The new and lavishly illustrated Battleships of the Bismarck Class is to be published in March. The book is devoted to the two battleships of the Bismarck class, Bismarck and Tirpitz, the largest capital ships ever built and completed in Germany. Bismarck and Tirpitz were simultaneously the culmination and finale of a German capital ship building industry which - as seen from a modern view of the basic strategic considerations - was misdirected. Both units enjoyed only a brief existence; and though begun during peacetime, both were commissioned after the outbreak of World War II. Bismarck's fate embraced triumph and tragedy; and over a limited period Tirpitz could do no more than prove her value simply by her existence - and this, for a warship of these dimensions, was probably too little. Skulking deep in Norwegian fjords, Tirpitz met her end suddenly, being destroyed by a combination of aerial bombing and inadequate underwater surveying. Addressing the Fleet after the destruction of Bismarck at the end of her first and last operation, the Commander of the Home Fleet, Admiral Sir John Tovey, said 'The Bismarck put up a most gallant fight against impossible odds, worthy of the old days of the Imperial German Navy, and she went down with her flag flying.' The focus for Battleships of the Bismarck Class is pictorial and technical, the latter aspect concentrating on the rendering of technical principles, informative, constructional plans and detailed sketches to a high standard. In selecting the illustrations, the primary aim has been to use previously unpublished photographs, where possible from private collections, taking into account what has already appeared in other publications so as to avoid repetition. Battleships of the Bismarck Class is a complete and indispensible guide to the two most famous German warships ever. The co-authors of this book are Gerhard Koop and Klaus-Peter Schmolke. Gerhard Koop served in the Kriegsmarine in World War II. He is the respected author of numerous books on naval subjects and specialises in the study of German battleships. Klaus-Peter Schmolke is well known for the detail and accurancy of his technical drawings. Back to Greenhill Military Book News No. 81 Table of Contents Back to Greenhill Military Book News List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by Greenhill Books This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com