One of the major benefits of aerial photography is to give an indication of the situation in various areas of the world. During WWII, much of this photography was from relatively high altitudes so that the photo aircraft would not be prey to ground based anti-aircraft fire and so that interceptors would not have time to reach the photo plane during the photo shoot.

Of course, there was also low level photo missions, but this was not as common due to the extreme hazard of those types of mission.

Once the photos were taken and developed, it was then left to a team of photo interpreters to see what was in the images. These people were highly trained and provided with as many guides as possible to cover the subject and the area in question. This book concentrates on ships, so many of these photos are of various naval facilities and harbors. In these images, things look quite different from what we are used to seeing from a much lower altitude. The interpreters rely on judgment and shadows to try to get details. At times the subjects are misidentified or simply listed by ship class or even just ship type. However, it does provide an indication of what is there so that any mission planning can be carried out before a raid.

The author spent most of his military career as a photo interpreter and so provides much insight into the subjects. Tasked with clearing out a warehouse section that was full of images from WWII that were no longer deemed to be useful, he managed to keep a number of them that were of interest and these were those of ships.

The book is divided into sections with an introduction, then chapters on the ships of Germany, Italy, France and Japan. France is included as the Vichy French government could be considered Axis and the Germans were able to take over some French ships for their own use. It was the section on French and Italian ships that I personally found the most interesting as I know not that much of these navies.

In addition to being segmented by nation, the book follows a standard time line from the beginning to the end of hostilities. This includes battle images, some taken from the attacking aircraft as well as images taken after the war of the condition of the former enemy ships.

I have to admit that I could not see some of the subjects in some of the images, but fortunately, the author has in some cases, enlarged the subject. It all makes for a truly fascinating look at these ships and from a perspective that few of us would normally see. A book that I enjoyed reading through and one that I can easily recommend to both enthusiasts and casual readers.

October 2011

Review book courtesy of  Casemate Publishing, where you can order your copy of this and many other superb books.

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