Product Description
From primitive reed boats to modern super carriers the size of small cities, the fascinating history of submarines and ships is revealed in double-page, see-through spreads of a Roman merchant vessel, massive Chinese junks, a luxury passenger ship, and more." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

This is a very good book for factual information.
This book has many neat aspects that make reading it worth while.The book has 7 glossy overlays that let you see the inside of many ships throughout history from the H.M.S. Normandy, to one of the first subs.Although this book is more for younger readers I enjoyed it very much. Reading Level 4-6 grade but it is good book to leaf through and look at the highly detailed pictures. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Nirvana For Submarine Buffs
Having bought several "Anatomy of the Ship" books in the past, and browsed through others, I've pretty much known what to expect. These books range from stunning (John Robert's titles on Dreadnought and Hood) to hopelessly mediocre (the recent book on Bismarck, for example). But I was blown away by "The Submarine Alliance." This is certainly the most detailed "Anatomy" I've seen so far.

While other books in the series focus on three-view drawings, this title is packed with perspective and exploded views of the submarine's machinery, armament, and propulsion systems. There are General Arrangement drawings, of course, but they aren't the meat of this book. Along with schematics of the diesels and electric motors, you'll find drawings of the propeller lifting gear, battery ventilation system, torpedo firing gear, periscope optics, air compressors, low and high-pressure air systems, and more. Seven pages are devoted to the Admiralty-pattern diesels that powered six of the A-class subs, showing the engine framework, air start, lubricating oil, and circulating water systems, cylinder heads, fuel pumps and injectors, engine controls, supercharger, and valve gears. Submarines are incredibly complicated machines, and this book really shows it.

"The Submarine Alliance" is an impressively detailed book, and the quality of the drafting is of a high standard. The introduction includes additional technical detail, and the photographs provide a nice study of the class's evolution. Too bad it's out of print and John Lambert only created one other Anatomy title. This is one book that any serious submarine or naval architecture enthusiast will want on their shelf.

LOOKING AT A SUBMARINE FROM THE INSIDE OUT -- HOW ELSE?
IN A NUTSHELL: ONE COULD BUILD THIS SUBMARINE AFTER READING - ALMOST

THE ANATOMY OF THE SHIP SERIES = 1 BOOK IS ABOUT 1 SHIP [SERIES]

For those avid naval and modeling enthusiasts that really have to know where everything is and how it works, this is a book for you. Want to see what everything inside the submarine looks like?
2/3 of this book is dedicated to sketches and schematics of the interior of the "A Class" submarines. Unfortunately, they were not in service until after World War 2 ended, but were designed so well that they survived in service into the 1970s, despite the dominance and advantages of nuclear subs.

This is the most intricate of this series in have seen.
Based on the A type submarine class that served the Royal Navy for nearly 40 years, The Submarine alliance goes into incredible detail. If you have ever seen inside a submarine it is an amazing jumble of pipe, wires and gauges encapsulated in a tiny cylinder.This book depicts how it all works and is more like an engineers manual than the typical Anatomy of the ship book. Every system is drawn in detail, from the ballast tanks, how the pipes go through the ship, to the gauges that control them. Even the batteries are drawn in cutaway. This is the most intricate of this series in have seen.

Incredibly detailed!
I'll probably never build a model of the Alliance, but I've always been interested in submarine technology.This volume has completely satisfied my desire for detail!Page after page after page of labelled isometrics of telemotor steering systems, Kingston valves, periscope optics, and other goodies.Wow!And for the modeller who *will* be building the Alliance, there are lots of pages of photographs of her and her sister ships in their various incarnations.Truly a cool book! ... Read more

Product Description
Full-color illustrations and experiments and activities highlight a look at machines that float, answering such questions as why ships float and submarines sink, how sailing vessels use the wind, and what instruments ships use. ... Read more

Product Description
The book contains a compendium of naval history with an exhaustive chronology of events and actions of the American, English, German, Japanese and Italian navies. ... Read more

Product Description
Profiles some of the different submarines used by the United States Navy and other navies around the world, describing their designs, weapons, and uses. ... Read more

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Thirteen-year-old Willie and his friend Felix invent a submarine with a video camera to find where the big fish are in Lunker Lake. Instead they find trouble! Willie tries to do the right thing, but will he be able to outsmart some dangerous adversaries?. ... Read more

Product Description
Providing a detailed look at modern submarines and an exhaustively researched history, this book will be a comprehensive look into the world of underwater boats.

An extensive look at submarines in battle and an inside look at future submarines is also included.

The technology discussed will be as cutting-edge as it gets-co-author Michael DeMercurio is well-known in the world of submarines for his novels such as Threat Vector and Venus Sub Zero. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Complete Idiot's Guide to Submarines
As a former radioman on 688i class submarines, I found that this brought back lots of memories and items I had forgotten. There are a few factual errors, but as most submarine information is officially classified it's close enough in most cases.

Why $150?
I have been able to view this book.
It is a very easy ready and you get a sense of reality on a submarine.
BUT! IT COST $150 NEW!
I went to EBay and saw someone who had put it up for auction for $800.
Excuse me?
Are there state secrets in the book we should know about.
I am totally amazed.
I will never buy the book at this price.
But honestly, Could someone please tell me why it's so expensive?
Thanks

Mediocre
This book has the requisite basic stuff - a bit of sub history, sub basics, with a heavy bias towards US stuff. I think I saw the Surcouf (French sub) being mentioned once, but. If you see mentions of Russian subs, you get much the same jibe as Tom Clancy - Russian subs are noisy, deaf and leaky, which is not particularly informative.

Except for the basics, the material is heavily biased towards the reactor. The 2nd most detailed section is about TMA. Navigation, tactics ... etc get kind of snuffed.

Reading it with the heavy reactor emphasis, I couldn't help but remember the less pleasant stereotypes of American submariners, as in "Rickoverized".

Over priced
I gave this book to my husband who worked on nuclear submarines.He said the book was ok for someone that knew nothing about nuclear submarines, otherwise for someone like him it had nothing of real interest.I cannot understand why the price of this book was so high, over $80, it was nothing special.

An Excellent Resource, and a Lot of Fun!
As a career surface Sailor, I know quite a bit about what goes on above the water.When I want to write about what happens below the water, this is my first resource.Fun, fascinating, and extremely well written.

Jeff Edwards
Author of "Torpedo" ... Read more

Product Description
Step inside a World War Two submarine and discover for yourself what it was like to live and work beneath the ocean waves.Superb cutaway illustrations provide a vivid and intimate insight into every aspect of submarine life.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The book has excelent explanation of the illustrations.
The book extensively explaines the intricit working of a U-boat and illustrates them clealy.It is a very interesting book and I read it cover to cover. ... Read more

Product Description
More than 250 submarines—from the Civil War to themissile-launching, nuclear-powered vessels of today—are describedin detail and illustrated with contemporary and archival photographyand drawings. Arranged by types—diesel-electrics, non-nuclear,nuclear-attack, missile-armed, and special-role vessels—the bookprovides a comprehensive overview of every major submarine classaround the globe. Each entry includes specifications and incisivedevelopment and battle histories. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Good directory but in need of an update and additional submarine categories
This book is approaching a decade old but is still a very good, well researched reference for what it does cover. It is due for an update (so minus one star). Also, there arecategories of submarines not listed in this volume which I would like to see included in an update: Underwater research submarines, deep-sea explorers, remote controlled submarines and - my particular interest - recreational vehicle submarines. (I'd like something to take out on Lake Crescent or Crater Lake, for example.) I've heard that in places like Seychelles people can take small subs out to explore the coastlines.

For the present volume it would have been better titled "Submarine Warships of the World". (Minus one star.) Otherwise it is a very good text.

submarines of the world
Distributors of the type of books should take the initial of approaching submarine museums in Hawaii, Bultimore, Connecticut etc to sell for the visitors there. I found very limit of submarine books displayed there. K.L.

For submarine fans- only.
I served on a submarine while in the Navy and am interested in them still to this day, this book was very facts only and acurate but not for the casual reader. You must be very interested in the subject matter or you will find it very dry.

A compact guide to submarines
An interesting summary of the submanine history from the beginnings to the present day. Grouped by period and type. One star below excellent because of the format that is small and difficult to read.

Admirable source of hard-to-unearth facts
This is far from a complete discussion of submarines of the world; much additional information is available elsewhere. However, it's a compact and competent discussion, and it includes much material that, although it can be found elsewhere, is scattered in so many different places as to take great effort to find. So I find it an exceedingly useful book.

I have two suggestions for a future edition. First, for the most interesting designs, such as the German Type 212/214, it would make the book far more useful to include a diagram of the sub's layout, instead of or in addition to photos. Few photos of modern subs reveal anything interesting, whereas diagrams of layout give an excelent idea of the advantages and disadvantages of the particular class. Such diagrams are available for the great majority of modern subs, although one must be careful to use the ones that are correct, not the ones created as disinformation.

Second, and even more important, a very brief bibliography on each important type of sub would make it ever so much easier to find the additional information any serious reader wants. Although every country has always tried to limit the information publicly available about its submarines, an enormous amount of infroation is available "out there". But, for example, locating the available information on the Russian Akula is a truly tedious exercise. The author has obviously found very many sources of such information, and with little effort could include in a future edition references to the sources he has located.

The author's omission of some of the most recent sub classes is understandable. If I consider the British Astute-class, for example, which is just briefly mentioned toward the end of the discussion of Trafalgar-class, Astute will not enter service until 2009 at the earliest, and although a surprising amount of informatioon about Astute can be found in various places, it seems to me inevitable that significant changes will be made between now and then, and that the need for yet further changes will be revealed by experience in sea trials and shakedown. Given that, and given the draconian nature of the British Official Secrets Act, which makes publication in Britain of even much of what is publicly available about Astute in other countries a criminal offense, the author's decision to say little about Astute seems to me a very reasnable diecision. (The book was created and published in Great Britain.) ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Great piece of research
I only can support the review of Mr. Bowman, this book is a fine piece of research and therefore an utterly interesting read. If one goes deep into archival material (like Rodney Carlisle does) you may expect an book like that. And the author was not only able to deliver the reader this fascinating details but also to create an highly readable book. It's an good read no only for those interested into the Naval War of 1914-18 but also those interested in the political climate of those days. I highly recommend this book.

A Surprising Approach to World War I
Ask reasonably well informed Americans why the United States entered World War I and they'd probably say, "Because the Germans sank the Lusitania."Then those who smugly regard themselves as better informed would say, "Oh, no, it was because of the Zimmerman telegram."Only the naïve would say, "To make the world safe for democracy."I regard myself as one of the "better informed" and so I have been totally amazed--and entranced--by this book that proves we're all wrong.In what is a truly original examination of how the United States got into the war, we get not only a fascinating view into that process but the rather astonishing revelation that it was what happened to U.Smerchant ships that played the primary role in getting President Wilson and Congress to finally choose to join in the war. Through a detailed examination of the primary sources--material, by the way, that as far as I know, no other historians have ever bothered to examine so closely--Carlisle(a retired Rutgers University history professor) takes us through month by month, ship by ship, as the Germans sink U.S. merchant ships between 1915 and 1917. That eventually a country would say, "Enough is enough!" and declare war--that would not be surprising. But what is surprising is for how long and how often the U.S. government chose NOT to turn against the Germans after they had sunk these ships--in some cases costing American's lives.Time and again, the United States and Germany would engage in diplomatic exchanges and negotiations, with the Germans often apologizing and pleading an accident, while the United States simply sought payment for cargoes lost or ships sunk, and in some instances seemed to bend over backwards to avoid challenging the Germans.
In the course of this story, we are told of some quite surprising incidents--of British ships seizing U.S ships, of Germans insisting on paying compensation for sinking U.S. ships, of German submarines towing rowboats loaded with American sailors to shore, of Americans complimenting German officers who sank American ships. Some of the incidents recounted are almost farcical: off the coast of Brazil, a German cruiser encountered a US merchant ship carrying a load of wheat to Britain; after capturing it, the German commander ordered the crew to start shoveling the wheat overboard; as it was taking too long, the commander sent about 50 of his own sailors to expedite this chore; even that was taking too long, so the commander ordered the captain (who has his wife and two sons with him!) and the entire crew of the U.S. ship to come aboard the cruiser and then sank the U.S. ship; six weeks later the German cruiser sailed into the port of Norfolk, Virginia, with 324 crew and passengers of the ships, including that U.S. merchant ship, it had sunk; all the prisoners reported they had been well treated by the Germans and the German commander promised to keep his ship and crew in the port; to pass the time the German sailors erected a replica of a typical German village on the dock where for two years before the U.S entered the war they got to charge tourists to visit it; when the U.S. did declare war, the crew were sent to a prisoner-of-war camp and the cruiser was converted into a U.S. warship.
Well, this book is full of many such curious surprises, but running through it is a most serious reappraisal, a revisionist history, if you will, of how and why President Wilson and the Congress seemingly resisted entering the war against Germany. Why, that is, Wilson kept looking for an event that would qualify as a legitimate casus belli --the occasion that justifies going to war. Among several ironic aspects to this isCarlisle's proof that the ship sinking that played such a major role in influencing Wilson and the Congress was in fact sunk by a British mine.Carlisle also clarifies the rather intricate issues of maritime practice and the "rules of war" as understood at the time and makes clear the reasons behind the German decision to launch unrestricted submarine warfare in the winter of 1917.He also examines why the role played by these ships in America's entry into the war has gone largely ignored in the histories of the war.And although Carlisle does not explicitly make the comparison, I for one found myself thinking of what a contrast there is between President Wilson's decision to go to war with Germany and President George W.Bush's decision to invade Iraq--and in all fairness to Bush, the difference between the thoughtful deliberations of Wilson's Congress and our present Congress.
But that's just a personal thought.For everyone, though, this book should be an eye-opener not only into this moment in American history but into a way of dealing with international incidents that could lead to war.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Deep into the world of Subs
'Submarines' by Admiral Hervey is a fantastic introduction into the technical side of submarines. The only reason it does not get five stars is because it is too short. This has got to be THE text for non-submariners (Government employees, special forces commanders, defence chiefs).Itdetails the essentials not only of operating, but also building andsupporting a force of submarines.This book is packed with fact andmeasured personal opinion and experience.

Probably too detailed forthe average reader of submarine novels, this text does not concentratesolely upon the weapons and technical specifications, rather it focuses onhow and why countries might use submarines effectively. This included thesupport required for the masts, propulsion and life support systems.

Thewriting style is brisk and too the point. Easy to read, and easilyunderstood by non-nautical types.

Invaluable! ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (4)

The info is REAL
The only thing I would change is they have little kids on the Sub instead of animals, but the story is real.

Love the whole series!
We love these books!Bought several at once, and went back to buy the whole series!They are all so fun, and my son (3.5) loves
the fun facts and story line.At the end they go over the "parts" of whichever machine the book is about and he loves to talk about what
he remembers from the story.Love it, love it!!!!!Plus, the 3/4 creatures(characters) are precious.

Great!
Some of the Amazing Machine's books by Tony Mitton are better than others.I was pleased to find that Super Submarines is one of the better ones.My son and I also recommend Cool Cars, Tough Trucks, Amazing Airplanes, and Tremendous Tractors.Roaring Rockets, Terrific Trains, and Dazzling Diggers are not as good.

A Powerpoint presentation on submarines for kids.

I loved the illustrations in this book. And the text was readable. But there was no story. This book was boring and little more than a Powerpoint presentation on submarines. There are ten slides (2 pages wide each) and a 1-pager at the end that claims to list submarine parts.

It is rare for me to rate a book with 3 stars. Before I rate a book as "just OK" I try very hard to find what it was the author was trying to accomplish in writing the book and view the book from that perspective. And if the author accomplishes her goal, then I'll raise my rating up to a 4.

Unfortunately, in the case of this book, I just can't push the rating up. In my humble opinion the author was trying to inform children about what submarines are, how they work, how they run, and where they function - and the way he did it was not a particularly good or interesting way. If one puts together a book that is much like a public speaking presentation, then it is going to be graded as such. Did the speech catch the audience's attention early? No. Did it sound interesting? No. And did it fully explain what it was trying to convey? No. There are just too many negatives to these answers. 3 stars! ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

A fairly comprehensive account.
There is a certain fascination for the submarine. When it first appeared it was thought to be so "un-British" it should be banned internationally - just like, say, poisonous gas warfare is banned today. Nevertheless, the submarine, in all it's many forms, went on to be a most potent weapon and was last used in a combat situation during the Falklands War of 1982.

The countries; France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, USA and USSR are set out in alphabetical order and are then followed by a chapter headed "The lesser powers." Within each of these main headings all the submarines used by that country are fully described with many being illustrated both by photograph and diagram.

The vast majority of the photographs are simply excellent. Why the author should include the occasional out-of-focus image is, as always, beyond me, especially when such an image is used as a double-page spread.

That, however, is my only criticism of what is an otherwise excellent product. This book is now becoming hard to find and, may I suggest, you grab one while you still can. You will not be disappointed and, like me, you might just learn a great deal from the content.

NM

technical gem
This book covers the technical side of the WW2 submarine story.
There are no adventure stories, just a country by country breakdown of the models of sumarines and their series within groups. Specs on history, physical size, range, armament,numbers
fielded, etc are generous. Diagrams and pictures are in good balance and there is a section on sub developement up to WW2.
This review is on the y2000 printing which I purchased sight unseen. The value of the book was 5 stars without doubt.

Cost Effective Overvue
Submarines of World War Two is excellent overvue of pretty much every submarine type of the war.There is a large amount of information crammed into this medium sized soft bound book.Be prepared to read in good lighting however; as the print is quite small and some of the section plans will have you looking for a magnifying glass.

Mr. Bagnasco covers Eighteen different navies as well as some neutral forces.Each section includes a wealth of statistics and production data on each class of submarine (and its variants), as well as line drawings and photographs (all B&W).Major types aregiven additional space and many extras such as wartime conning tower modifications and section drawings are covered.

If you need to know about every WWII sub ever built; and don't have room in your shelf (or budget) for a four volume set, this is the book for you. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Fascinating story
The story of the Hunley and its mysterious disappearance has always intrigued me. This book, however, is largely the story of the sub's rediscovery and recovery. Well-written and illustrated, the book answers many questions related to the lost sub... as well as a few new mysteries.

Secrets of a Civil War Submarine was written as a book for young adults but is also a good introduction to the topic for someone who is just becoming interested in the subject. An easy read.

Good Book
I bought this book for a Christmas gift, and it was well-received and well-read during the holidays.

Boring Book reviewed by Kell

Do you like a book with lots of excitement and adventure?Then Secrets of a Civil War Submarine is not for you.Secrets of a Civil War Submarine is an informational book about one of the first submarines, The Hunley, and it shows you how the ship works, all of the crew members, and all of the boring missions.Maybe it sounds interesting to you, but to me it is very boring.The only thing that won't keep you from falling asleep is the part where you figure out why the submarine sank.At the end it shows you what they think the crew looks like, and artifacts that were found, and the secrets that the captain kept.If this sounds like the book for you then read it.But I do not like this book, and I do not recommend it.

ASeafaring stealth weapon
Out of all the books i read this book had to be on my top ten most favorite books.This book was the most entertaining for all ages.This book was about a confederate submarine that was built to destroy the union blockade which was stoping other ships from porting to trade goods and many other objects.So there was a man thats name was Horace Hunley he was the man behind the sub.The sub was named the hunley after horace built it.That was the beggining of a legend.

Secrets of a Civil War Submarine: Solving the Mysteries Of The H.L. Hunley
Excellant book.My son really enjoyed it. ... Read more