German submarine technologies count among the leaders in the world. The Germans were not the first to have introduced submarines into their navy, but it wasn’t long before the most technically demanding boats were being designed and built in german shipyards – a pursuit which has always involved ground breaking innovations and continues to this day. The compilation ranges from the first diving boats around the turn of the century to the modern HDW class 212A and 214 of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, to tomorrow's submarine technologies as well as the HDW class 210mod and 216—still only existing on paper. The author explains different mission profiles of current submarines and also adds a list of all submarines built in Germany after 1945. The extensive documentation is completed by 130 illustrations—including many impressive pictures of the renowned photographer Peter Neumann.
Peter Neumann lives and works in Hamburg. As a pioneer of modern marine photography, he has not only adapted camera equipment to survive the unforgiving environment of the sea, but designed and built his own fast workboats, now marketed under the Kiel Classic brand name. His company Yacht Photo Service (YPS), founded in 1972, has one of Europe’s largest collections of yacht and shipping images. He furthermore owns a specialist advertising agency for the maritime industry and has been responsible for the creation of numerous books featuring yachts, merchant and naval ships. Dr. Jürgen Rohweder is a historian and journalist with a broad maritime background.