. Für einen Historiker wir das wohl nicht reichen, aber was ich gesucht habe, habe ich mit dem Buch gefunden.

E' stato scritto con ampia ricerca ai dettagli tra una versione e l' altra. Quello di cui trovo difficile capire é perché queste navi avessero armamento scarso contrariamente a quanto ho letto in passato sulle pari classe inglesi. Oltretutto le torpedoboats inglesi mi pare portassero 2 siluri di riserva per ricaricare i tubi di lancio. Le Schnellboote no (così pare!). tgalland5

While definitely lacking in glamour, compared to the more impressive battleships and cruisers, the diminutive and relatively cheap S-Boote (E-Boats) came second in effectiveness overall, eclipsed only by the success of the U-Boots. Fast but flimsy, they managed some notable successes in sinking both lots of merchant shipping, as well as a good number of larger military vessels, including many destroyers. The book follows the standard Osprey format and is - at 48 pages - fairly condensed. Nevertheless, you get a solid introduction into the topic, covering the naval thinking that led to their design and deployment, to the various types in use (with descriptions and some basic technical data - the latter sadly not in a table format), the operational deployments and successes in the Channel, North Sea, Baltics, Arctic, Mediterranean and Black Sea theatres of operation and finally a summary on their use and effectiveness. As also common, the book comes with lots of pictorial material, as well as the usual colour plates, which should be helpful to modellers, as well as readers with a more general interest in the topic. While more comprehensive sources definitely exist, you will not go far wrong with starting here. There are also two books on the main adversaries of the E-Boats in the series, namely the British Motor Gun Boat 1939-45 (New Vanguard 166) and British Motor Torpedo Boat 1939-45 (New Vanguard) .

Eine an sich gute Darstellung. Die Entwicklung der einzelnen Schnellboottypen ist in der gewählten Textform zu unübersichtlich und die Frababbildungen sind zu dunkel. Dr. C.-J. Pickenpack British Motor Gun Boat 1939-45 (New Vanguard)