The Battleship Scharnhorst

戦艦シャルンホルストの船体の各部分の詳細な精密図面と3Ⅾでの船体の各部分が記載された資料としてはすばらしい本で1ぺー1ページをめくって見ているだけで満足できる本です。模型の制作などの資料として最高の本だと思います。欲を言えば写真が少ない感じがします。戦艦シャルンホルストの写真をもっと掲載して写真、図面、3Ⅾ画像の組み合わせで各部分がのっているようだとより満足度が増すと思います。

Toutes les versions du navire sont décrites et agréablement illustrées.

Part of a series of books that are great for naval history geeks. The Scharnhorst was an interesting yet flawed design. Too large and uneconomic to be a heavy cruiser, yet too small and lightly armed to be an effective battleship. Nonetheless, this ship played a major role in WW2 and the info available until now has been limited. This book contributes greatly to improving that.

Ein weiteres Highlight dieser Reihe sehr viele Informationen für den Modellbau

Stefan Draminski is to be congratulated on an excellent visual and technical study on the Third Reich’s ill-fated battleship Scharnhorst. The depth of detail is exemplary, not only in terms of the two-dimensional line drawings, but also the computer-generated full-colour perspective views. This is arguably the most detailed study of the Scharnhorst to be published. The quality of the drawings and three-dimensional illustrations are supported by a much deserved quality production - in terms of both paper and printing. The format follows the now well-established Anatomy of the Ship series, started by Conway Maritime Press, and now under the auspices of Osprey Publishing. The most significant difference between the original series and those now published by Osprey is the inclusion of full-colour three-dimensional illustrations. These add substantially to the reader’s understanding of the design and layout of the ship. Furthermore, these three-dimensional illustrations will help those less familiar with the reading of two-dimensional ship plans. The book starts with a summary history of the ship, her technical details and a chronological summary of her service career. This section is supported by numerous black-and-white photographs, some of which have not been widely published in the past. The opening section is followed by the general arrangement drawings, measured drawings of all fittings, and the colour illustrations. This is the major and most important part of the book. What is missing are details of the actual structure of the ship. Whilst the building of the Scharnhorst did not introduce any innovative building techniques, it would have made the book even more complete if structural drawings and illustrations had been included. However, this is a relatively minor omission, and probably of more interest to those studying naval architecture, even from an historical perspective. Unlike some books in the Anatomy series, there are also no large scale perspective illustrations of compartments such as the crew’s accommodation, and how they were fitted out. However, it could be that such detailed shipbulider’s draughts may not have survived the intensive RAF bombing campaign during the Second World War, when, for obvious reasons, German shipyards were a prime target. Also missing are detailed measured drawings and illustrations of the ship’s engines and auxiliary machinery. Some readers, particularly those who have the Conway Anatomy books by Ross Watton, will find this omission makes the Osprey books incomplete, and therefore not deserving of five stars. However, whilst the omission of machinery details does mean this new series is indeed less than complete, this does not of itself detract from the overall value of the new series, and the book under review in particular. The use of three-dimensional, full-colour illustrations covers every compartment and fitting, with extensive detail on the ship’s armament. In many cases the same section or fitting is shown from different viewpoints, making this an invaluable reference source for model makers and marine artists. An example of the level of detail may be found in the illustrations of the Arado AR196 floatplane. In addition to detailed and traditional line drawings, showing profile, plan, sections, etc, etc, including the catapult, there are no less than eleven three-dimensional illustrations of the aircraft! If there is one minor criticism about the three-dimensional, full-colour illustrations is that some are on the dark side, making it slightly difficult to differentiate details. This is particularly evident on the illustrations of the superstructure when the ship was camouflaged in 1942. This might be something the author could address in the future if he writes any further studies on individual ships. Obviously reading the book in good light is a solution! This book is highly recommended! It is, in one word, outstanding! And this reviewer hopes that the author, Stefan Draminski, will eventually turn his attention to a comparable study of the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen! Or even a combined study on the Royal Navy’s C and D-class destroyers from the 1930s!