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

by Timothy Patrick Mulligan

Although countless books have been written about the U-boat war in the Atlantic, precious few facts have come to light about the men who served in the submarines that wrought such havoc on Allied ships. Eager to get beyond the stereotypes perpetuated in movies and novels and find out who these elusive sailors really were, archivist Timothy Mulligan started searching official records. Eventually he went straight to the source, conducting a survey of more than a thousand U-boat officers and enlisted men and interviewing a number of them personally. The result is this character study of the German submarine force that challenges traditional and revisionist views of the service. Mulligan found striking similarities in the men's geographic and social origins, education, and previous occupations, particularly within the specialized engineering and radio branches of the submarine force. The information he gathered establishes quantifiable patterns in age, length of service, and experience, as well as the organization's overall recruitment policies and training standards. The numbers and losses of U-boat personnel are also fully examined. Beyond these objective characteristics, this study lists such subjective factors as morale, treatment of enemy ship survivors, and the relationship of the submariners to the Nazi regime, and it confirms a serious crisis in morale in late 1943. The roles played by the head of the U-boat arm, Grand Admiral Karl Donitz, and its organizational chief, Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg, are thoroughly addressed. Mulligan concludes that the U-boat arm quickly evolved from a handpicked elite to a more representative sample of the German navy at large but continued to be treated as an elite force. The only comprehensive investigation yet published, this book also draws on POW interrogations of U-boat survivors and documentation of Kriegsmarine personnel policy obtained from German archives.

Genres: History, Military History, Nonfiction, World War II

340 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Brett C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a very informative and well-researched book on the infamous U-Boats on World War II. This book capitalizes on the men, the crews, and the historical aspect of submarine warfare. Though it touches briefly on the submarines themselves, this is not a technical book (structural specs, diving mechanisms, snorkels, propulsion systems, etc.).

It's about the crew from the lowest ranking enlisted to the captain. All aspects of the crew are detailed about their skills (machinist, engineering, underwater navigation) that kept the U-Boat operational. Their crews and captains fought bravely and courageously.

Overall this was great, fact-driven and nonbiased, and smoothly written book. I enjoyed it and learned quite a lot. I would highly recommend it! Thanks!

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book started slow but overtime began to hold my attention. The author provided a very detailed and in depth look of the men and political situation of the U-Boat fleet prior to and during World War 2. It’s very clear that a lot of time and research went into the writing of this book. The pages are packed with information and detailed breakdowns of the men who made up the German U-Boat crews during the war.

[Lisa Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book can easily be reviewed as a fundamental reaearch work in the field of the history of the German submarine warfare in World War II. It presents an in-depth collection of the constitution,traning, attitudes and combat services of those men that served in the U-Boat arm of the Kriegsmarine between 1939-1945. The research becomes more vivid through the use of specific examples and biographical insights. There are some very minor mistakes on year dates, but this does not by any means diminishes the value of this research. I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in this field of historical research.

[Neal Leavell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book gave much more detail about WW II German u-boat sailors and statistics than I was interested in.

[Bill Bruno · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative demographic breakdown of U-boat crews and an overview of the staffing practices of the U-boat arm. In addition to the capture German documents which are Mr. Mulligan's specialty, there is also a survey he did of over one thousand U-boat personnel.

The book is also a good introduction to the U-boat war in general, at least from the submariners' perspective. The first chapter covers the structure and life of a U-boat crew, the second covers the forming of the first wave of U-boat personnel and the third is a good overview of the U-boat campaign.

He also covers the different career tracks, the question of a morale crisis among U-boat personnel and the "law of war" questions involved in U-boat warfare.

Key points are reinforced with tables throughout.

This book is enlightening, well-research and smoothly written; the latter particularly welcome since one could easily imaging a book like this being rather dry.

[Charles McCain · Rating 5 out of 5]

the author, Timothy Mulligan, was the curator of World War Two German Navy records at the US National Archives for thirty years. All of the records of the German Navy including all U-Boat records were captured intact by the Allies and brought to the US. Over the years all of them were put on microfilm in some years back the originals were returned to the German government. Mulligan is one of the handful of true experts on the German U-Bootwaffe. This book is eminently worth five stars with the following caveat: it's written for serious students of the U-Bootwaffe and not the casual reader. It isn't a novel or action/adventure non-fiction. Its an in depth study with a number of statistical charts of the German UBoat force.(less)

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic statistical analysis of Germany's U-Boat War in WWII. What is even better is that its not just a statistical analysis of the U-Boat war. Mulligan uses a variety of sources to support his conclusions. Many of his conclusions are interesting such as the age of the crews didn't get younger but maintained their average ages. However that didn't mean that the crews were experienced. The book challenges some long asserted theories of the U-Boats such as the average age of the crews to providing support that the U-Boats were not the technologically advanced. This book is highly recommended.

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many years ago I first acquired a copy of this book and read it. I was amazed at the level of detail in to the lives of the U-Boat crews. Up until this point, I had read a lot about the U-boats themselves and their captains. There are many books about the war and the Aces but this is written about the men who kept the boats going throughout the war. This book is a great resource for anyone interested in diving a bit more in to the history of the time, but do not expect an overall history of the U-Boats and the battles, for that you have Clay Blair. In this Mr. Mulligan writes a great tome about the training, background and lives of the U-Boat men.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. Exhaustively researched and scholarly while still easy to read. Refutes popular and revisionist assertions with documentary and demographic data, presenting a largely sympathetic and human picture of the men who crewed Germany's submarines.