New Vanguard – serie

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 Illustrated with superb new profiles and including many previously unpublished photos, this book is an essential guide to the tanks that fought the Axis’ least-known armoured campaigns.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

An illustrated study of Japan’s Nagato-class battleships: the IJN’s powerful super-dreadnoughts, which were heavily modernized to fight in World War II. Illustrated with the author’s much-acclaimed 3D reconstructions, naval researcher Stefan Draminski offers a technical and operational study of Nagato and Mutsu, Japan’s most powerful battleships of the dreadnought era. They were the world’s first battleships to mount 16-inch guns, and signalled Japan’s determination to build a fleet that qualitatively outmatched the world’s leading navies. Entering service in the 1920s, they would be heavily modernized before the outbreak of the Pacific War, which Nagato would start as Yamamoto’s flagship for the Pearl Harbor attack. Both ships were present at the Battle of Midway, and though Mutsu would be sunk by a magazine explosion in 1943, Nagato fought at Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf, before being modified again and moored at Yokosuka as an antiaircraft battery. The last Japanese battleship afloat on VJ-Day, Nagato was sunk in 1946 at Bikini Atoll in the Crossroads nuclear test. Drawing on Japanese-language sources and original documentation, this is a concisely detailed account of these formidable battleships, superbly illustrated with archive photos and artwork showing the ships through their careers and in action.

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 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.

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.

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.

Allied success in invading Fortress Europe (the area of Continental Europe occupied by Nazi Germany) depended on getting armor onto the beaches as fast as possible.This book explains how the Allies developed the specialist tanks it needed, their qualities, deployment and numbers, and how they performed on the two crucial days when France was invaded, firstly in Normandy and then in Provence. Steven J Zaloga focuses in on the specialized tanks developed for the Operation Neptune amphibious landings including the Duplex Drive amphibious Sherman tanks used on both the US and British/Canadian beaches. He also covers the specialized engineer tanks called ”Armoured Funnies” of the British 79th Armoured Division and addresses the popular myth that US Army refusal to employ the Armoured Funnies was a principal cause for the high casualties at Omaha Beach. There is also coverage of Operation Overlord’s “Forgotten D-Day”, the amphibious landings of Operation Dragoon. This book addresses why there were so few Panzers opposing the landings from the German perspective as well as detailing the extent of German tank/assault gun activity on D-Day.

Gordon Williamson examines the design, development and operational use of the battleships used by the Kriegsmarine during World War II.The ‘Schlesien’ and ‘Schleswig-Holstein’ were used mostly as training ships until the end of the war when they took part in bombardment of Soviet troop movements in East Prussia. The ‘Scharnhorst’ had a successful career until her sinking at the battle of the North Cape, and the ‘Gneisenau’ with her ignominious end as a block-ship.Bismarck's short but glorious career and Tirpitz's lonely vigil in Norway's distant Fjords until sunk by RAF bombers using the massive 'Tallboy' bombs are also covered.

An up-to-date, illustrated study on the unique and modified vehicles of Russia's legendary Spetsnaz and other elite units, from combat snowmobiles to the world's biggest water-cannon, by Russia expert Mark Galeotti.Elite forces need elite vehicles. As Vladimir Putin has devoted effort and funds into modernising Russia’s armed forces and turning them into an instrument geared not just for defending the Motherland but also projecting power beyond its borders, Russia has seen a growing emphasis on special and specialist forces. Traditionally, the elite Spetsnaz commandos had to make do with regular vehicles or civilian-based ‘technicals’, not least to conceal their presence (or, indeed, very existence). Now, increasingly at the forefront of Russian power projection, the Spetsnaz are acquiring more capable, versatile vehicles, such as the paratroopers’ BTR-D personnel carrier, and also experimenting with exotic, specialist new acquisitions, such as the Chaborz M-3 buggy and Yamaha Grizzly all-terrain vehicle. The other elite branches of Russia’s forces, such as the Arctic-warfare troops of the 200th Independent Motor Rifle Brigade, the paratroopers of the Air Assault Troops (VDV), the Naval Infantry, and the elite units of the security forces are also developing and fielding new vehicles for their specialist roles, from combat snowmobiles to urban-warfare vehicles. From highly-mobile LMVs able to operate in the deserts of Syria or the streets of Ukraine, through dedicated fire-support vehicles such as the air-droppable Sprut-SD or the massive BMPT ‘Terminator’, to amphibious tanks and drone-equipped security trucks, these are the workhorses of Russia’s special forces. This study explores all these combat vehicles in detail, combining expert analysis from Russia expert Mark Galeotti with highly accurate full-colour illustrations and photographs.

During World War II, Germany, Japan, and Italy built approximately 2,000 small, inherently stealthy, naval craft to perform special operations and conventional naval missions.Much more numerous and more technically advanced than their Allied counterparts, they saw service worldwide, operating in the Pacific, Mediterranean, Black Sea, Indian Ocean, North Sea, and the English channel. Manned by courageous crews, these vessels made daring attacks on Allied ships in heavily protected anchorages using torpedoes and mines.Most notable were attacks against Gibraltar – launched from an Italian cargo vessel interred in nearby neutral Spain that had been converted into a clandestine support base and equipped with an underwater hatch – and Pearl Harbor. They were used against shipping in coastal waters and, near the end of the war, in desperate attempts to offset their opponents’ overwhelming naval superiority during the US advance across the Pacific and the Allied amphibious landings in France and Italy.This volume details the history, weapons, and operations of German, Japanese, and Italian midget submarines.

Naval action in World War I conjures up images of enormous dreadnoughts slugging it out in vast oceans. Yet the truth is that more sailors were killed serving on gunboats and monitors operating far from the naval epicentre of the war than were ever killed at Jutland. Gunboat engagements during this war were bloody and hard fought, if small in scale. Austrian gunboats on the Danube fired the first shots of the war, whilst German, British and Belgian gunboats fought one of the strangest, most intriguing naval campaigns in history in far-flung Lake Tanganyika. From the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, from the Balkans to Mesopotamia, gunboats played an influential part in the story of World War I. This detailed technical guide to the gunboats of all the major navies of the war means that, for the first time, the story can be told.

In the early 20th century Britain’s largest colonies established their own small naval presence, and their ships fought alongside the Royal Navy during World War I.These fleets were expanded during the inter-war years, and in 1939 the Royal Australian Navy, the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal New Zealand Navy willingly joined the fight on behalf of the British Commonwealth. For the most part these small navies consisted of a few cruisers and destroyers, designed to protect territorial waters and local sea lanes. However, these warships and their crews soon found themselves involved in a global war, and consequently were called upon to fight wherever they were needed, against the Germans, the Italians and the Japanese.This book tells the story of these small cruiser forces, and the men who served the Allied cause so well during the long and brutal war at sea.

Fully illustrated with dramatic archive photos and manufacturers’ images, this volume covers the little-known history of riot control vehicles.It explores the world of these vehicles from 1945 through to the present day – from adapted military armoured cars such as the Humber Pig (UK) and BRDM (Soviet Union) to the fully computerized systems of the Russian Lavina-Uragan and Canadian INKAS Armored Riot Control Vehicle – showing how their development and deployment has blurred the lines between civilian actions and military operations.Chris McNab charts how the vehicles have evolved in terms of technology and layout, and also details how the associated weapon systems have been refined over time, from water cannon and tear gas launchers to subsonic sound waves and microwave energy.The operational history of the vehicles is explained in the dramatic context of major incidents across the world, from the streets of Northern Ireland and Eastern Europe to the favelas of Brazil and the battlegrounds of Iraq.