The Schnellbootwaffe was created in the early 1930s, before the Second World War, in concurrence with the regenerated Kriegsmarine, and young officers, most of whom learned their craft in the old Imperial Navy, would take responsibility for the operational use of these revolutionary vessels.

Hrvoje Spajic is a Croatian military historian. He has published more than 150 popular-science articles and is the author of eight books on the subject of military history. 'Schnellbootwaffe: Adolf Hitler's Guerrilla War at Sea, S-Boote 1939-45' is his first work in English. He lives with his family in Zagreb.