Battleship Bismarck: A Design and Operational History
Moderator: Bill Jurens
Battleship Bismarck: A Design and Operational History
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Amazon.co.uk has advanced notification of a new book on the Bismarck ;
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Battleship-Bis ... s=bismarck
Battleship Bismarck: A Design and Operational History
Hardcover
– 1 Dec 2018
by William H Garzke Jr (Author),
Robert O Dulin Jr (Author),
Bill Jurens (Author),
Assistant Professor of International Relations James Cameron (As (Contributor)
Hardcover: 476 pages
Publisher: US Naval Institute Press (1 Dec. 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1591145694
ISBN-13: 978-1591145691
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Amazon.co.uk has advanced notification of a new book on the Bismarck ;
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Battleship-Bis ... s=bismarck
Battleship Bismarck: A Design and Operational History
Hardcover
– 1 Dec 2018
by William H Garzke Jr (Author),
Robert O Dulin Jr (Author),
Bill Jurens (Author),
Assistant Professor of International Relations James Cameron (As (Contributor)
Hardcover: 476 pages
Publisher: US Naval Institute Press (1 Dec. 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1591145694
ISBN-13: 978-1591145691
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Re: New Book on the Bismarck - December 2018
Just for reference, the announcement itself is correct, except for the Associate Professor of International Relations part. Nobody seems to know exactly where that came from... None of us are professors.
Bill Jurens
Bill Jurens
Re: New Book on the Bismarck - December 2018
Bill hi. I hope you'll be taking a very hard look at the evidence as to when Bismarck opened on 24 May/41.Bill Jurens wrote:Just for reference, the announcement itself is correct, except for the Associate Professor of International Relations part. Nobody seems to know exactly where that came from... None of us are professors.
Bill Jurens
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Re: New Book on the Bismarck - December 2018
Bill,
Eagerly awaiting the book. I know it will be great because you are involved!
Eagerly awaiting the book. I know it will be great because you are involved!
"I will not have my ship shot out from under my ass!"
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Re: New Book on the Bismarck - December 2018
Thank you for the comments. My main area of expertise is technical rather than tactical, so I did not involve myself too deeply in the analysis of various actions, etc., particularly insofar as many details have now been lost or went unrecorded in the first place, leaving a rather convoluted 'Gordian knot' of often inconsistent, and perhaps inherently irreconcilable, anecdotal accounts to be untangled.
My own approach, as many correspondents will already know, is fairly conservative, largely based on documentary evidence. As the book represents a collaborative effort, some compromises had to be made. This means, of cours, that not all of the conclusions expressed are completely in congruence with my own interpretations, but the authors have, in most cases, been able to agree, at least in fundamentals. We have gone to some effort to discriminate unanimous conclusions from those which remain somewhat contentious.
I do hope the work does represent a useful and comprehensive reference on the subjects at hand.
Bill Jurens
My own approach, as many correspondents will already know, is fairly conservative, largely based on documentary evidence. As the book represents a collaborative effort, some compromises had to be made. This means, of cours, that not all of the conclusions expressed are completely in congruence with my own interpretations, but the authors have, in most cases, been able to agree, at least in fundamentals. We have gone to some effort to discriminate unanimous conclusions from those which remain somewhat contentious.
I do hope the work does represent a useful and comprehensive reference on the subjects at hand.
Bill Jurens
Re: New Book on the Bismarck - December 2018
Thanks, it will certainly be on my "must have" list.
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Re: New Book on the Bismarck - December 2018
This is great news!
I heard about this book a couple of years ago, and I'm glad it is finally being published.
I really look forward to this volume!
I heard about this book a couple of years ago, and I'm glad it is finally being published.
I really look forward to this volume!
Re: New Book on the Bismarck - December 2018
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I have had an e-mail from the UK publishers (Pen and Sword) stating that this book has now been released.
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Battles ... ck/p/16351
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I have had an e-mail from the UK publishers (Pen and Sword) stating that this book has now been released.
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Battles ... ck/p/16351
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Re: Battleship Bismarck: A Design and Operational History
I look forward to reading it.
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Re: Battleship Bismarck: A Design and Operational History
Hello gents,
Just got the book yesterday afternoon - 9.5 x 12in format; 600+ pages (incl index); SEVEN POUNDS IN WEIGHT. Lovely physical quality at first glance. Just diving in now.
Very much looking forward to having something new and interesting to discuss here.
B
Just got the book yesterday afternoon - 9.5 x 12in format; 600+ pages (incl index); SEVEN POUNDS IN WEIGHT. Lovely physical quality at first glance. Just diving in now.
Very much looking forward to having something new and interesting to discuss here.
B
Re: Battleship Bismarck: A Design and Operational History
What I'd going on? I have read today two reviewers saying that this book has disappointingly poor coverage of the engineering aspects of the ship like machinery and structural details. Is this really true that a 600-page book on a single ship fails to deliver? I did expect this to be the bible on the Bismarck with a greater depth of technical detail than in the Japanese Cruisers/Lacroix & Wells.
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Re: Battleship Bismarck: A Design and Operational History
I would agree mostly with this assessment. The book is very strong on the operational story and the wreck. There are many excellent photos of the ship as it is now, mainly taken during the Cameron 2002 expedition. There is a fairly detailed reconstruction of the probable trajectory of the ship from the moment of sinking to the ship arriving at where it is now. This is necessary to distinguish battle damage from damage occurring after the ship sank. Here the book is research level. There are diagrams showing where shells and torpedoes struck.
The discussion of the latter stages of its life on the surface is exceptionally detailed and based on interviews with survivors, participants and also with extensive material drawn from some of the other books on the subject.
On pure engineering details of the ship the book is strong. But in the main the description of the ship and the assessment of it in the pantheon of battleships contains little in it that is not in the authors' previous book on Axis Battleships. There is no reference to German source material such as Gkdos100, the paper by Hoyer or the German comparison of Bismarck with Richelieu. There is no reference to other relevant material such as the USNTME report. There is considerable material drawn from Brennecke but little about the ship itself as opposed to its operational history. The authors writing style is such that there is considerable repetition and even contradiction.
Consequently, overall I am finding the book a disappointment. It is good but could have been better.
Neil Robertson
The discussion of the latter stages of its life on the surface is exceptionally detailed and based on interviews with survivors, participants and also with extensive material drawn from some of the other books on the subject.
On pure engineering details of the ship the book is strong. But in the main the description of the ship and the assessment of it in the pantheon of battleships contains little in it that is not in the authors' previous book on Axis Battleships. There is no reference to German source material such as Gkdos100, the paper by Hoyer or the German comparison of Bismarck with Richelieu. There is no reference to other relevant material such as the USNTME report. There is considerable material drawn from Brennecke but little about the ship itself as opposed to its operational history. The authors writing style is such that there is considerable repetition and even contradiction.
Consequently, overall I am finding the book a disappointment. It is good but could have been better.
Neil Robertson
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Re: Battleship Bismarck: A Design and Operational History
Another omission in this book is any reference to the post-Jutland German designs for ships of the line and 'fast large fighting ships'. These were mostly of about the same size as Bismarck. While the ships of the line featured the usual sloping armor deck, the fast large fighting ships omitted this in favor of a torpedo bulkhead thickened to 60/70 mm. The hull forms of these ships were narrower but fuller than in Bismarck, which resulted in lower propulsive efficiency. They are well described in Deutsche GrossKampfschiffe 1915 bis 1918 by Friedrich Forstmeier, Lehmanns, Munich (1970). These ships rather than Baden were probably the starting point for the Bismarck design,
Neil Robertson
Neil Robertson
Re: Battleship Bismarck: A Design and Operational History
Since Mr. Jurens is a member of this board, I wonder if he could interject here and explain the reasons for the above-mentioned shortcomings? I do find it odd that with authors of such engineering backgrounds the end result is not THE engineering bible on the ship.