German Battlecruisers of World War One: Their Design, Construction and Operations Hardcover – December 15, 2014

As a young boy, two books fired my imagination into what became a life long passion for warships; Richard Hough's "Dreadnought" and H.W Wilson's "Battleships in Action". Hough's book presented an overall narrative of modern battleship development coupled with a lavish collection of photographs while Wilson's story covered them in combat through the First World War. Always at the center of those stories was the battlecruiser. Aside from N.J.M. Campbell's monograph on battlecruisers and tangential references in other works, the German battlecruiser remained unchronicled in English as they deserved. Thanks to Mr. Staff, the remarkable story of their development, design, and service records are available in one excellent volume.Underrated due to their smaller caliber armament, these ships were actually the first truly fast battleships; capable of meeting and defeating many of their British counterparts. A comparison of the armor sketch of Von der Tann versus her British rival Invincible clearly shows the superior scale of the German ship's protection. On paper, Invincible was faster and had a heavier broadside, but in battle, Von der Tann's smaller caliber guns and effective armor piercing shells sank Indomitable with a furry of closely spaced hits. In turn, thanks to their superior protection, Von der Tann and her sisters survived punishment that did sink three British battlecruisers. As Mr. Staff ably describes, the hidden strength of these ships progressively improved which each succeeding class.Staff's book informs the reader with a clear narrative, well executed drawings, 3D renderings, and a collection of magnificent photographs of the ships many of which I had not seen anywhere. They capture the workmanlike, low slung, deadly beauty of these ships. Excerpt's from battle and damage reports are smoothly made part of the narrative. Maps and operational histories show how active these ships were and their potential for striking at Norwegian convoy routes and the British blockade by the 10th Cruiser Squadron. An excellent complement to John Robert's "Battlecruiser" which chronicles their British counterparts.What I wish had been in the book was a side by side comparison of both navies' vision of these ships. Designed for the North Sea and short forays, the German ships traded freeboard for sea keeping and space for habitability as their crews lived in barracks not on board for better compartmentalization and more armor protection. British ships were designed for service in all seas and represented a philosophy that was weighted towards powerful broadsides meant to overwhelm an opponent quickly. Staff presents new information on flash problems by quoting Admiral Von Ingenhol's after action on Dogger bank where Seydlitz suffered a near catastrophic ammunition fire which burnt out two turrets. There is a mention of installing flash tight doors on ammunition hoists, but no information if they were installed prior to Jutland in her and other ships. Though he hints in damage reports that the German RPC 12 propellant burned less violently than British cordite, there is no real discussion on the topic or if any prewar testing may have impacted the ships' designs. There is no description of their fire control methods, armor piercing shell effectiveness, shell filler or revolutionary small tube boiler technology all of which led to their battle effectiveness. These are minor personal quibbles which in no way detract from Mr. Staff's terrific gift to us.Many of the premier naval authors I read growing up have passed on, but Mr. Staff has clearly picked up the torch to carry on for the next generation. I am eagerly looking forwards to his next book.

The books published by the Naval Institute Press have been quite uneven in quality of printing, text, research, illustrations, and technical information. I am happy to report this book is excellent in every way. A lavish Chapter is devoted to each of the seven German Battlecruisers completed between 1909 and 1917 in chronological order, beginning with SMS von der Tann and ending with SMS Hindenburg. There are also two chapters one each on ships that were never completed and one for designs that were never begun. Each Chapter begins with the design of the ship, followed by the construction, armament and information on subjects such anchors, search lights, Ship's Boats, etc. These are accompanied by drawings. Of particular interest to me are the overhead, profile and sectional drawings and Deck Plans which are included for almost all the ships. There follow short sections on the namesake of each ship, its commanders, trials and a detailed operational history. Maps are included showing movements in peace where applicable and in war time. Also a list of the officers aboard is included for the Ships which were at Jutland (all except Goeben and Hindenburg). Of great interest are the descriptions of damage sustained by six of the seven ships in the course of the War. The text seems be well researched and is concise and well written.The real treat in this book are the many well chosen and printed photographs, most of which I have never seen before. Many of these are of excellent quality and there some two page spreads showing the ships. The detail images are fascinating, particularly those showing where artillery or torpedo strikes occurred and the damage they caused, and also the damage that was prevented due to the armor of the ships.There are also two sections of color computer generated images which show details of each ship as well as full starboard, fore and aft view as well as from above. As for quality of binding and paper, they are very good, and I really like the 11.5" x 10" format. Some of the books published by the Naval Insyitute Press have been too small, so the plans, diagrams, etc. are hard to read. This is not a problem here.I would have liked to have seen more interior views and perhaps one full crew staffing list showing the different divisions of the ship. The price is a bit on the steep side, but worth every penny. The problem I have with this book are the numerous instances of incorrect usage and misspellings. The author often refers to the Battlecruisers in plural as Panzerkreuzers, instead of Panzerkreuzer. The rank Rear Admiral, Konteradmiral is consistently misspelled as Kontreadmiral throughout the book. Grosser Kreuzer is misspelled as Grossen Kreuzer as plural or Grosse Kreuzer as singular which is the plural form, Wacht Ingenieur as Watch Ingenieur, Erster Offizier as Ersten Offizier, etc. The usage of German should have been checked before printing.As a collector of Books on Navy Ships I can say without reservation this is the best book on German Naval Ships I have ever seen. I can only hope Mr. Staff will publish a companion book on German Battleship of Wold War I. I can not recommend this book highly enough. I would also recommend buying it sooner rather than later as Naval Institute Press have a tendency to go out of print.Review by Walter O. Koenig

In diesem Buch ist ALLES enthalten, was es über die deutschen Schlachtkreuzer des ersten Weltkriegs zu wissen gibt - inklusive Decksplänen, ausführlicher (fast schon minutiöser) Lebensgeschichte, Diagrammen der Schlachten an denen sie teilgenommen haben, massenweise Bildern, Zeichnungen und erläuternde Beschreibungen drumherum. Für Modellbauer ein absolutes Muss, für an Marinehistorie interessierte Menschen eine fast unerschöpfliche Fundgrube, für den Gelegenheitsleser aber wohl eher ein bisschen viel Detail und "Tiefgang". Der Preis ist nicht ohne, wenn man alles über diese Schiffe wissen will ist dieses Buch aber alternativlos.

Il ne manque pas grand'chose.Peut-être un paragraphe sur la direction de tir,une photo ou deux de l'épave du Lutzow.Le livre-référence.

Pedazo de libro. Bien documentado tanto técnicamente como fotográficamente. Es un libro de consulta que debe tener en casa para saber el diseño, construcción y operación de los battlecruisers alemanes

Best book ever saw on this subject - detailed description from design considerations to service career and include future project as well. Hope Mr Staff would do something for the battleships as well.

Ho letto il libro dalla prima all'ultima pagina. Il tema è assolutamente affascinante: gli incrociatori da battaglia tedeschi della prima guerra mondiale sono probabilmente tra le realizzazioni navali di maggior successo della loro epoca. Queste navi erano incredibilmente ben bilanciate e reali precursori delle navi da battaglia veloci degli anni 30 e 40. Sono interessato da molti anni nella storia delle realizzazioni navali del 20esimo secolo. Ho letto diversi libri sullo Jutland incluso il libro di Sheer ed Hase sulla famosa battaglia. Hase in particolare prestava servizio sul Derfflinger come capitano di corvetta ed ufficiale addetto all'artiglieria. Ho apprezzato il lavoro di Gary Staff perché è in grado di fornire una abbondanza di informazioni nuove riguardo ai criteri di progettazione e le caratteristiche tecniche di queste navi. La descrizione dei danni ricevuti in battaglia durante le loro intense carriere operative fornisce interessanti prospettive sulla validità dei criteri adottati dai loro progettisti. Ho apprezzato gli ultimi due capitoli dedicati alle navi progettate ed impostate ma non completate prima della fine della guerra: le classi Mackensen e Ersatz Yorck. Le illustrazioni digitali realizzate da Mardsen Samuel delle sette unità completate e della Mackensen sono splendide. Il libro fornisce interessanti spunti sullo sviluppo dei sistemi d'arma applicabili ancor oggi: le realizzazioni migliori dono quelle che riescono a bilanciare al meglio le loro differenti caratteristiche. Raccomando questo volume a chi è interessato alla storia delle realizzazioni navali militari del 20esimo secolo.