German Commerce Raider vs British Cruiser: The Atlantic and Pacific 1941

Osprey Duel #27

by Robert Forczyk, Ian Palmer (Illustrator)

During World War II, the Kriegsmarine armed a number of merchant vessels with concealed guns and torpedo tubes for surprise attacks against Allied shipping. To counter this deadly threat, the Royal Navy employed cruisers and their intelligence-gathering apparatus to find and destroy the disguised German commerce raiders. This Duel title covers the deadly game of cat and mouse, fought by these surface vessels during World War II.

80 pages, Paperback

First published June 10, 2010

About the author

Robert Forczyk has a PhD in International Relations and National Security from the University of Maryland and a strong background in European and Asian military history.

Reviews

[Katie Vaughn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little known aspect of WW II at sea

Well written and a fascinating subject. The author does an amazing job of covering this little known facet of commerce raiding. His analysis is as spot on as is his writing! Buy it, read it, you won’t be disappointed!

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written book on a little-understood topic. It provides a nice summary of the German raider operations early in WW2, and of the British operations to deal with them. The book also explains the evolution of commerce raiders and cruiser strategies from WW1 through the inter-war years. Well worth reading.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well researched book that provides a good account of German commerce raider operations in WW2, and of the British response to the problem.