Most Popular Books by Jak P Mallmann Showell

Ocean-going U-boats, each one not much longer than four European articulated lorries with up to sixty men inside them, sailed the far-off seas to wreak havoc in hot inhospitable waters. The air forces and navies from Britain, the United States and other colonial countries followed to make this a daring and death-threatening venture. The facts of what the U-boats achieved against massive odds have been told before, but U-Boats of the Second World War: Their Longest Voyages is different. It concentrates more on how it was done. How the men survived, how they lived and died and how they still found time to carry out their orders. The book is based on masses of previously unpublished documents from the German U-boat Museum, many of them written during or shortly after the war by men who survived this bitter conflict. This is the story of how specially built long-range ocean-going U-boats started out one step ahead of the Allied navies and air power, how they fell one step behind and how they finally vanished into the depths of the biggest and deepest oceans. This is a remarkable story of endurance, courage and comradeship that terrified the world for the most critical period of the Second World War. The author, Jak P. Mallmann Showell, is the son of a U-boat diesel mechanic who disappeared in those warm waters two months before the author was born.

It is remarkable that an RAF fighter pilot should find himself in contact with a witchcraft coven as early as 1942. Outrageous and dangerous, the Witchcraft Act was not repealed until almost ten years later. Yet, Bill Love remained attached to the concept of living in harmony with nature and was asked to join the coven.

Synonymous with such infamous battleships as the ''Bismarck'', ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Tirpitz'', the German Navy (or Reichsmarine) was renamed the Kriegsmarine in 1935, shortly after the emergence of the Nazi State, and went through a major re-organization in 1939. During the Second World War, it became a much-feared adversary both on and beneath the high seas, with its marauding U-boat ''wolf packs'' coming close to defeating Britain in the Battle of the Atlantic. Jak Showell examines the different roles of the Fleet, and its organization and training activities during the war years. Incidents and operations are described, together with technical data for ships, U-boats and their weaponry. A guide to German Navy uniforms and insignia is included, together with full details of rank structure and specialist trades.

This provocative alternative history looks at the Second World War from a new angle - what might have happened had the Germans taken Moscow in 1941. Based on authentic history and real possibilities, this unique speculative narrative plays out the dramatic consequences of opportunities taken and examines the grotesque possibilities of a Third Reich triumphant. On 30 September 1941, the Germans fight their way into the ruins of Moscow and the Soviet Union collapses. Although Russian resistance continues, German ambition multiplies after this signal success and offensives are launched in Africa, the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Hitler''s armies, assured of victory, make their leader''s dreams reality and Allied hopes of recovery seem almost hopelessly doomed. David Downing convincingly blends actual history with the stimulating world of alternate events. The Moscow Option is a chilling reminder that history might easily have been very different.

This text presents a number of first-hand accounts and historic photographs that portray life on board a U-boat. The book charts the rise and fall of the U-boat as the Allies refined their search and destroy techniques.

Hitler''s U-boats posed a severe threat to Britain during the Second World War, endangering both its survival and the possibility of defeating Germany. Britain needed over a million tons of imports weekly to support the war effort, but Allied shipping losses were devastating. In June 1940, enemy submarines sank 284,113 tons of Allied shipping, a number that rose to 352,407 tons by October, while the Kriegsmarine lost only eight U-boats during the same period. Losses peaked in mid-1942, with 124 ships sunk in June, yet German U-boat casualties remained minimal. Replacement ships could not keep up with the mounting losses, and the Allies'' position grew increasingly precarious. The struggle against U-boats became a monumental effort. Jak P. Mallmann Showell''s book examines this battle in detail, focusing on Allied tactics, technologies, and innovations. Key strategies included radar, Enigma codebreaking, and the convoy system to combat German "wolfpacks." Allied aircraft successfully drove U-boats from the British coast, while advances in sonar and weaponry, such as sonic torpedoes and rockets, gradually turned the tide of the battle.

U-Boats attack

Launched during the last days of the Third Reich in an attempt to restart the Battle of the Atlantic, the majority of the revolutionary Electro-U-boats never saw action. Instead, they became the forebears of the Cold War''s much dreaded hunter-killer submarines. Slotted in among the highly technical information in the German U-boat Museum were some fascinating personal logbook annotations from men who served in these boats. These non-technical, human anecdotes form the core of this book. Rather than compiling a technical treatise, Hitler''s ''Wonder'' U-Boats makes maximum use of the personal accounts to tell the human story of how this new generation of submarines went to war under the incredibly harsh conditions that prevailed at the time. Accompanied by more than 100 images, this unique operational information is mirrored with similar reports from conventional snorkel-fitted U-boats, which were at sea at about the same time, to provide a good comparison with earlier types. The result is a work that makes it easy to appreciate the improvements that were made in such an incredibly short period of time to place the Electro-U-boat among the great technical achievements of the 20th century.

This is the definitive book on German naval bases during the Second World War written by a world expert. The author interviewed thousands of veterans over a forty-year period while researching this book, and the book is lavishly illustrated with many previously unpublished photographs from the period.

Hitler’s U-boats posed a severe threat to Britain during the Second World War, endangering both its survival and the possibility of defeating Germany. Britain needed over a million tons of imports weekly to support the war effort, but Allied shipping losses were devastating. In June 1940, enemy submarines sank 284,113 tons of Allied shipping, a number that rose to 352,407 tons by October, while the Kriegsmarine lost only eight U-boats during the same period. Losses peaked in mid-1942, with 124 ships sunk in June, yet German U-boat casualties remained minimal. Replacement ships could not keep up with the mounting losses, and the Allies’ position grew increasingly precarious. The struggle against U-boats became a monumental effort. Jak P. Mallmann Showell’s book examines this battle in detail, focusing on Allied tactics, technologies, and innovations. Key strategies included radar, Enigma codebreaking, and the convoy system to combat German “wolfpacks.” Allied aircraft successfully drove U-boats from the British coast, while advances in sonar and weaponry, such as sonic torpedoes and rockets, gradually turned the tide of the battle.

"A definitive introduction by a highly recognized authority who writes beautifully and clearly." — Naval Historical Foundation The fact that German submarines almost managed to cut off Britain''s vital imports during the First World War hadn''t been forgotten by Hitler—and when, in 1935, he repudiated the Treaty of Versailles, Britain, magnanimously, signed an Anglo-German Naval Agreement. This allowed the Germans to build their submarine strength up to one third of the Royal Navy''s tonnage. When war broke out in 1939, German U-boats went quickly into action, but with only four years of production and development, the main armament of these submarines was considerably weaker than equivalent boats in other navies and many other features, such as living conditions, were also significantly inferior. Yet, the German U-boat onslaught against British merchant ships in autumn 1940 was highly successful because the attacks were made on the surface at night and from such close range that a single torpedo would sink a ship. Soon, though, Allied technology was able to detect U-boats at night, and new convoy techniques, combined with powerfully armed, fast modern aircraft searching the seas, meant that by 1941 it was clear that Germany was losing the war at sea. Something had to be done. The new generation of attack U-boats that had been introduced since Hitler came to power needed urgent improvement. This is the story of the Types II, VII, and IX that had already become the ''workhorse'' of the Kriegsmarine''s submarine fleet and continued to put out to sea to attack Allied shipping right up to the end of the war. The Type II was a small coastal boat that struggled to reach the Atlantic; the Type VII was perfectly at home there, but lacked the technology to tackle well protected convoys; while the Type IX was a long-range variety modified so it could operate in the Indian Ocean. This book by the renowned Kriegsmarine historian explores these attack U-boats at length, including details of their armament, capabilities, and crew facilities; the story of their development and operational history; and just what it was like to operate such a vessel.

On a sweltering day in August 1906 U-1, or Unterseeboot 1, meaning underwater boat, was lifted into Kiel''s waters for trials; 100 hundred years later Kiel still witnesses the launching of U-boats, modern submarines with fuel cell propulsion systems, built for navies worldwide. In the years in between Germany fought two world wars, in which the U-boat almost defeated the Allies. --The U-boat was one of the most potent weapons of the 20th century, and here Mallmann Showell, perhaps the world''s leading U-boat historian, explains how it was developed and designed and then deployed to wreak havoc in European waters and further afield in the Atlantic and the Far East. This is not a dry technical book but a work that looks behind the scenes at the men who built and fought in them. Weapons systems, operational areas, bases, builders and fleet organisation are covered, and as well as dealing with the world wars, the author brings the story up to date with the third, latest, generation of U-boats. The text is augmented by over 300 images, many never published before. --Publisher description.

Synonymous with such infamous battleships as the Bismarck, Scharnhorst and Tirpitz, the German Navy (or Reichsmarine) was renamed the Kriegsmarine in 1935, shortly after the emergence of the Nazi State, and went through a major re-organization in 1939. During World War II, it became a much-feared adversary both on and beneath the high seas, with its marauding U-boat wolf packs coming close to defeating Britain in the Battle of the Atlantic. The author of this text examines the different roles of the Fleet, and its organization and training activities during the war years. Incidents and operations are described, together with technical data for ships, U-boats and their weaponry. A guide to German Navy uniforms and insignia is included, together with full details of rank structure and specialist trades.

"During the Second World War, the Arctic saw an unusually high intensity of action, adventure, excitement and tragedy, and Swastikas in the Arctic: U-Boat Alley Through the Frozen Hell describes the German military activities in that harsh frozen hell. Based mainly on original logs, the bare facts have been fleshed out with help from veterans and researchers from the United States, Iceland, Britain, Norway, Germany and Russia. This has made it possible to describe some of the now forgotten battles, the secret U-boat activities, the German struggle to broadcast essential weather data to Berlin and the incredible surface ship activity that forced Britain to launch major offensives against heavy odds. The Arctic also saw intense British efforts to help with the cracking of the highly complicated Enigma radio code. Many studies of the Second World War give scant attention to activity in this ice-studded ocean. However, as becomes apparent reading this book, those who fought, suffered and died there were shot at and bombed more heavily than in any other theater of war and the contribution they made influenced military actions far away in warmer regions. Gloriously illustrated with many unpublished photographs, Swastikas in the Arctic: U-Boat Alley Through the Frozen Hell is a thrilling account of a war fought in very difficult circumstances"--Publisher description.