New Vanguard – serie

An illustrated study of the big guns of Hitler's army – the Wehrmacht's field artillery, its capabilities and its role in German fighting units of World War II. Often overshadowed in military history by the tanks and aircraft of Blitzkrieg, Germany’s artillery was key to its methods of waging war throughout World War II. Field artillery remained the primary killer on the battlefield, often responsible for three-quarters of combat casualties inflicted.Redressing the balance, this book surveys the major Wehrmacht guns of the war, and the basic organizational structure of the German field artillery. Its primary focus is on the divisional field guns, especially the lFH 18 10.5cm field howitzer and the 15cm sFH 18 field howitzer that formed the backbone of German artillery. A brief survey is also made of the infantry guns used at the regimental level, and of corps-level heavy artillery. The issue of the use of"Beutewaffen,” captured war-booty field guns, is also looked at, as is the Nebelwerfer and schwere Wurfgerät rocket artillery. With archive photos and meticulously detailed new illustrations, this book provides a concise study of the German Army’s big guns of World War II, how they were organized and how they were used, both on the Eastern and Western fronts.

The German 88 mm was by far the most famous and versatile artillery weapon of World War II.It was first used as an anti-aircraft weapon by the Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War and saw further service in the German invasions of Poland and France, where it was first used in its anti-tank role. This role was particularly successful and the 88 became feared by tank crews from North Africa to Russia. Apart from these two main roles the 88 mm was used as the main weapon on late-war German tanks, as a self-propelled gun, and even as an aerial weapon.This book covers all these variants, explaining their design, development and operational use.

Through World War II the US Army worked on projects for new heavy tanks, which are charted in this illustrated study of the M6 and the never-built T14, T28, and Pershing-derived designs.In this book, world-renowned armour expert Steven J. Zaloga examines the US Army's efforts to field a heavy tank in World War II. The first design was the M6, which never saw combat use despite being type classified. The heavy T14 assault tank, earmarked for the British under Lend-Lease, was also developed, while the M4A3E2 assault tank went into production as a stopgap for the 1944 campaign in France. The most outrageous US tank project of the war was the T28/T95 superheavy tank, which was so large that it required four sets of suspension bogies instead of the usual two. The M26 Pershing medium tank program also spawned a number of heavy tank projects, such as the T29, T30 and T34, which are also examined. Although production of these was envisioned in 1945–46, the end of the war put an end to any possibility of serial manufacture. Nevertheless, these tanks were heavily influenced by World War II lessons and their development and technical features are examined. Illustrated with rarely seen archive photos and meticulously illustrated new profiles of the key designs, this book traces the US Army’s efforts to develop heavy tanks comparable to the German Tigers, and the reasons why such monstrous machines were never required.

The light cruiser was a natural development of the sailing frigate – a fast multi-purpose warship that could patrol the sea lanes, protect convoys and scout for enemy battle fleets.By the inter-war period the need for this type of ship was even more important, given the increasing need for protection from aircraft, and the need to screen the fleet from submarines or destroyers. Wartime experience had shown that the British light cruiser was one of the most versatile types of ship in the Royal Navy, able to protect other warships, bombard enemy shores, guard life-saving convoys and intercept and destroy enemy warships.This book details these workhorses of the wartime Royal Navy. While the battleships and carriers grabbed the headlines, these sleek, elegant warships quietly got on with the job of securing control of the seas.

The idea of a heavy cruiser emerged in the aftermath of World War I, and was closely linked to the limits set by the inter-war Washington Naval Treaty.The pre-World War I concept of armoured cruisers had been abandoned, but in their stead the Admiralty saw a place for powerful cruisers, able to patrol the sea lanes of the British Empire, and which were well-armed enough that they could destroy enemy commerce cruisers. The result was a group of British warships, known as the 'Washington Treaty Cruisers', that did everything the Admiralty wanted, but which conformed to the limits imposed by the treaty.This book explores these impressive, high-sided, spacious and stately vessels – perfect peacetime ambassadors for British power. In war they also packed a considerable punch. During World War II the Royal Navy's thirteen heavy cruisers saw service in every theatre of the war, whether facing the Bismarck in the North Atlantic or enduring kamikaze attacks in the Pacific.

In 1910 the first aircraft was successfully launched from a small wooden platform on a stationary ship. Just four years later, seaplane-carrying warships were being used to launch the first naval air raids, and by 1918 the first aircraft carrier to feature a full-length flight deck was in service.High quality artwork and historical photographs help author Mark Lardas tell the fascinating story of the pioneering years of naval aviation, covering such historic clashes as the Japanese siege of Tsingtao, the British raid against German Zeppelin bases at Cuxhaven and the Battle of Jutland, which saw the first airplane take part in a naval battle.Through detailed analysis he explores their development from hastily adapted merchant ships to the launch of HMS Argus, the first aircraft carrier to have a full-length flight deck, and shows how they paved the way for the aircraft carriers of the future.

An expert guide to the tanks that fought for the Axis in the Italian Campaign between 1943 and 1945, the least-known armoured campaign of World War II.World War II came to Italian soil in 1943 with the landings in Sicily, which the Wehrmacht tried to crush using substantial Panzer offensives. Over the next two years the Allies fought their way north, through some of the most difficult terrain of the war, until the final battles in the Po Valley in the spring of 1945. In this book, world armour expert Steven J. Zaloga offers a unique survey of Axis armour in the campaign, including the many types of tanks used, their roles and battlefield performance. The Italians deployed a variety of tanks on Sicily in 1943 including war-booty Renault R 35 tanks as well as their best tank destroyer, the Semovente 90/53, while a little-known rump Italian fascist army remained in combat until 1945, equipped in some cases with German tanks. Meanwhile Germany began its campaign equipped with leftovers from North Africa, but later deployed a much more substantial Panzer force. After the armistice Italy's industries continued to manufacture tanks for the Wehrmacht, giving it an exotic selection of both German and Italian tank types. Illustrated with superb new profiles and including many previously unpublished photos, this book is an essential guide to the tanks that fought the Axis’ least-known armoured campaigns.

Built for mobile antitank firepower, the Marder family combined the superb 7.5cm antitank gun with existing light tank chassis. Fully illustrated, this studies their design and use.The appearance of T-34 and KV tanks in 1941 forced the Wehrmacht to field a more powerful antitank gun, the 7.5cm PaK 40. Although an excellent weapon, the towed gun was heavy, awkward to employ, and vulnerable to enemy counter-fire. At the same time, many light tanks had become obsolete even though their chassis was still useful.In this book, armor expert Steven J. Zaloga presents a study of how these obsolete tanks and the superb new gun were combined to create the Marder family of tank destroyers. The Marder I used captured French Chenilette Lorraine chassis, and subsequently other French light tanks such as the Hotchkiss H39 and FCM36, while the Marder II was based on the PzKpfw II chassis. The Marder III was the most significant of the new types, built on the Czech PzKpfw 38(t) chassis. The Marder family reached its peak production in 1942, constituting over 18 percent of new German Panzers, and production ended in 1944.Packed with rare photos and original artwork, this book explores the designs, capabilities, and employment of the Marders, as well as the little-known and largely unsuccessful late-war attempts to produce further self-propelled 7.5cm PaK 40 vehicles on half-track, armoured car and tractor chassis.

From 1943 the British began the design of a tank that bore distinct similarities to the German Panther tank.Designed as a Universal Tank, the design emerged in mid-1945 as the Centurion, used in action by the British Army in 1991 during the Gulf War. It has also seen action with the Israeli Defence Forces, the Indian Army in the wars with Pakistan and the Australian Army in Vietnam.This book details all the variants of the Centurion used in these conflicts as well as covering the specialised variants used by the British in the Gulf War.

The German A-4 ballistic missile, better known by its propaganda name of V-2, was the world's first successful ballistic missile, breaking through the atmosphere to reach its target quicker.It was a forerunner of Cold War ballistic missiles and its combat use in 1944-45 set the pattern for the use of Scud ballistic missiles in recent decades. The V-2 offensive lasted from September 1944 until March 1945 with over 3,000 rockets being launched.This book examines the combat record of the V-2 in World War II, with a special focus on how a German missile battalion actually prepared and fired its missiles.

The first illustration of a cannon in Europe can be dated quite precisely to 1326. This book explores the development of gunpowder, the earliest appearance of cast-bronze cannon in Western Europe, followed by the design and development of the wrought-iron cannon. The wrought-iron hoop-and-stave method of barrel construction was a system that came to dominate medieval artillery design both large and small until the end of the 15th century, and saw the cannon used not only as a prestige weapon, but start to be used as a practical and terrifying weapon on the medieval battlefield. In 1453, the Ottomans'' conquest of Constantinople, with their extensive artillery, marked the triumph of medieval firepower. The book will focus on the technology and tactics of early European artillery on both sea and land, and assess its impact on medieval warfare.

During the middle decade of the 16th century a new type of sailing vessel emerged, designed to carry the wealth of the Americas to Spain.This was the galleon, and over the next century these vessels would serve Spain well as treasure ships and warships, becoming a symbol of Spanish power and wealth during the period. The development and construction of the Spanish galleon are discussed in this book, and the ordnance and crewing needed to produce and maintain these stately vessels is covered.The author also examines the role of the galleon as a treasure ship, and describes how these ships were manned and fought in action.

The tiny new state of the United Provinces of the Netherlands won its independence from the mighty Spanish empire by fighting and winning the Eighty Years’ War, from 1568 and 1648.In this long conflict, warfare on water played a much bigger role in determining the ultimate victor. On the high seas the fleet carved out a new empire, growing national income to such levels that it could continue the costly war for independence. Yet it was in coastal and inland waters that the most decisive battles were fought. Arguably the most decisive Spanish siege (Leiden, 1574) was broken by a fleet sailing to the rescue across flooded polders, and the battle of Nieuwpoort in 1600, the largest successful invasion fleet before World War II, was one of the most decisive battle in western history.Using detailed full colour artwork, this book shows how the Dutch navies fought worldwide in their war of independence, from Brazil to Indonesia, and from the Low Countries to Angola.

Examines and analyses how the Soviet tank forces that fought at Stalingrad were rejuvenated in the months leading up to the battle, and the role they played in this iconic campaign. The Stalingrad campaign was a major turning point of World War II. The German Sixth Army’s 22 divisions and 250,000 troops were encircled and destroyed, while the Soviet 62nd Army’s desperate defense of the city and the suffering of the starving German troops receives much justifiable attention. Here, Soviet armor expert William E. Hiestand draws attention to the less-covered element of the battle: the reborn Soviet tank and mechanized corps that delivered the death blow to Hitler’s hopes. He explains how in summer 1942, the Soviet tank forces were failing to reach their potential; despite being equipped with superb T-34 and heavily armored KV-1 tanks, the Red Army’s newly formed tank corps were unable to integrate their armored thrusts with supporting infantry and artillery, and their disjoined attacks were repeatedly shattered. By November 19, however, Soviet organization, command and control, training, and tactics had matured, allowing the Fifth Tank Army to launch the decisive penetration through the Romanian Third Army.Packed with rare archive photos and superb profiles of the tanks involved, this book shows that it was at Stalingrad that the Red Army’s armored spearhead evolved into a force that could dominate the Eastern Front.

This, the first of two volumes on Germany's World War II U-boats, traces their development from the early U-boats of the Kaiser's Navy, culminating in the formation of the 1st U-boat Flotilla in 1935 with the modern Type II.Gordon Williamson explores key moments in the U-boats' history, such as the prohibition on Germany having U-boats following the Armistice in 1918 and the subsequent Treaty of Versailles, and the secret development of U-boats using a 'cover-firm' in Holland.The operational history section includes examples from the Classes Type VIIA, Type VIIB, VIID, VIIE and VIIF before concentrating on the mainstay of the U-boat arm, the Type VIIC. Comparisons are also made with the standard allied submarines, their strengths, weaknesses and U-boat tactics.

Following on from New Vanguard 51: Kriegsmarine U-boats 1939–45 (1), this book charts the continuing development of the U-boat in German service, including the evolution of the Type IX as a long range 'cruiser' intended for solo operations in distant waters.Also covered is the revolutionary Type XXI, conceived of in 1942 and launched in April 1944, the first true submarine rather than submersible, whose arrival was just too late to influence the war. Other vessels covered are the Type XXIII, a small vessel armed with only two torpedoes but technically highly advanced, and the Type X minelayers, which were rarely used in their intended role and more often used as supply boats.

The German Navy of World War II was small in number, but contained some of the most technologically advanced capital ships in the world.This meant that although the Kriegsmarine never felt capable of encountering the might of the British Navy in a fleet action, her ships were individually more than a match for the outdated vessels of the Royal Navy. Nowhere was this more the case than in Germany's fleet of light cruisers. There were only six vessels in this fleet: the Emden, Leipzig, Köln, Königsberg, Karlsruhe and Nurnberg.This book describes their design, development and varied operational history throughout the course of the Second World War.

The German destroyer fleet of World War II consisted of nine classes: the Diether Von Roeder Class, the Leberecht Maas Class and the wartime classes Z23, Z35, Z37, Z40, Z43, Z46 and Z52.These vessels, though fewer in number than the British destroyer fleet, tended to be much bigger and more powerful than their allied counterparts. They served their country well in operations in the Channel, North Sea, the Far North and in the rescue of civilians from East Prussia during the final days of the war. This title describes their design, development and operational use from the fjords of Narvik to the final days of the war.

Formidable and sophisticated, triremes were the deadliest battleships of the ancient world.At the height of their success the Athenians were the dominant exponents of their devastating power. Primarily galleys designed to fight under oar power, their main weapon was a bronze-plated ram situated at the prow.This book offers a complete analysis of the most potent battleship of its time; the weapon by which Athens achieved, maintained and ultimately lost its power and prosperity.

Illustrated throughout, this uncovers the hundreds of British and French warships in the Dunkirk evacuation, whose actions have been overshadowed by the fame of the ‘Little Ships’.In this book, naval historian Angus Konstam examines the backbone of the Dunkirk evacuation fleet: the warships of the Royal Navy and French Navy that were ordered into action to rescue the British Expeditionary Force. Nearly 50 destroyers, an anti-aircraft cruiser, and more than 200 MTBs, minesweepers, trawlers, and other small warships were involved, as many as could be spared without recklessly endangering naval strength. He highlights the lack of decent anti-aircraft defences available to the Allies in 1940, and shows how improvised weaponry were used to help fend off the Stukas. Dunkirk was the first naval operation of World War II to be carried out under sustained air attack, and nearly a fifth of the destroyers and a quarter of the smaller vessels were sunk, with more badly damaged. Illustrated with archive photos, profiles illustrating the range of both British and French warships involved, and dramatic original artwork, this studies the naval side of the greatest evacuation of World War II.

The Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marina) operated one of largest cruiser forces of World War II.As a signatory to the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty, the Regia Marina immediately attempted to reinforce its treaty-limited battleship force by building seven large 10,000-ton heavy cruisers. Italian light cruisers also possessed an interesting design history and were involved in every major fleet engagement in the Mediterranean, as well as several smaller encounters with units of the British Royal Navy. Fully illustrated with specially commissioned artwork, this fascinating volume examines the history of the Regia Marina’s cruisers during World War II where they came up against the might of the British Royal Navy.

This fully illustrated study details Germany and Italy’s failed development of World War II aircraft carriers, and the naval aviation ships that the two Axis powers sent into action in their place.The quest for a modern aircraft carrier was the ultimate symbol of the Axis powers’ challenge to Allied naval might, but fully-fledged carriers proved either too difficult, expensive or politically unpopular for either to make operational. After the Anglo-German Naval Agreement of 1935, Hitler publicly stated his intention to build an aircraft carrier, the Graf Zeppelin, which was launched in 1938. A year later, the ambitious fleet-expansion Z-Plan, was unveiled with two additional aircraft carriers earmarked for production . However, by the beginning of World War II, Graf Zeppelin was not yet completed and work was halted. Further aircraft carrier designs and conversion projects such as the ocean liner Europa and heavy cruiser Seydlitz were considered but, in January 1943, all construction work on surface vessels ceased and naval resources were diverted to the U-boat Campaign.This book explains not only the history of Germany’s famous Graf Zeppelin fleet carrier and German carrier conversion projects but also Italy’s belated attempt to convert two of her ocean liners into carriers. It considers the role of naval aviation in the two countries’ rearmament programmes and describes how ultimately it was only Italian seaplane carriers and German ocean-going, catapult-equipped flying boat carriers that both Axis powers did eventually send into combat.

An illustrated history of the motor torpedo boats of Italy’s fast coastal forces, from their raids on enemy battleships in World War I to the dashing campaigns of World War II.The confined seas around Italy made fast torpedo boats particularly suitable for the Regia Marina. The first were derived from the glamorous prewar hotel motorboats of Venice; although too slow, they scored remarkable successes against Austro-Hungary, sinking, among other successes, two battleships, as well as conducting valuable and little-known anti-submarine work.Researched from unpublished primary sources, this is the first authoritative book in English to study the MAS boats, their larger MS successors, and their wars in the Adriatic, Mediterranean and beyond. Renowned Italian naval historian Enrico Cernuschi explores their evolving technology, roles, and how the boats fought in two world wars.Illustrated with unpublished photos and superb original artwork, it traces their history from the famous actions of World War I to the troubled search for a real ‘velocissimo’ (very fast) MAS boat and their multifaceted roles in World War II, from the Malta convoy battles to the Black Sea naval war. It also explores little-known episodes such as their dangerous, clandestine roles post-1943, landing intelligence agents and commandos, and their secret 1945–48 battles against Yugoslavian communist infiltrators.

Despite being relatively unknown compared to famous ships like Graf Spee or Bismarke, or the more famous U-boats, the Auxiliary Cruisers were immensely successful, not only in the number of enemy ships they sank, but in the resources which were tied up trying to track them down.The Royal Navy's auxiliary cruisers tended to be merchant vessels used to protect convoys from attack. The German Auxiliary Cruisers, however, heavily armed and usually carried torpedo tubes as well as guns and even sometimes their own aircraft. These ships were aggressive predators, searching the sea lanes for unsuspecting enemy merchants, and were not only capable of destroying enemy merchant ships, but also of defending themselves against well-armed enemy warships.This book looks at the specifications and designs of the 11 Auxiliary Cruisers, as well as their combat histories, their eventual fates, and the careers of some of the most famous commanders.

Italy's navy, the Regia Marina, was the fourth-largest naval force in the world at the outbreak of World War II, and yet is often overlooked and largely discounted as ineffective.In general the fleet was made up of obsolete vessels, lacked radar functionality, and had a reputation for indiscipline and poorly trained crews. The complex and bureaucratic command system imposed on the fleet further hampered its effectiveness.In this book, Mark Stille details why the Italian battleships were able to maintain a solid reputation, examining their impressive designs and the courage and determination of the fleet at Calabria, Sirte, Cape Spartiveto and Cape Matapan, all illustrated with stunning photographs from the Italian Navy's own archives.

A new illustrated study of the devastating, but little-known, Soviet armored blitzkrieg against the Japanese in the last weeks of World War II, and how it influenced Soviet tank doctrine as the Cold War dawned.Although long overshadowed in the West by the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the USSR’s lightning strike into Manchuria in August 1945 was one of the most successful and unique campaigns of the era. Soviet forces, led by over 5,500 tanks and self-propelled guns, attacked across huge distances and deserts, marshes, and mountains to smash Japan’s million-strong Kwantung Army in a matter of days.Japanese forces were short of training and equipment, but nevertheless fought fiercely, inflicting 32,000 casualties on the Soviets. Red Army operations were characterized by surprise, speed, and deep penetrations by tank-heavy forces born of the brutal lessons they had learned during years fighting the Wehrmacht. Lessons from the campaign directly shaped Soviet Cold War force structure and planning for mechanized operations against the West.Illustrated with contemporary artwork and rare photos from one of the best collections of Soviet military photos in the West, this fascinating book explains exactly how the last blitzkrieg of World War II was planned, fought, and won, and how it influenced the Red Army's plans for tank warfare against NATO in Europe.

Examines Eighth Army's 1,000-strong tank force – rebuilt, reorganized, and equipped with brand-new Sherman and Churchill tanks – that secured victory at the Second Battle of El Alamein.When Eighth Army retired into the defensive line at El Alamein on 30 June 1942, it was tired, dispirited and had lost almost all its tanks during a string of defeats at Gazala, Tobruk and Mersa Matruh. After savage defensive fighting at First Alamein, the reinforced Desert Rats defeated Rommel’s last offensive in a tank-to-tank clash at Alam Halfa in September. The next month, a completely rebuilt and reorganized Eighth Army, equipped with over 1,000 tanks including the American M4 Sherman, launched the offensive that would finally drive Rommel out of Africa.Montgomery shaped the Eighth Army according to his own military ideas, and on 23 October was able to attack the Axis defenses with the largest force of armoured divisions in its history, with the 1st, 8th and 10th united in a new 'corps de chasse' intended to defeat the Afrika Korps at its own game, and the 7th and two infantry support tank brigades assigned to support the XXX and XIII Corps. With the exception of the A9, 10 and 13 cruisers of 1940-41, as the offensive began, the Eighth Army contained every type of tank employed during the North Africa campaign.Using detailed illustrations of the tanks involved with an analysis of the tactics employed for battle, this is a focused examination of the tank forces that won the Second Battle of El Alamein - the most famous British Army victory of World War II, and one of the turning points of the war.

A world-renowned expert offers a focused, illustrated account of how Russian and Ukrainian armour fought during the crucial year of 2022, prior to the arrival of Western tanks.The invasion of Ukraine has seen full-scale mechanized warfare return to Europe. While Western armour and training has been a major part of Ukraine’s army since 2023, in the first year of the war both the Russian invaders and the Ukrainians fought using their existing mechanized armies, in the most devastating and high-stakes war in decades. That year, Moscow’s latest tanks (bar the still undeployable T-14 Armata) found themselves engaging Ukraine’s modernized and customized Soviet-era tank fleet.World-renowned Russia specialist Mark Galeotti draws on rare Russian and Ukrainian sources to present a definitive account of the Russian and Ukrainian tanks that fought that year, before the first Western tanks arrived. He explores the rival tank armies, how they were used, and the ways they were modified in response to the emerging challenges of the war, and presents the reader with ORBATs and data on deployments new to the English-speaking world.As the war in Ukraine revolutionizes our understanding of modern warfare, this book offers an expert assessment of how Ukrainian tanks fought the Russians to a standstill in 2022, and how the lessons learned affected the course of the war.

As a young gunner, Napoleon Bonaparte was trained in one of Europe’s finest artillery arms.Both the technological sophistication of their weaponry and the skill of their gunners was largely the result of the adoption of the system devised by one man, Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval. Gribeauval’s standardised system of parts and calibres allowed a degree of uniformity and sophistication in the French artillery that was unmatched throughout Europe, and allowed Napoleon to inherit and develop an arm that could dominate the battlefield.This volume covers the field artillery pieces of the system: the 4-, 8- and 12-pdr guns; light 1-pdr guns and mountain guns; and later innovations such as the 6-pdr gun.