S-Boote: German E-boats in action, 1939-1945
By Bob Barnetson
In 2006, Histoire & Collections published an English translation of Jean-Philippe Dallies-Labourdette’s German-language book S-Boote: German E-boats in action, 1939-1945. This book is being distributed through Casemate Publishing in North America. It retails for $37.95 USD.
This 176-page hard-back book provides a comprehensive illustrated history of German schnellboote (“fast boats”), called E-boats (“enemy boats”) by the British. The book includes combat in the Atlantic, Baltic and Mediterranean during WW2. Accessing a history of torpedo boats based on German sources is a nice addition to the literature, which has typically been based on British and American memoirs and documents.
Initial Impressions
The hard-cover book arrived shrink-wrapped inside a padded envelope. The most notable aspect of the book is the sheer number of photographs it contains. There are at least 500 pictures of E-boats being built, maintained and operated. If you are looking for inspiration for painting, this book delivers. The book is also physically substantial, measuring 9 by 12 inches with a photo-montage on the cover and nice binding.
Overview
The book is divided into seven main sections, arranged in chronological order.
- The Precursors: This section addresses the development of the torpedo boat prior to the Second World War. This section is well illustrated with photos of various prototype boats as well as a useful and well-illustrated discussion of the design and construction of an S-Boote.
- Lightening War on the Seas: The use of S-Boote in the Norwegian and French campaigns of 1940 is taken up in the second section of the book. The utility of the boats for mine-laying, ferrying troops and as stand-off units engaging light Allied warships is highlighted. This section also contains a useful diagram of how several pairs of S-Boote would approach and attack a convoy.
- The Allies Even up the Score: The British reaction to German S-Boote successes, including the introduction of their own torpedo and gunboats as well as amended convoy doctrine, receives scrutiny in this section. Also of note is the toll that a high operational tempo took on Germany’s small number of S-Boote. Again the author highlights the significant mine-laying duties of these boats as well as details several joint attacks by groups of S-Boote on British convoys.
- The S-Boote in the Mediterranean: The deployment of several S-Boote to the Mediterranean, supplementing the Italian coastal forces, is covered in some depth. S-Boote played a role in the blockade of Malta and Tobruk. This section also provides an in-depth look at German torpedoes and the capture of Venice by a single German torpedo boat in 1943. Finally, it details the incorporation of the Italian boats into the Kreigsmarine after the surrender of Italian forces and operations in the Adriatic Sea.
- The English Pull Ahead: The text returns to the English Channel to detail the night-time fighting between British and German torpedo and gun boats that continued through the remainder of the war. This section provides a good discussion of various kinds of naval mines as well as the elaborate bunkers used to protect the S-Boote from air attacks.
- From the American Intervention to Operation Neptune: This section considers the arrival of American units. Particularly interesting is an S-Boote attack on forces practicing for the D-Day landings, in which several 1500-tonne Landing Ships Tank were torpedoed. The up-gunning of S-Boote to cope with increased Allied air and sea firepower is also addressed.
- The Final Combats on the Western Front: Mine-laying and convoy attacks continued right through to the end of the war in 1945. This section details the successes and mounting challenges to effective S-Boote operations following the D-Day landings.
The book concludes with a list of German S-Boote commanders, line drawings of different boat types and a boat construction list.
Tactical Discussion
While primarily a history of E-boats, this book contains a few diagrams outlining multiple-boat tactical formation that were adopted at various points in the war. Most interesting to gamers is the text addressing the offensive and defensive tactical adaptations caused by better British convoy protection by both motor gunboats (MGBs) and larger escorts. I would have appreciated a more careful discussion of this, but much can be gleaned from the text.
I’m currently working on a set of rules that will allow the fellows at the club to have two or three sharp encounters in an evening. Among the questions I’m grappling with is how abstractly to simulate torpedo attacks on merchantmen, including the probability of a successful hit and the extent of the damage. This book confirms that it was hard to get a good hit on a ship because the geometry can be tricky at high speeds and torpedoes were often defective. But a torpedo hit was almost always enough to put a ship out of a fight, and perhaps on the bottom.
Based on Dallies-Labourdette’s text, it appears that the heart of any game ought to be the maneuvering by a rotte (two-boat formation) into a good firing position. S-boote less clearly describes such a firing position than other books I’ve read, but supports the notion that maneuvering into kill position (and then bugging out using smoke for cover) ought to be the primary preoccupation of players. Assuming players can get a torpedo to cross the path of a target, they also ought to have reasonable odds of getting a hit and the consequences should generally be fairly catastrophic (duds being factored into the “to hit” mechanic).
Motor torpedo boats (MTBs) could move up to 40 knots and this has implications for game design. Ships need to move fast enough that freighters handle appreciably different than PT-boats, but not so fast that ships continually sail off the edge of a reasonably-sized playing surface (unless that represents a PT-boat temporarily disengaging). Yet there also needs to be enough room for the E-boats to actually maneuver and fight escort craft. So many things to consider in trying to mimic the combat described in S-boote!
Scenario Material
Unfortunately for wargamers, this book does not contain much material that is useful for generating scenarios. There are a couple of Channel battles that are described in enough detail to get an order of battle, but there is little here that one could not come up with simply from one’s imagination. To be fair, this is not the purpose of the book. Gamers might be better off locating a copy of a MTB or MGB commander’s memoirs for details of surface engagements.
There is, however, grist for historical skirmish or even pulp games to be found in the book. In particular, the incorporation of Italian MTBs into the Kreigsmarine following the surrender of Italy and the subsequent fight in the Adriatic are a great setting for games. Games featuring a PT crew boarding a freighter, a mutiny by Italian sailors, and a spy insertion or VIP extraction are all possible in a historical game. An interrupted mining expedition in the English Channel might also be an interesting turning of the tables for historical player. Pulp games set in the dark and misty waters off Yugoslavia would allow all sorts of Weird WW2 games. A deserted freighter and a PT-boat looking for parts to repair a faulty engine come to mind.
Graphic Appeal
The book is nicely laid out, emphasizing the photographs amassed by the author. The print is crisp and correctly registered. There are a few places where, to accommodate pictures, portions of the text get stranded in awkward places. It was also difficult, at times, to relate the picture captions to the pictures due to their placement.
The book contained a number of useful two-page, full-colour illustrations of various German and Allied motor torpedo and gunboat. These are on par with the illustrations found in Osprey’s German E-boats, 1939-1945 and will be very helpful for gamers seeking realistic camouflage colours and unit markings.
The book was originally written in German. On the whole the translation is admirable. There are some recurring oddities. For example, a ship sustaining significant damage is noted as having taken “important damage.” This isn’t incorrect, but is a bit jarring each time it is run across. There are also a fair number of typographical errors in the text.
Commentary
S-Boote very usefully supplements the English-language books addressing coastal warfare during the Second World War. Other readily available books are Osprey’s German E-boats, 1939-1945 (New Vanguard 59), Signal Publications Schnellboot in Action, and the Naval Institute Press’s German S-Boats in Action. Although these others are certainly useful, S-Boote is the most comprehensive and best illustrated.
Given that gamers are a small segment of the historical book buying public, I’ve very much appreciated the selection of books that Casemate has made available in North America. The opportunity to acquire English-language translations of niche titles is rare and Casemate’s large selection of memoirs is helpful in getting a feel for a period or battle.
That said, S-Boote’s utility to wargamers is less than several memoirs on the topic. Two of the most useful (although difficult to find) are Peter Scott’s Battle of the Narrow Seas and Peter Dickens’ Night Action. A more recent publication that I’m hoping to get my hands on is Gunboat Command (published by Pen and Sword and distributed by Casemate), another memoir of a British MGB commander. Memoirs typically contain less technical information, but have lots of very useful tactical information and after action reports.
Conclusion
Overall, this was an easy book to read and would be a good introduction for an experienced gamer. A gamer new to coastal warfare might want to consult something briefer (e.g., the Osprey) or Peter Dickens’ fast-paced Night Action memoir. Dickens book gets the blood flowing a bit more than S-Boote, but has no pictures.
I found the pictures in this book conveyed the speed, vulnerability and drama of torpedo boats quite well. Yes, there were a lot of pictures and sometime the narrative got a bit lost as I struggled to cross-reference captions with pictures and tried to understand how a picture related to the text. But it has also whet my appetite to haul out my collection of 1:700-scale PT boats and finish up those rules for the fall.
Pros:
- Very thorough explanation of history of E-boats.
- Extensive collection of photos and illustrations.
Cons:
- Not much directly transferable scenario material.
- Some translation errors.