Schnellboot In Action (squadron Signal 4018)
Tags: T. Garth Connelly

The German equivalent of the American PT boat, Schnellboots are generally considered the best Motor Torpedo Boats of World War II. These formidable craft saw constant action from the first to the last days of World War II. Operating on every front they extracted a heavy toll of Allied merchant and Naval shipping. Authors Connelly and Krakow summarize the technical development of these formidable craft in this Squadron/Signal volume, #18 in their 'Warships' series. Though Germany had mixed success with MTBs in WWI, German strategists began developing a boat suitable for action in the North Sea in the early 1920s. Through the 1930s various S-class boats were built, eventually producing the S-38 class and its successors which gave such exemplary service in the North Sea, English Channel, Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and the Barents Sea. Equipped with two-four torpedoes, 7.92mm machine guns, 20mm, 37mm and 40mm cannons, S-boats sank over 130 merchant ships, 13 destroyers and numerous other Allied watercraft. 'Schnellboot in Action' is an excellent introduction to the S-boats. Though operations are briefly summarized, the emphasis here is clearly on the technical development of these fearsome MTBs. Each class is covered in turn. Additional sections cover Engines, Main Armament, Secondary Armament, Radio, Navigation, Radar, Camouflage, Tactics and so on. Over 110 photographs and numerous diagrams along with four pages of Don Greer color artwork and profiles help tell the Schnellboot story.