This hugely comprehensive encyclopaedia covers every German artillery piece mounted afloat during the Second World War, from the huge 15-inch (380mm) guns carried by the Bismarck to the smallest machine gun used by coastal forces. All marks and variations of these weapons are described individually, including their mountings and the ammunition fired, with extensive tabular data, but the feature that makes this book unique is the range, precision and detail of the illustrations.Almost every known close-up photo of these weapons is included, usually reproduced large enough to see every detail, plus accurate three-view drawings perfect for modelling purposes. However, the most spectacular element of the illustration is provided by computer-generated full colour representations of the guns and their mountings, seen from every conceivably useful angle. The number of illustrations of all kinds totals well over 1000, making this the most thorough and complete reference available to modelmakers, enthusiasts and naval historians.

The idea of creating such an album dedicated to the battleships of World War Two had been born in the last dozen or so years. During this period, various concepts appeared in print, which were meant to present those beautiful ships in the form of a "condensed pill." Most of the contributions have been made by foreign authors who had had greater access to photographic references. It was not easy, because it was difficult to choose several photos illustrating the entire history of the battleship, starting from the moment of the keel laying and ending with its sinking. Then, in some cases it has a further history as a wreck resting on the seabed until today. Initially, we selected over 1,000 photos, which we had to give up because of the size of such an album. In the end, it was divided into two volumes, thanks to which the number of photos remained only slightly reduced. In the case of vessels with a large or interesting combat history, we tried to put more photos illustrating their operational activities. Some ships have a very limited number of photos included. The best example of this is the Japanese battleship "Musashi", of which only few photographs exist. Most of them come from private collections and it was very difficult to get permission to publish them. Despite these difficulties, it was possible to gather unique photographic material enriched with the brief combat records of individual battleships, which will hopefully allow the reader to trace their story. In the first volume, the author describes all the most important battleships from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Greece, Spain, Japan, France, and Germany.