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Battle for the the Baltic Islands Triumph Of the Imperial German Navy by Gary Staff         The usual stor...

Battle for the Baltic Islands: Triumph of the Imperial German Navy by Gary Staff Battle for the Baltic Islands: Triumph of the Imperial German Navy by Gary Staff

For your Wargamer, Toy soldier collector, MiniFig collector, military history nut. Reviews, interviews, Model Making, AARs and books!

Gary Staff




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 The usual story told in history books is that after Jutland the German High Seas fleet ran home with it's tail between it's legs. Then it did nothing until 1918 when the staff had decided that it would go down in glory in a last ditch suicide sortie. At that time the sailors mutinied much like the Russian sailors had at Kronstadt. It seems like the real story because it has been told so many times. Unfortunately it is nowhere near the truth, and thankfully Gary Staff has written this book to put the story straight. This is the story of the 1917 German attack on the Islands, which are near the Gulf of Riga.

 This history of the German combined arms attack on the Baltic Islands should be a blueprint for other military history books. The book itself is less than 200 pages, but it is filled with maps (14) and has sixteen pages of photos (40 photos). The maps are some of the best I have seen in military books that were not an atlas. The author tells the story of the campaign from the smallest mine sweeper to the various battleships involved. The land fighting and the forces used there have not forgotten by the author. It is a tale of a very well planned and executed amphibious operation on the Germans' part.

 This book should put paid to the idea that the German fleet sat like a cur for the last two years of the war. Thank you Mr. Staff for writing this book. Your attention to detail in your books is much appreciated. I look forward to any other books you have planned. This book should be on anyone's shelf who has the slightest interest in the naval warfare or WWI.

Robert 
Author: Gary Staff
Publisher: Pen & Sword
Distributor: Casemate Publishers

Skagerrak: The Battle of Jutland Through German Eyes by Gary Staff   This book is a complete history of the Battle ...

Skagerrak The Battle of Jutland Through German Eyes by Gary Staff Skagerrak The Battle of Jutland Through German Eyes by Gary Staff

For your Wargamer, Toy soldier collector, MiniFig collector, military history nut. Reviews, interviews, Model Making, AARs and books!

Gary Staff



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  This book is a complete history of the Battle of Jutland through the eyes of the German High Seas Fleet. VizeAdmiral Richard Scheer, its commander, especially has a different view of the battle than we are used to reading. If the findings in this book are correct, then we will have to look at many of the incidents during the battle with a different perspective. A case in point would be the 'Death Ride of the German Battlecruisers'. According to this book, it was nothing of the kind, and it is a tall tale that merely evolved over the years. The author shows that this tale was printed in the book 'Kiel and Jutland' a few years after the war (the title when it was released in English was 'Two White People'). The author of this book KorvettenKapitan von Hase actually said that the order was followed by the order 'to ram (the enemy ships) and to fight to the death'. This books author shows that the English fleet was five miles away, and the German battlecruisers had actually turned south before this purported order, and continued on this course for five minutes. According to the sources quoted, the battlecruisers' turn south had made the German battleships bunch up when they did their first 'battle turn' manuever. Therefore, Scheer, because of the battlecruisers turn south, ordered them to attack the British and not continue with what he perceived as a retreat.

 The book quotes ViceAdmiral Scheer on this point, and the actual first 'battle turn' (the 'battle turn' used by the Germans is usually described as a turn by all of the battleships as one so that the first ship becomes the last etc, essentially a retreat). The incident is usually shown in the light of a last ditch effort of the Germans to escape annihilation. According to Scheer, the 'battle turn' was a much practiced German tactic to bring an opposing fleet closer, and then attack them with destroyers and torpedo boats. This was exactly the tactic that Admiral Jellicoe of the British Grand Fleet was afraid of. Jellicoe had, since the beginning of the war, said he would not follow a German retreat for fear of a torpedo attack and mines. So when the 'battle turn' took place, the British fleet did not close with the enemy. You can almost hear the emotion in Scheer's voice when you read about his thoughts on this matter. I can guarantee that in Jellicoe's shoes he would have closed with the enemy fleet. In his writings his natural pugnacity comes through. 

 The book goes through the battle with a minute by minute description of the events of the battle. It is also heavily populated with maps (an absolute necessity for naval battles). The author also contends that the Warspite, which did a lazy circle through some of the battle, did so because of damage received from the German fleet. 

 This is an excellent addition to one's library, to see a different side and take on the events of the battle. 


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