Alf R. Jacobsen

[Terje Langoy]

Hello...

My apologies if you're aware of this, Jose, but I could not find these books amongst your selection of naval books. I was browsing through a norwegian booksite when I came across a book upon the Scharnhorst written by Alf R. Jacobsen. This book is available in english so I'll just copy the book review found at this site. (bokkilden.no)

"The powerful German battlecruiser Scharnhorst was stalked and engaged on Boxing Day 1943 by a superior Allied naval task force off the North Cape of Norway. In pitch darkness and mountainous seas, British warships led by HMS Duke of York and HMS Belfast engaged Scharnhorst in a clash of the titans that saw the pride of the German Navy sent to the bottom of the Barents Sea with heavy loss of life among its crew of the 2000 or so men onboard, only 36 were saved. In 2000, the Norwegian writer and investigative journalist, Alf R. Jacobsen, led the expedition that found and filmed the wreck of the Scharnhorst 1000ft down in the freezing ocean inside the Arctic Circle. His book tells for the first time the complete story of this important World War II naval engagement and the eventual rediscovery of the ship. The story of the destruction of the Scharnhorst and the clandestine activities around the German naval base in northern Norway are interwoven with the author's personal account of how, after a search lasting many years, he finally succeeded in locating and filming the wreck of the battle cruiser"

The book is a hardcover published in 2003 by Sutton Publishing Ltd, and covers 224 pages with 30 illustrations. I know that he has also published another book called X-Craft versus Tirpitz, The mystery of the missing X5.
I'll copy the review of this one as well.

"Norwegian investigative journalist Alf Jacobsen relates one of the most incredible tales of the Second World War, in which Royal Navy X-craft midget submarines attacked the German battleship Tirpitz in Norway. A daring plan was hatched by the Admiralty to sink Tirpitz using midget submarines to plant high explosive mines beneath the ship's keel. On 22 September 1943, six X-craft midget submarines set out from Scotland to sink the battleship at anchor in Norway. Three never reached the fjord and X5, commanded by Lt Henty-Creer, was presumed sunk by the Germans, so only X6 and X7 made the attack. Both Lt Donald Cameron in X6 and Lt Godfrey Place in X7 placed their charges successfully, but were forced to surrender. Both were awarded the Victoria Cross. Although Tirpitz was not sunk she was put out of action until April 1944. Lt Henty-Creer, the commander of X5, and his crew were never seen again. Neither he nor any of his crew received any posthumous gallantry awards. Did X5 actually penetrate the anti-submarine defences around Tirpitz and lay its explosive charges beneath the battleship? If it did, then Henty-Creer and his crew deserve to be honoured for their bravery"

This hardcover book is also published by Sutton Publishing and covers 287 pages. Once again, my sincerest apologies if you're already aware of this, Jose...

Best Regards

[José M. Rico]

There is no need to apologize. You will probably find that there are many other books which are not included in the book section on this site. I need to update those pages.

I haven't read Jacobsen's books but they seem to be interesting.

Thanks for the post!

[_Derfflinger_]

Alf Jacobsen's book Scharnhorst is well worth reading. It not only provides more good background on this favorite KM ship, but in particular gives the reader a fascinating description of the life and intrigue on and around the ship as she sat in the fjords, from both the German and Norwegian perspective, and provides the details of the several searches and recent discovery of her wreck.

Derf