Torpedo Junction
The U-Boat War Off America's East Coast, 1942
by Homer H. Hickam, Jr.

SLAUGHTER AT SEA--JUST MILES FROM U.S. SOIL!
A solid history of the action in the first six months of WWII off the East Coast of the US--a period during which fewer than a dozen U- boats sank more Allied tonnage there than the entire Japanese navy had claimed in the Pacific. In 1942 German U-boats turned the shipping lanes off Cape Hatteras into a sea of death. Cruising up and down the U.S. eastern seaboard, they sank 259 ships, littering the waters with cargo and bodies. As astonished civilians witnessed explosions from American beaches, fighting men dubbed the area "Torpedo Junction." And while the U.S. Navy failed to react, a handful of Coast Guard sailors scrambled to the front lines. Outgunned and out-maneuvered, they heroically battled the deadliest fleet of submarines ever launched. Never was Germany closer to winning the war.

In a moving ship-by-ship account of terror and rescue at sea, Homer Hickam chronicles a little-known saga of courage, ingenuity, and triumph in the early years of World War II. From nerve-racking sea duels to the dramatic ordeals of sailors and victims on both sides of the battle, Hickam dramatically captures a war we had to win--because this one hit terrifyingly close to home. Amazon.com Review

Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunters
Volume 1
by Clay Blair

A former infantryman, Adolf Hitler had little use for the German navy, which he considered inept and politically suspect. Still, through the skillful maneuverings of a young, up-and-coming naval officer named Karl Dönitz, Hitler eventually endorsed a costly program of shipbuilding. As a result, Dönitz was able to field a vast fleet of U-boats when Germany went to war against France and England in 1939. Although his enemies were initially better equipped, Dönitz was the craftier fighter, launching daring raids on shipping convoys and Allied harbors, and for a time, controlling the chief Atlantic sea lanes. In this monumental history, Clay Blair analyzes the German U-boat campaigns from 1939 to 1942 (a companion volume continues his narrative to 1945), which, he writes, fall into three phases: one against England alone, another against the newly arrived American navy, and a furious third against the combined Allied forces. Blair argues, against other historians, that the "U-boat peril" has been overestimated. He holds that the American submarine campaign against Japan in the Pacific was far more effective, and observes that 99 percent of Allied merchant ships on transatlantic convoys reached their destinations. Even so, the U-boats introduced a powerful element of terror into an already horrific war, diverting Allied effort into antisubmarine campaigns and delaying the transport of much-needed materiel.

Blair's outstanding work adds much to the naval history of World War II. Packed with detail, it is sure to become a standard work on the Battle of the Atlantic. --Gregory McNamee --

Also available in softcover

Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted
Volume 2 
by Clay Blair

This mammoth book concludes the two-volume set that began with The Hunters, 1939-1942. If the first installment charted the rise of the U-boat, this one describes its downfall as the United States became fully engaged in the Second World War. A careful scholar, Blair never overstates the impact the U-boats played on the war's final outcome, even though they sank roughly 3,000 ships. He is, above all, comprehensive. Rather than a breezy overview, this book describes, spread out over nearly 900 pages (including 20 appendices!), almost every U-boat action in the second half of the war. Some readers will find this level of detail exhausting, but others will revel in it, and The Hunted is sure to be regarded as a standard in its field. --John J. Miller

Book Description
The first volume of Clay Blair's magisterial, highly praised narrative history of the German submarine war against Allied shipping in World War II, The Hunters, 1939-1942, described the Battle of the Atlantic waged first against the British Empire and then against the Americas. This second and concluding volume, The Hunted, 1942-1945, covers the period when the fortunes of the German Navy were completely reversed, and it suffered perhaps the most devastating defeat of any of the German forces. In unprecedented detail and drawing on sources never used before, Clay Blair continues the dramatic and authoritative story of the failures and fortunes of the German U-boat campaign against the United States and Great Britain. All the major patrols and sorties made by the Germans are described in detail and with considerable human interest: the Peleus and Laconia affairs; the capture at sea of U-505; the crisis of German command; the futile operations against the Americas; and the mounting and devastating losses that, in effect, entirely destroyed the German submarine service.

Amid the riveting accounts of battles at sea in Volume I, military historian Blair, who served on an American submarine in the Pacific against Japan, postulates that the German U-boat peril in the Atlantic has been "vastly overblown" in previously published histories and memoirs of that naval struggle, as well as in films. As a consequence, Blair writes, a false mythology about the effectiveness of U-boats has taken root, and in order to clearly and fully understand World War II, one must put the U-boat threat into proper perspective. Although neither volume is intended to be "technical" in nature, Blair does not neglect the scientific developments of the U-boat war. These include radar and radar detectors, active and passive sonar, Axis encoding machines and exotic Allied decoding machines, high-frequency direction finding (Huff Duff), Hedgehogs, depth charges, and sophisticated U-boat torpedoes. He describes how these devices worked and how they influenced the course of the naval battle. The remarkable story of Hitler's U-Boat War has been one of the last World War II subjects without a conclusive treatment. Now, thanks to Clay Blair, this has been brilliantly remedied.
 

Synopsis
The second landmark volume of German U-boat warfare in World War II--by the author of the bestselling "Silent Victory: The U.S. of photos. 5 maps.

From the Back Cover
"There is no doubt that this is a magnificent piece of naval history, not only exhaustive but also very well written, with strong appeal to the general reader as well as to the specialist....A real heavyweight."
--John Keegan
 

About the Author
Clay Blair served in combat on a submarine in the Pacific, attended Tulane and Columbia universities, and became the national security correspondent for Time, Life, and The Saturday Evening Post. He has published hundreds of magazine articles and twenty-five books. These include Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan, as well as biographies of Admiral H. G. Rickover; Generals Douglas MacArthur, Omar N. Bradley, and Matthew B. Ridgeway; and John F. Kennedy; and, more recently, a definitive account of the conflict in Korea, The Forgotten War. He lives with his wife on Washington Island, Wisconsin. Amazon.com

Also available in softcover

Lone Wolf
The Life and Death of U Boat Ace Werner Henke
by Timothy P. Mulligan

This excellent though odd volume studies a World War II German submarine captain who ran up a high score of sinkings well after Allied defenses made the career of a German U-boat man short and unhappy. Captured after his boat was finally sunk in 1944, Werner Henke became the victim of a questionable ruse on the part of his captors and was shot while making an escape so desperate it must be accounted a suicide. Mulligan uses a comprehensive array of primary and secondary sources to paint a vivid portrait not only of this maverick of the Kriegsmarine but of a whole generation of German naval officers, especially U-boat veterans. Roland Green Amazon.com Reviews

U-Boat Commander
A Periscope View of the Battle of the Atlantic
by Peter Cremer

Cremer, better than an Insurance Policy - This was the way the crew referred to Peter Cremer, and for good reason. When all his contemporary U-boat commander's were missing in the Atlantic, Cremer kept bringing his boat and his men home. This was no easy feat as the reader will clearly see upon reading this excellent and informative book. In fact many times his U-boat, its crew and himself included often bore the severe scars gained while pulling life out of the seemingly unavoidable clutch that death had on them. Of 40,000 men serving in the U-boat Arm from 1939-45 30,000 were lost at sea. Higher then any other arm of any participating nation. Yet there morale and conviction never failed. This book gives you a glimpse of the courage it took for those men to go out time and again, after injury, suffering and the eventual realization that despite their efforts and sacrifices they could not prevail. They could merely buy time that in the end ran out like the luck of so many of there comrades. This is not just a history of the Man and Boat but also reviews the events from both sides to illuminate how the initiative changed and why. You will leave with a better understanding of the Battle of the Atlantic and a respect for a worthy adversary. Amazon.com Review

 

Operation Drumbeat
The Dramatic True Story of Germany's First U-Boat Attacks 
Along the American Coast in World War II
by Michael Gannon

Historian Michael Gannon argues that the systematic assault by German submarines on merchant tankers and freighters along the U.S. eastern seaboard in 1942 "constituted a greater strategic setback for the Allied war effort than did the defeat at Pearl Harbor." The case for the claim is intriguing and includes a damaging assessment of the U.S. naval command, which ignored information that might have allowed it to avert the disaster, but Gannon never lets his argument distract from the compelling wartime story. Through original interviews and archival research, he describes the exploits of U-123 and its 28-year-old Lieutenant Commander Reinhard Hardegen, who terrorized American home waters on two separate missions. Operation Drumbeat presents a remarkable picture of life on the U-boats. (Fans of the movie Das Boot especially won't want to miss it.) Gannon's book eventually may become a classic work of naval history; for now it's a great book on a particular aspect of the Second World War. --John J. Miller

From Book News, Inc. , August 1, 1991
Operation drumbeat was the code name of the first German assault against the US in World War II. Gannon focuses on U-123, the most successful U-boat in the assault force, and on her commander, Reinhard Hardegen, who sank 19 ships on two American patrols and twice received Germany's highest decoration, the Knight's Cross. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Twenty Million Tons Under the Sea  
The historic capture of U-505
by Daniel V. Gallery

In June 1944, U.S. Navy Task Group 22.3, a “hunter-killer” force commanded by Daniel Gallery to track down German submarines, boarded and captured U-505 off the coast of Africa. It was the first time that an enemy ship of war had been captured on the high seas by U.S. Navy sailors since 1815, when the USS Peacock seized HMS Nautilus as part of the War of 1812. The extraordinary feat is described in gripping narrative by Gallery himself, who chronicles the long and arduous battle against the German U-boat under the most hazardous conditions. Once they succeeded in capturing and towing their prize seventeen-hundred miles across the Atlantic Ocean, U-505 proved to be of inestimable value, yielding secrets to radio codes among other things. U-505 is now on exhibit at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry.

Silent Hunters
German U-Boat Commanders of WW II
by Theodore Savas

When WW II erupted across Europe in 1939, Germany knew that it could not hope to compete with the Royal Navy in a head to head naval war. Left with no viable alternatives, especially after 1941, the U-bootwaffe wagered everything on the submarine card in the desperate attempt to sink more tonnage then the allies could construct. And so the silent hunters slipped out of their shelters along Europe's shores to stalk their prey with the same doggedness and deadliness that had marked the U-Boat campaign a generation earlier. Since 1945, most aspects of this bitter struggle have been told from both the Axis and Allied points of view. While many of the undersea aces have enjoyed considerable recognition, the careers of other commanders have languished in undeserved obscurity. Presented here for the first time are the detailed stories of six U-Boat commanders: Englebert Endrass, Karl Friedrich Merten, Ralph Kapinsky, Fritz Guggenberger, Victor Oehern and Heinz Eck.

Silent Hunters contributes greatly to our understanding of the U-Boat drama and adds depth, breadth and context to some of the war's most interesting commanders.

Iron Coffins
A Personal Account of German U-Boat Battles of WW II
by Herbert A. Werner

Iron Coffins is perhaps the best WWII submarine book ever written. What makes the book interesting is of course Werner's clear narration of his submarine career in the German UnterSeaBootWaffe -- or UnderSea Force. The German perspective makes an interesting angle. From this perspective, you ride the wave of the U-Boat success in the early days, learn the advances made by the Allies in convoy technique and sonar, and sink with the U-Boats in their dark days at the end of the war. Werner's experiences are an incredible metaphor for the entire U-Boat force, and for the entire German armed forces. An incredible 20,000 of 30,000 U-Boat sailors died in WWII. At the end, it was a miracle if 1 U-Boat in 7 returned from a mission. And somehow Werner survived mission after mission. It's an incredible story, and if you a WWII history buff, a submarine buff, this is a great book. I can practically guarantee that once started, you won't put it down until you finish. Amazon.com review
 

Black May
The Allies Defeat of the German U-Boats
by Michael Gannon

After a year of terrorizing ships off the coast of the United States, the tide turned against the U-boats in May 1943 when Allied forces sank 41 vessels and damaged 37 others. This frenzy of activity essentially reopened the North Atlantic to merchant shipping and helped clear a path for the Allies' final assault on Europe the following year. Michael Gannon tells his story with wonderful anecdotes from all perspectives--in one scene, he describes a surfaced U-boat crew standing on deck and watching automobile headlights shine through the blackness of night from the New Jersey shore. Few people realize that German naval vessels actually came so close to the United States, but they did--until, as Gannon tells the story, they were finally pushed away, once and for all, in a single hectic month of combat. Although Black May is something of a sequel to Gannon's extraordinary Operation Drumbeat, which described the German's initial successes, it stands on its own as a brilliant work of naval history. --John J. Miller Amazon.com Review.

Also available in paperback

The U-Boat Peril
A Fight for Survival
by Bob Whinney

If you are looking for an accurate technical description of the anti-submarine warfare in WWII,this book contains detailed descriptions of the asdic procedures used against the German U-Boats in the Atlantic. The author,Bob Whinney, was an anti-submarine warfare specialist and sunk three U-Boats. This book is very clarificating, if not entirely satisfactory about the technical aspects of allied ASW in WWII. Anyway, I am still trying to find a completely satisfactory book about the technical aspects of ASW in WWII, but this book contains very useful information about this subject. Besides, it is the very interesting history of a succesful ASW allied commander in The Battle of the Atlantic. Amazon.com Review

  Hitler's U-Boat Bases
By Jak P. Mallman Showell

U-Boat Killer
Fighting the U-Boats in the Battle of the Atlantic
by Donald MacIntyre

The U Boat Commander's Handbook
High Command of the German Navy

Battle Beneath the Waves
The U-Boat War
by Robert C. Stern

U-Boats Under the Swastika
by J.P. Mallman Showell

U-Boat Adventures
First Hand Accounts From WW II
by Melanie Wiggins

Donitz and the Wolf Packs
The U-Boats at War
by Bernard Edwards

Wolf
 U Boat Commanders In WW II
by Jordan Vause

Memoirs
Ten Years and Twenty Days
by Karl Doenitz

U-Boats in Camera 1939-1945
by Jak P. Mallman

Neither Sharks Nor Wolves
The Men of Nazi Germany's U-Boat Arm, 1939 - 1945
by Timothy Mulligan

U-Boats
The Illustrated History of the Raiders of the Deep
by David Miller

Shadows on the Horizon
The Battle of Convoy HX-233
by Winthrop A. Haskell, Jurgen Rohwer

Convoy
Merchant Sailors at War, 1939 - 1940
by Philip Kaplan, and Jack Currie

Decoding History
The Battle of the Atlantic and Ultra
by W.J.R. Gardner

Capturing Enigma
How the HMS Petard Seized the German Naval Codes
by Stephen Harper

German U-Boat Commanders of World War II
A Biographical Dictionary
by Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Roll, Geoffrey Brooks

U-Boat Operations of the Second World
A Career History
by Kenneth G. Wynn

Germany's Last Mission to Japan
The Failed Voyage of U-234
by Joseph M. Scalia