Germany’s navy, the Kriegsmarine, played a critical role in the Third Reich’s attempt to restrict the flow of supplies, men and materiel from the United States to Britain in the early years of the war and from North America and Britain to the Soviet Union from 1941. Such was the success of the U-boats in particular, by the end of the war more than 3000 Allied ships with a combined gross tonnage 14.5 million had been sent to the bottom of the sea. World War II Data Book: The Kriegsmarine, 1939–45 gets behind this massive organization to reveal the workings of the German Navy through its organization, command structure, economic resources, production figures, recruitment, training and philosophy. Broken down by key campaigns and subject areas, the book includes exhaustive reference tables, diagrams, colourful maps and charts, presenting all the core data in easy-to-follow formats.