MMP Books – Maritime Series 3103
Austro-Hungarian Submarines in WWI   

by Jiri Novak

Reviewed by Rob Baumgartner

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The German Unterseeboot or “U-boot” is well known to enthusiasts but what about those operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy.

Information on these submarines is not easy to find.  So it’s refreshing to see a book that attempts to make the subject more accessible to the reader.

MMP have done this in the latest addition to their “Maritime Series”. Between the soft card covers are 150 A4 sized pages containing nearly 150 black and white photographs. Many will be new to all but a few aficionados, with the varying reproduction quality dependant on the source material used. Contemporary illustrations are also a feature and cutaway drawings display the insides of U3 and U4, as well as the older Havmanden-class boats of U20 to U23. Also included are the coastal German B-I, B-II and B-III types.

There are 10 pages of scale side profiles that cover a further 19 submarines from the first prototype of 1905, to the unfinished U52-55 STT.

The text is easy to digest and doesn’t bog the reader down with an avalanche of technical jargon. This narrative is broken down into the following chapters:

1. The Summer of 1914

2. A cruel surprise

3. The submarines of the Austro-Hungarian Navy

4. The war begins

5. The first successes

6. Help for the Turks

7. The blockade of Montenegro

8. Italy enters the War

9. Who will be the master of the Adriatic

10. The Balkan offensive

11. The occupation of Durazzo

12. Submarine operations of other warring states, and precautions taken by the Entente nations

13. The unrestricted submarine war a precarious balance

14. Defenses increase

15. Construction of other submarines

16. The agony

17. The secondary battlefields

18. The end of the war and the breakup of the duel monarchy

The chapter titles generally speak for themselves. They start off by explaining the world situation leading up to the outbreak of war and then enter into a discussion on the development and deployment of submarines operating in the Austro-Hungarian navy. The interesting narrative covers the exploits of a number of individual U-boots as well as explaining the political circumstances that surrounded their actions.

Rounding out the book is an appendix that details and compares the technical data of 27 Austro-Hungarian submarines. There’s also a table that lists the warships either damaged or sunk by the U-boots and another documents the losses of the attackers themselves.

It’s a pleasure to find as much information contained within a single publication.

The reader is left with a much better understanding of the role that was played by these vessels and it’s all complimented by excellent photo coverage, scale drawings, and an informative text.

If you have a slightest interest in submarine warfare then this book should not be missing from your library.

Thanks to MMP Books  for the sample.

All MMP Publications books are available direct from the publishers, who now accept credit cards (Visa, MC, Amex, Switch)  

North American distributors are MMD, Australian distributors are Platypus Publications. In Europe, the books are available from any good bookshop (via our UK distributors, Orca). Contact MMP direct in case of difficulties. 

Thanks to Roger at MMP Books  for the sample.

Review Copyright 2012 by Rob Baumgartner
This Page Created on 19 March, 2012
Last updated 19 March, 2012

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