Without Wings: The story of Hitler's aircraft carrier.
A scuba diver since the age of fourteen, Stephen Burke's interest in the history that lies beneath the waves has never waned. Having dived the World War I German fleet at Scapa Flow, and many other wrecks around our coast both military and merchant, a description in a naval encyclopaedia of the German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin grasped his imagination. Recounting (incorrectly) how she was believed to have sunk after hitting a mine in the Gulf of Finland, the few lines dedicated to the carrier on that single page of the encyclopaedia were enough to ensure several years of research would ensue.
Whilst amassing the information necessary to help locate and then dive the wrecked carrier, Graf Zeppelin's intriguing story slowly revealed itself until it became apparent that this book had almost written itself. Committing this information to a form suitable for publishing whilst at the same time trying to organise an expedition to search the area in the Baltic where Graf Zeppelin was believed to lie was a time consuming task, one made much easier in June 2006 when a Polish oil research vessel stumbled across her wreck lying in over 80 metres of water.
With the wreck of Hitler's aircraft carrier having been located, Steve's focus switched to the completion of this book, ensuring its completion in time for this, the 60th anniversary of Graf Zeppelin's loss.
Read now, for the first time the complete story of Hitler's aircraft carrier.
By Stephen Burke.
Engelstalig, zwart/wit foto's.
