Dear Sirs,
I am researching the Kriegsmarine gunnery in W.W.II and I would be glad to obtain a suggestion from you experts regarding the best books on this subject in German and English.Thanks in advance to all.
Best regards,
Giuseppe Finizio
KRIEGSMARINE GUNNERY
Moderator: sniper1shot
One source may be:
Schmalenbach, Paul: "Die Geschichte der deutschen Schifsartillerie" (The history of German ship artillery).
IIRC, Schmalenbach was 2nd artillery officer of "Prinz Eugen" during the time of the Denmark Straight battle.
Later he became 1st artillery officer of that ship.
I do not know whether there is an English language edition, though.
Schmalenbach, Paul: "Die Geschichte der deutschen Schifsartillerie" (The history of German ship artillery).
IIRC, Schmalenbach was 2nd artillery officer of "Prinz Eugen" during the time of the Denmark Straight battle.
Later he became 1st artillery officer of that ship.
I do not know whether there is an English language edition, though.
Try Nihon Kaigun's site
Ironically enough, Nihon Kaigun' s site, dedicated to the Japanese Imperial Navy, (http://www.combinedfleet.com/kaigun.htm) has an absolutely fascinating study on factors affecting battleship gunnery, covering, among others, the Bismarck class. Well worth a look.
For technical details of all aspects related to gunnery (guns, mountings, and fire control) the bible is, of course, Joseph Campbell's Naval Weapons of World War Two, recently re-edited.
I also recall reading, in a badly written book about GEMA (maker of Seetakt radars), that the Kriegsmarine (KM) had refused GEMA's offer of lobe-switching even before the war, due to worries about complexity, shock-resistance and (lack of) operator skill, thereby missing the chance of radar bearing determination and, thus, blind-firing until late in the war. The book is "GEMA: birthplace of German radar and sonar", by Harry von Kroge. I would suggest interlibrary loan to check the reference as it is expensive, thin and badly-organized.
Cheers,
Otavio
For technical details of all aspects related to gunnery (guns, mountings, and fire control) the bible is, of course, Joseph Campbell's Naval Weapons of World War Two, recently re-edited.
I also recall reading, in a badly written book about GEMA (maker of Seetakt radars), that the Kriegsmarine (KM) had refused GEMA's offer of lobe-switching even before the war, due to worries about complexity, shock-resistance and (lack of) operator skill, thereby missing the chance of radar bearing determination and, thus, blind-firing until late in the war. The book is "GEMA: birthplace of German radar and sonar", by Harry von Kroge. I would suggest interlibrary loan to check the reference as it is expensive, thin and badly-organized.
Cheers,
Otavio