Books by Przemyslaw Budzbon

Seventy-five years after the end of World War II the details of Soviet ships, their activities and fates remain an enigma to the West. In wartime such information was classified and after a brief period of glasnost the Russian state has again restricted access to historical archives. Therefore, the value - and originality - of this work is difficult to exaggerate. This second part of the three-volume series includes all the remaining fighting vessels not already covered in Volume I. Beginning with the Uragan class - rated as escort ships and the first seagoing warships designed by the Soviet Union - the book then moves on to submarine hunters, both large and small, patrol craft, minelayers and minesweepers, and unusual types like floating artillery batteries and anti-aircraft defense ships, concluding with landing ships and craft. Many of these vessels have hitherto been poorly documented but given the nature of the land-centered Soviet war against Germany their contribution should not be underestimated. The details of their service and, not least, the circumstances of their loss, constitute a major addition to Western understanding of the Soviet Navy's war effort. This volume covers: Escort ships Large submarine hunters Small submarine hunters Patrol boats Floating artillery batteries AA defence ships Minelayers Netlayers Minesweepers Minesweeping boats Landing vessels and craft

The most comprehensive listing of Soviet warships of this era in English.

Packed with illustrations, this is a study of the Polish warships such as the Grom-class destroyers that were developed and built in the interwar years.Newly independent Poland's naval force was created in 1920, initially with six ex-German torpedo boats. However, after German-Soviet exercises off the Polish coast in 1924, funding for warships was hastily allocated. Two destroyers and three submarines were built in France but, disappointed with their quality, Poland ordered new ships, mostly from British and Dutch shipyards. By summer 1939, the Polish Navy comprised four destroyers, five submarines, one minelayer, six minesweepers and a handful of lesser ships. Although the Grom-class destroyers were two of the fastest and best-armed destroyers of the war, the tiny Polish fleet would stand little chance against the Kriegsmarine, and on 30 August three destroyers were dispatched to Britain, followed by two submarines that escaped internment. The remaining Polish surface fleet was sunk by 3 September. In exile, the Polish Navy operated not only their own ships, but also Royal Navy warships, including a cruiser, destroyers, submarines and motor torpedo boats which fought alongside the Allies in the Battle of the Atlantic, the Arctic Convoys, and at the Normandy landings. This detailed account not only describes the Polish Navy's contribution to the Allied war effort but also the episode of the Polish destroyer Piorun which took on the Bismarck in a lone gun duel leading to the sinking of the great German battleship.