Military Model Scene

Title:  Battleships of the III Reich, vol.1

Author: Witold Koszela

Publisher:  MMP

ISBN:  978-83-65281-81-4

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A recent hardback book from Stratus/ MMP Books. Over 150 pages just packed with excellent history in this first volume covering the stories of the Battleships operated by the Kriegsmarine during WW2.

The opening section looks at the background history following the end of WW1.  From the second largest navy in the world, the conditions of the treaty reduced the size of the German Navy, limited the numbers of men and officers and thus affecting careers and restricted the number, type and size of the ships they operated. It was a recipe for future problems. This element includes a fine selection of archive photos, as is the case throughout the book, showing the old cruisers that had survived WW1 and then the newer ones which marked the move to newer vessels when the Nazis were in power.

Then the 4 main sections for the rest of the book tackle 4 battleships in detail.  For this first volume we see the Deutschland, the Admiral Scheer, the Admiral Graf Spee and finally the Scharnhorst.  For each of them we get a detailed account of their development and building along with their service histories. In addition to the archive photos which illustrate each one there are profile drawings, arrangement drawings and scale plans for each one.  At the back of the book are a set of fold out pages which hold a set of profile and plan views in colour, which illustrate the schemes worn by the ships at different stages in their careers.

A fine book for the WW2 naval historian and the modeller especially. With these 4 ships covered so well, volume 2 is something to look forward to.

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Thanks to MMP Books, who kindly provided my review copy.

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Robin