"The German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen was a remarkable vessel by any standard. She was arguably one of the most handsome major warships ever constructed. The third ship of the Admiral Hipper-class and named for a French hero of the Austrian Empire, the ship represented the spirit and tradition of the old Austro-Hungarian Royal and Imperial navy. She participated in some of the most interesting naval actions of World War II in European waters including the Battle of the Denmark Strait where she helped the German battleship Bismarck sink the British battlecruiser Hood, and the Channel Dash ten months later when she sailed through the English Channel in broad daylight, successfully repelling British sea and air attacks along the way. She fought the Russians in the Baltic and was the largest German warship to survive the war"--

Following the defeat in the World War I, the Treaty of Versailles limited the tonnage of the German Navy to 144 thousand tons. Moreover, the treaty stipulated that new warships could only be built to replace the decommissioned ones. In 1921 a new law was enacted which brought about the creation of the Reichsmarine. The few warships that Germany was allowed to keep were modernized and new ones were being built to replace the obsolete ones. Construction of light cruisers was a priority and the first of those, built to replace the Niobe launched in the 19th century, was the Emden. In 1927, during the disarmament conference in Geneva, Germany demanded equal right as far as the expansion of the navy was concerned. Those demands were rejected, therefore, the Reichsmarine drew up the "expansion plan". It stipulated construction of new warships within the coming years, including submarines, which were forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles...

The warships of the World War II era German Navy are among the most popular subject in naval history with an almost uncountable number of books devoted to them. However, for a concise but authoritative summary of the design history and careers of the major surface ships it is difficult to beat a series of six volumes written by Gerhard Koop and illustrated by Klaus-Peter Schmolke. Each contains an account of the development of a particular class, a detailed description of the ships, with full technical details, and an outline of their service, heavily illustrated with plans, battle maps and a substantial collection of photographs. These have been out of print for ten years or more and are now much sought after by enthusiasts and collectors, so this new modestly priced reprint of the series will be widely welcomed.??This volume covers the Admiral Hipper class, among the largest heavy cruisers to serve in World War II. Intended to be a class of five, they enjoyed contrasting fortunes: Seydlitz and LÙtzow were never completed; BlÙcher was the first major German warship sunk in action; Admiral Hipper became one of the most successful commerce raiders of the war; while the Prinz Eugen survived to be expended as a target in one of the first American nuclear tests in 1946.

Designed and produced under the regulations of the Washington Naval Treaty, the heavy cruisers of the Pensacola, Northampton, Portland, New Orleans and Wichita classes were exercises in compromise. While they possessed very heavy armament – the Pensacolas, for example, carrying a main battery of ten 8” guns – this came at the cost of protection – armor was the same thickness as a gun cruiser, and incapable of protecting the vessels from enemy 8” fire. As the classes evolved, these flaws began to be corrected, with the main battery being reduced, and increased protection being added to the vital areas of the ship. Despite these drawbacks, the pre-war heavy cruiser classes served with distinction throughout World War II.

The Bismarck is perhaps the most famous – and notorious – warship ever built. Completed in 1941, the 45,000-ton German battleship sank HMS Hood, the pride of the British Navy, during one of the most sensational encounters in naval history. Following the sinking, Bismarck was chased around the North Atlantic by many units of the Royal Navy. She was finally dispatched with gunfire and torpedoes on 27 May, less than five months after her completion. Her wreck still lies where she sank, 4,800m down and 960km off the west coast of France. Drawing on new research and technology, this edition is the most comprehensive examination of Bismarck ever published. It includes a complete set of detailed line drawings with fully descriptive keys and full-colour 3D artwork, supported by technical details, photographs and text on the building of the ship and a record of the ship's service history.

The subject of this volume is the largest and most sophisticated German cruiser class of WW2. The five ships suffered very different fates. Blucher was sunk during the invasion of Norway in 1940, whereas Admiral Hipper fought right through the war. The most famous, Prinz Eugen, escaped when Bismarck was sunk and survived to be expended in a postwar

Equipped with the largest guns and heaviest armour and with the greatest displacement of any ship ever built, the Yamato proved to be a formidable opponent to the US Pacific Fleet in the Second World War. The book contains a full description of the design and construction of the battleship including wartime modifications, and a career history followed by a substantial pictorial section with rare onboard views of Yamato and her sister ship Musashi, a comprehensive portfolio of more than 1,020 perspective line artworks, 350 colour 3D views, and 30 photographs. The wreck of Musashi has been recently discovered to great excitement in Japan, renewing interest in these iconic warships. Janusz Skulski's anatomies of three renowned ships of the 20th century Japanese navy are among the most comprehensive of the Anatomy series with hundreds of meticulously researched drawings of the ships. Since their first publication he has continued to research the ships and has now produce a more definitive anatomy than was possible then. He has teamed up with 3D artist Stefan Draminksi who produces superb realistic renditions of the ships that bring a whole new level of detail to the portraits of the ships. This new editions is a genuine 'Super Anatomy' containing the most detailed renditions of these ships ever seen.