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The Burning Shore: How Hitler's U-Boats Brought World War II to America
On June 15, 1942, as thousands of vacationers lounged in the sun at Virginia Beach, two massive fireballs erupted just offshore from a convoy of oil tankers steaming into Chesapeake Bay. While men, women, and children gaped from the shore, two damaged oil tankers fell out of line and began to sink. Then a small escort warship blew apart in a violent explosion. Navy warships and aircraft peppered the water with depth charges, but to no avail. Within the next twenty-four hours, a fourth ship lay at the bottom of the channel— all victims of twenty-nine-year-old Kapitänleutnant Horst Degen and his crew aboard the German U-boat U-701.
In The Burning Shore, acclaimed military reporter Ed Offley presents a thrilling account of the bloody U-boat offensive along America’s east coast during the first half of 1942, using the story of Degen’s three war patrols as a lens through which to view this forgotten chapter of World War II. For six months, German U-boats prowled the waters off the eastern seaboard, sinking merchant ships with impunity, and threatening to sever the lifeline of supplies flowing from America to Great Britain. Degen’s successful infiltration of the Chesapeake Bay in mid-June drove home the U-boats’ success, and his spectacular attack terrified the American public as never before. But Degen’s cruise was interrupted less than a month later, when U.S. Army Air Forces Lieutenant Harry J. Kane and his aircrew spotted the silhouette of U-701 offshore. The ensuing clash signaled a critical turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic—and set the stage for an unlikely friendship between two of the episode’s survivors.
A gripping tale of heroism and sacrifice, The Burning Shore leads readers into a little-known theater of World War II, where Hitler’s U-boats came close to winning the Battle of the Atlantic before American sailors and airmen could finally drive them away.
In The Burning Shore, acclaimed military reporter Ed Offley presents a thrilling account of the bloody U-boat offensive along America’s east coast during the first half of 1942, using the story of Degen’s three war patrols as a lens through which to view this forgotten chapter of World War II. For six months, German U-boats prowled the waters off the eastern seaboard, sinking merchant ships with impunity, and threatening to sever the lifeline of supplies flowing from America to Great Britain. Degen’s successful infiltration of the Chesapeake Bay in mid-June drove home the U-boats’ success, and his spectacular attack terrified the American public as never before. But Degen’s cruise was interrupted less than a month later, when U.S. Army Air Forces Lieutenant Harry J. Kane and his aircrew spotted the silhouette of U-701 offshore. The ensuing clash signaled a critical turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic—and set the stage for an unlikely friendship between two of the episode’s survivors.
A gripping tale of heroism and sacrifice, The Burning Shore leads readers into a little-known theater of World War II, where Hitler’s U-boats came close to winning the Battle of the Atlantic before American sailors and airmen could finally drive them away.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published March 25, 2014
13 people are currently reading
442 people want to read
About the author
Ed Offley
7 books8 followersEd Offley has been a military reporter for over 30 years in a wide variety of journalism assignments throughout the United States, including newspaper reporting and editorial writing, and online editing and commentary. Since 2006, he has worked full-time as an author focusing on military history topics.
His military reporting career spanned the final decade of the Cold War, including the Reagan administration’s defense buildup of the 1980s and American interventions in Lebanon, Grenada and Panama; the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union; the outbreak of mass violence in the Balkans; and major U.S. military interventions in the Middle East including Operation Desert Storm in 1991, and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
During that time, he covered military operations and exercises in eighteen countries. These included the 1989 American intervention in Panama; the U.S. Pacific Fleet’s historic 1990 visit to the Soviet Union at Vladivostok; the 1991 Operation Desert Storm offensive to liberate Kuwait, and the 1992 U.S. intervention in Somalia. Other assignments have included a major U.S. Navy fleet exercise in the Bering Sea in 1987; the U.S. Air Force’s 1989 mid-winter airdrop of supplies to the South Pole Base Camp, and a reporting trip to the border village of Panmunjom in 1994 during a period of heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Throughout his career, Offley practiced hands-on coverage of the military. This included coverage of naval fleet exercises at sea from the central Pacific to the Atlantic and Caribbean. He participated in training maneuvers with the U.S. Army in Alaska, Washington state, southern California and Puerto Rico. He qualified for flight in Navy and Air Force tactical jet aircraft, flying as an observer in a number of warplanes, including the B-52H, A-6E, CF-18, F-5E and EA-6B. He flew with both the Navy’s Blue Angels and Air Force’s Thunderbirds, logged over 300,000 miles of flight with the Air Mobility Command worldwide, and made over a dozen aircraft carrier landings and takeoffs. He spent four days submerged in the Trident submarine USS Nevada and three days inside an even more cramped M1A1 Abrams tank
His investigative reporting regularly produced headline-generating disclosures. He was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in beat reporting in 1996 for articles on a brain-injured former Army soldier who was released from a civilian jail and had his veterans benefits restored as a result of the coverage revealing a faulty Army medical diagnosis of the soldier’s condition. His disclosure of a Top Secret plan to use trained dolphins as security guards at the Bangor Submarine Base triggered a federal lawsuit by animal-rights groups that stopped the program in its tracks. His revelation that retired Navy Warrant Officer John Walker’s espionage for the KGB had allowed Soviet submarines to penetrate American and Canadian coastal waters sparked a parliamentary hearing in Canada.
In addition to his published works, Ed Offley has long worked to improve the quality of military reporting in American journalism. In 2001, his military reporting manual, Pen & Sword: A Journalist’s Guide to Covering the Military (Marion Street Press, Oak Park, IL), received widespread praise by reviewers. The American Journalism Review called the manual “especially valuable” to reporters who found themselves covering military subjects on short notice. He also was a founding director of Military Reporters & Editors Association, a professional group committed to improving the quality of military reporting in the American news media.
A 1969 graduate of the University of Virginia, Ed served in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Midway. He and his wife, Karen Conrad, live in Panama City Beach, Fla. They have two adult daughters, Elaine and Andrea.
His military reporting career spanned the final decade of the Cold War, including the Reagan administration’s defense buildup of the 1980s and American interventions in Lebanon, Grenada and Panama; the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union; the outbreak of mass violence in the Balkans; and major U.S. military interventions in the Middle East including Operation Desert Storm in 1991, and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
During that time, he covered military operations and exercises in eighteen countries. These included the 1989 American intervention in Panama; the U.S. Pacific Fleet’s historic 1990 visit to the Soviet Union at Vladivostok; the 1991 Operation Desert Storm offensive to liberate Kuwait, and the 1992 U.S. intervention in Somalia. Other assignments have included a major U.S. Navy fleet exercise in the Bering Sea in 1987; the U.S. Air Force’s 1989 mid-winter airdrop of supplies to the South Pole Base Camp, and a reporting trip to the border village of Panmunjom in 1994 during a period of heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Throughout his career, Offley practiced hands-on coverage of the military. This included coverage of naval fleet exercises at sea from the central Pacific to the Atlantic and Caribbean. He participated in training maneuvers with the U.S. Army in Alaska, Washington state, southern California and Puerto Rico. He qualified for flight in Navy and Air Force tactical jet aircraft, flying as an observer in a number of warplanes, including the B-52H, A-6E, CF-18, F-5E and EA-6B. He flew with both the Navy’s Blue Angels and Air Force’s Thunderbirds, logged over 300,000 miles of flight with the Air Mobility Command worldwide, and made over a dozen aircraft carrier landings and takeoffs. He spent four days submerged in the Trident submarine USS Nevada and three days inside an even more cramped M1A1 Abrams tank
His investigative reporting regularly produced headline-generating disclosures. He was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in beat reporting in 1996 for articles on a brain-injured former Army soldier who was released from a civilian jail and had his veterans benefits restored as a result of the coverage revealing a faulty Army medical diagnosis of the soldier’s condition. His disclosure of a Top Secret plan to use trained dolphins as security guards at the Bangor Submarine Base triggered a federal lawsuit by animal-rights groups that stopped the program in its tracks. His revelation that retired Navy Warrant Officer John Walker’s espionage for the KGB had allowed Soviet submarines to penetrate American and Canadian coastal waters sparked a parliamentary hearing in Canada.
In addition to his published works, Ed Offley has long worked to improve the quality of military reporting in American journalism. In 2001, his military reporting manual, Pen & Sword: A Journalist’s Guide to Covering the Military (Marion Street Press, Oak Park, IL), received widespread praise by reviewers. The American Journalism Review called the manual “especially valuable” to reporters who found themselves covering military subjects on short notice. He also was a founding director of Military Reporters & Editors Association, a professional group committed to improving the quality of military reporting in the American news media.
A 1969 graduate of the University of Virginia, Ed served in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Midway. He and his wife, Karen Conrad, live in Panama City Beach, Fla. They have two adult daughters, Elaine and Andrea.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
September 10, 2014
A fascinating topic, but a rather dull explanation of it. Well researched, but I finished the book not feeling that I got an entire story. Ships were exploding within sight of shore in America, but that portion of the story seems almost a fraction of the focus. How was the civilian response? What was the press response, or how was press response curtailed by the government? Offley seemed to want to tell the story of one German submarine commander and his American pilot counterpart, but it's just not that interesting a story.
July 18, 2021
This gets off to a slow start and is sometimes bogged down a bit by technical descriptions, but it is a rewarding story in the end. It provides yet another snapshot of the Second World War, and a more personalized account of both sides of this battle at sea.
June 18, 2017
Author did a good job telling a story of two individuals, while setting the scope for the story, as well as providing a full context for their encounter. There are more detailed studies of the overall U-Boat war along the American coast, but this story is a bit more focused. There are so many points one could branch out and go in to much more details, code breaking, radio direction finding, the evolution of the convoy system, and so much more. The author gives one enough detail for the overall narrative to make sense without getting lost in the details, nor creating an overly long work. That is certainly good praise for this book.
July 12, 2018
A good balance between the stories of a pilot and a U-boat commander and their fateful encounter and a broader study of the submarine campaign on US coastal shipping.
June 8, 2023
I love buying and reading these types of books.
Boats, yachts, historical events and books about the sea are generally excellent. If there are sequels in your series, I would love to read them.
The beauties of owning the books of important authors cannot be discussed. I'm looking forward to your new books.
For friends who want to read this book, I leave the importance of reading a book here. I wish good luck to the sellers and customers...
Top 10 benefits of reading for all ages:
1. Reading Exercises the Brain
As we read, we need to remember the different characters and settings of a particular story. Even if you enjoy reading a book in one sitting, you need to remember the details during the time you devote to reading the book. Therefore, reading is an exercise for your brain that improves memory function.
2. Reading Is a (free) Form of Entertainment
Did you know that most of the popular TV series and movies are based on books? So why not indulge in the original form of entertainment by immersing yourself in reading? Most importantly, it's free with your Markham Public Library card.
3. Reading Improves Concentration and Focus
We all agree that there can be no reading without focus, and we need to concentrate on every page we read to fully understand the story. In a world where gadgets only speed up and shorten our attention span, we must constantly practice concentration and focus. Reading is one of the few activities that requires your undivided attention, so it improves your ability to concentrate.
4. Reading Improves Literacy
Have you ever read a book where you come across a word you don't know? Books have the power to improve your vocabulary by introducing you to new words. The more you read, the more your vocabulary will improve as well as your ability to communicate effectively. Also, reading improves writing skills by helping the reader understand and learn different writing styles.
5. Reading Improves Sleep
By creating a bedtime routine that includes reading, you can signal to your body that it's time to sleep. Now more than ever, we rely on increased screen time to get through the day. That's why you put your phone away and pick up a book and tell your brain it's time to calm down. Also, since reading helps you relieve stress, reading right before bed helps calm your mind and anxiety and improve your sleep quality.
6. Reading Increases General Knowledge
Books are always full of fun and interesting facts. Whether we read fiction or non-fiction, books have the ability to provide us with information we might not otherwise know. Reading various topics can make you a more knowledgeable person and therefore improve your speaking skills.
7. Reading Is Motivating
By reading books about heroes overcoming adversity, we are often encouraged to do the same. Whether it's a romance novel or a self-help book, the right book can motivate you to never give up and stay positive.
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https://theboatyacht.com/terry-jason-...
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https://theboatyacht.com/bayliner-346...
https://numberoneboats.com/bayliner-3...
Boats, yachts, historical events and books about the sea are generally excellent. If there are sequels in your series, I would love to read them.
The beauties of owning the books of important authors cannot be discussed. I'm looking forward to your new books.
For friends who want to read this book, I leave the importance of reading a book here. I wish good luck to the sellers and customers...
Top 10 benefits of reading for all ages:
1. Reading Exercises the Brain
As we read, we need to remember the different characters and settings of a particular story. Even if you enjoy reading a book in one sitting, you need to remember the details during the time you devote to reading the book. Therefore, reading is an exercise for your brain that improves memory function.
2. Reading Is a (free) Form of Entertainment
Did you know that most of the popular TV series and movies are based on books? So why not indulge in the original form of entertainment by immersing yourself in reading? Most importantly, it's free with your Markham Public Library card.
3. Reading Improves Concentration and Focus
We all agree that there can be no reading without focus, and we need to concentrate on every page we read to fully understand the story. In a world where gadgets only speed up and shorten our attention span, we must constantly practice concentration and focus. Reading is one of the few activities that requires your undivided attention, so it improves your ability to concentrate.
4. Reading Improves Literacy
Have you ever read a book where you come across a word you don't know? Books have the power to improve your vocabulary by introducing you to new words. The more you read, the more your vocabulary will improve as well as your ability to communicate effectively. Also, reading improves writing skills by helping the reader understand and learn different writing styles.
5. Reading Improves Sleep
By creating a bedtime routine that includes reading, you can signal to your body that it's time to sleep. Now more than ever, we rely on increased screen time to get through the day. That's why you put your phone away and pick up a book and tell your brain it's time to calm down. Also, since reading helps you relieve stress, reading right before bed helps calm your mind and anxiety and improve your sleep quality.
6. Reading Increases General Knowledge
Books are always full of fun and interesting facts. Whether we read fiction or non-fiction, books have the ability to provide us with information we might not otherwise know. Reading various topics can make you a more knowledgeable person and therefore improve your speaking skills.
7. Reading Is Motivating
By reading books about heroes overcoming adversity, we are often encouraged to do the same. Whether it's a romance novel or a self-help book, the right book can motivate you to never give up and stay positive.
https://numberoneboats.com/
https://theboatyacht.com/
https://theboatyacht.com/terry-jason-...
https://numberoneboats.com/terry-jaso...
https://theboatyacht.com/bayliner-346...
https://numberoneboats.com/bayliner-3...
June 1, 2023
This was an excellent book. It was fast paced and told of the attacks from a bit of a different perspective. I have read about the War in the North Atlantic before and have read about Operation Drumbeat before. I found the minelaying operation to be something that was more devastating than I had thought. Offley also had a solid section in the book related to the Japanese attacks on the west coast and the hysteria that prevailed there.
This is a very good book that I would recommend for anyone interested in submarine warfare and the attacks on the eastern seaboard. It would also be of interest as background for anyone studying the internment of Japanese Americans in WWII or the attacks on the Pacific Coast.
This is a very good book that I would recommend for anyone interested in submarine warfare and the attacks on the eastern seaboard. It would also be of interest as background for anyone studying the internment of Japanese Americans in WWII or the attacks on the Pacific Coast.
March 16, 2021
Gives a good overall perspective on the U-Boat war off the coast of the US during WWII. What makes this different is that it is personal. The tale of a US Pilot and the U-Boat caption of the sub he sank goes beyond the war to their friendship that came later. It's a more personal decription of this part of the war. Descriptions of what militray on both sides experienced during this phase of the war and the aftermath of the war are clear and easy to understand. As we have rewer and fewer people who were in or knew people who were in the war, this gives a perspective to younger readers.
August 7, 2017
This was an interesting book on how the Germans used U boats in 1942 along the Atlantic Coast to destroy merchant ships heading to England with supplies for the War. What makes the book interesting is the two main characters. One, the captain of U Boat 701 and the Air Force pilot who sunk the U boat. The two men become friends in the 1980s.
September 22, 2020
Not a compelling narrative, but a very informative read about a chapter of the World War 2 story that I don't recall learning about in school. The concept of Nazi submarines once lurking off the shore in Cape May, NJ where we have spent many summer vacations kinda blew my mind.
June 21, 2023
finally!
None of this information about the war off American shores was available to me when I was a child in school. Contains info from both American and German sources of information.
Well written. Slightly dry but not too much so. Would recommend!
None of this information about the war off American shores was available to me when I was a child in school. Contains info from both American and German sources of information.
Well written. Slightly dry but not too much so. Would recommend!
June 25, 2025
Offley has penned a captivating tale of Kapitänleutnant Horst Degen and his submarine, U-701, hunting for American shipping along the east coast as part of Operation Drumbeat -- and also, his American adversary and neophyte sub-hunter, 2nd Lieutenant Harry Kane.
July 17, 2017
Very informative. I learned a great deal. Interesting and I did not know this happened so close to where I live.
March 6, 2018
Good read about the U-boat invasion on the US East coast in 1942. An example of what can happen when a country lets its guard down.
May 23, 2020
The world should be glad that the Germans did not possess a large u-boat fleet in 1942.
May 31, 2021
What an interesting historical rendition. I had no idea the scope and danger of U boat attacks on the eastern coast during WW2. Worth reading.
April 21, 2022
Very interesting history. Had no idea there was this much war action that close to the U.S. shores.
July 3, 2022
Interesting but a little slow. I had no idea how much U boat activity was happening on our east coast.
July 13, 2022
Interesting but not essential. It does give some details of the stress of being on a German U-boat, but it is a bit all over the place.
July 10, 2016
This was an easy read about an important subject. Little did I realize how close the "Battle of the Atlantic" came to the U.S. coast during WWII. It was absolutely fascinating (and unsettling) to learn that German U-boats had laid mines in U.S. harbors and landed saboteurs on the shore during the war.
Offley nicely balances his focus on one particular U-boat captain and one particular anti-submarine warfare pilot with a discussion of the overall happenings of this stage of the Battle of the Atlantic. Mostly you get the personal view, but with a good sense of the overall context of what was happening, the tactics and strategies involved, etc. For the first time, I really understood what a difference the convoy system made when it was instituted. I also appreciated his detailed discussion of the German Enigma coding system... I now understand that better than I have before.
The afterword is interesting for its discussion of the growing correspondence and even friendship between the U-boat captain and the pilot who sunk him. It would've been fascinating to hear more about this!
Offley nicely balances his focus on one particular U-boat captain and one particular anti-submarine warfare pilot with a discussion of the overall happenings of this stage of the Battle of the Atlantic. Mostly you get the personal view, but with a good sense of the overall context of what was happening, the tactics and strategies involved, etc. For the first time, I really understood what a difference the convoy system made when it was instituted. I also appreciated his detailed discussion of the German Enigma coding system... I now understand that better than I have before.
The afterword is interesting for its discussion of the growing correspondence and even friendship between the U-boat captain and the pilot who sunk him. It would've been fascinating to hear more about this!
July 30, 2014
In the six months following Pearl Harbor, the United States was unable to muster an effective submarine defense along the East Coast. Uboats devastated Allied shipping in the narrow lane between the Gulf Stream and the North Carolina coast. However, by the end of July, 1942, the American defenses were so effective that the Germans gave up trying to attack coastwise traffic and the Uboats returned to hunting the Atlantic. Offley deftly contextualizes this battle in the larger story of World War II, showing us the struggle through the eyes the the opposing admirals, Andrews and Donitz, each of whom faced challenges from his own commanders as well as from the enemy. What drives the narrative, however, and makes this book a pleasure to read, is the personalized story of U-701, commanded by Horst Degen, and the A-29 bomber, commanded by Harry Kane, which sank her off Cape Hatteras on July 7, 1942. By presenting the back stories of these two officers, the details of their extraordinary encounter and their subsequent lives, Offley creates a gripping story that makes a little corner of military history come to life.
June 7, 2014
This is a very detailed description of the war in the Atlantic for the six months after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Nazi Germany sent dozens of U-boats to sink and disrupt shipping along the East Coast, as well as mine harbors in New York, Virginia and North Carolina, from December 7th, 1941 to June, 1942, and during this period the US Armed Forces were woefully unorganized and undermanned. Gradually, and sometimes by sheer force of will, America stopped the carnage and built itself into a fighting force. There are several interesting asides in this book, notably that when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor they never notified Adolf Hitler; and the shelling by a Japanese submarine on a fuel storage farm in Santa Barbara that caused no damage but terrorized the West Coast for weeks on end. The completely unexpected turnaround by the US against the U-boats came about in May 1943. This helped to ensure the flow of men and materiel to Europe, was a major factor in the Allies' invasion of Normandy and everything that happened later. An interesting read.
May 27, 2014
In the first half of 1942, Nazi Germany sent U-boats to the shores of America to savage the merchantmen and tankers plying the coastal waterways. At this stage of war, America was ill-prepared to deal with such an incursion, having too few ships, two few airplanes and ineffective naval leadership. For many months, Germany's 'grey wolves' sank ship after ship as America tried to build an effective counter force. Author Edward Offley chronicles those long, brutal months and America's eventual triumph over the U-boats in this gripping, comprehensive book published in 2014.
Mike O. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.
July 12, 2016
Before reading this book I hadn't known that swarms of German U-boats were sinking scores of merchant ships and Allied warships within sight of the US east coast during the first 8-9 months of the US entry into WWII. "The Burning Shore" along with Ian Toll's book about the first 6 months of the Pacific arena, "Pacific Crucible", informs me of what must have been a fearful mindset behind blustery speech by leaders in the early days of the war.
February 28, 2024
Submarines on North American shores
There isn’t a lot that has been written about German submarines off the shores of North America during World War II, and many are blissfully unaware of this activity. The Burning Shore brings this history to life with lots of details about real events. You will probably be surprised on more than one occasion!
There isn’t a lot that has been written about German submarines off the shores of North America during World War II, and many are blissfully unaware of this activity. The Burning Shore brings this history to life with lots of details about real events. You will probably be surprised on more than one occasion!
May 27, 2014
An OK read with lots of facts and details. It reads more like a text book or ships log than anything else. While some of the details are interesting I found the overall telling of the times/battles/people to dull and devoid of anything interesting. It was dry even for a non-fiction book.
January 15, 2015
I had had little prior knowledge of the extent of the German devastation of shipping along the Atlantic coast. The book was informative in that respect. Also, the ending with two old enemies getting together was a surprise.
August 27, 2015
Really enjoyed the points of view as well as how it all was connected! Pretty good book about the battles that were fought right off the US East Coast. Focused mainly on one U-Boat but did a very good job at explaining it's war patrols.
March 30, 2024
Decided to try this again but still just liked it - didn’t love it. What should have been an exciting book was just a bit bland. Perhaps it’s simply a stylistic difference between what the author delivered and what I look for in a great book. This was good but not great.
August 5, 2014
really a 4.5 star rating
February 17, 2015
This book was a gift so I might not have considered reading it at this time. I am glad I did. It was so interesting and terrifying at the same time. Highly recommend.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews