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Operation Drumbeat: The Dramatic True Strory of Germany's Fast U-Boat Attacks Along the American Coast in World War II
An account of Germany's little known U-boat campaign against merchant shipping along the North American Atlantic coast during the first six months of 1942. It also documents the failure of the US Navy to meet the German attack.
530 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 31, 1990
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About the author
Michael Gannon
29 books11 followers(1928-April, 10, 2017)
Michael Gannon was a University of Florida history professor who was also a recognized expert on Florida history, particularly from its Spanish colonial founding through the Civil War. He spent most of his career in Florida.
Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Michael Gannon was a University of Florida history professor who was also a recognized expert on Florida history, particularly from its Spanish colonial founding through the Civil War. He spent most of his career in Florida.
Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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December 29, 2018This book was well-researched, with lots of good details about German U-boat operations off the North American coast in the months following Pearl Harbor. It’s kind of a painful read, because early 1942 in the Atlantic wasn’t the US Navy’s finest moment. Gannon included lots of details, but all the details kind of bogged down the narrative momentum, and I found myself skimming frequently. If you’re looking for a detailed account of the subject, this book would be a good choice. I enjoyed and recommend Steel Boat Iron Hearts: A U-boat Crewman's Life Aboard U-505 and Grey Wolf, Grey Sea as more readable accounts for those with an interest in WWII U-boats and a preference for narrative history, but, again, if you want lots of info on the technology and a play-by-play of most of the incidents, Gannon's is a good choice.
May 4, 2022
When I started this book it started out as another book from a single point of view, in this case, the Captian of a specific U-boat that took part in the attacks on the East Coast of the United
States at the beginning of 1942. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially since in this case it was well written. It is however not something that I would consider my go-to reading for WWII. Fortunately enough this book had a surprise for me. The Author used the U-123 and its crew as an example of how unprepared the United States was to have war brought to its doorstep, he also goes over in great detail what was, and more often wasn't done, in regards to the U-boat threat.
In regards to the US (lack) of effort, he does not pull any punches. He lays the blame squarely on the shoulders of Adm King. Calling the losses of shipping on the East Coast and the Gulf a worse disaster than Pearl Harbor. With the evidence he presents in that regard it is a tad difficult to disagree. An excellent book on the subject of the U-boat attacks on the East Coast at the entry of the United States into World War II.
I might have given this book a five-star rating, but the editing errors in the ebook version are very distracting. Save yourself a headache and some confusion, read the physical copy.
States at the beginning of 1942. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially since in this case it was well written. It is however not something that I would consider my go-to reading for WWII. Fortunately enough this book had a surprise for me. The Author used the U-123 and its crew as an example of how unprepared the United States was to have war brought to its doorstep, he also goes over in great detail what was, and more often wasn't done, in regards to the U-boat threat.
In regards to the US (lack) of effort, he does not pull any punches. He lays the blame squarely on the shoulders of Adm King. Calling the losses of shipping on the East Coast and the Gulf a worse disaster than Pearl Harbor. With the evidence he presents in that regard it is a tad difficult to disagree. An excellent book on the subject of the U-boat attacks on the East Coast at the entry of the United States into World War II.
I might have given this book a five-star rating, but the editing errors in the ebook version are very distracting. Save yourself a headache and some confusion, read the physical copy.
December 16, 2017
December 25, 1941. German U-Boat Captain Reinhard Hardegen, commander of the new U-123, is somewhere in the mid-Atlantic celebrating the Christmas holiday with his crew, and headed, unknowingly at this point, to the frontline of Germany's greatest naval victory during WWII... and the United States' most crushing naval defeat.
You see, Hardegen's U-123 is one of five submarines U-Boat Admiral Karl Donitz has selected for Operation Drumbeat - a campaign to sink as much merchant shipping along the eastern coast of the United States as possible. After Germany declared war on the US in the days following the latter's declaration of war on Japan, Donitz knew the path to victory was through the prevention of ships laden with goods like food, oil, and mechanics reaching the Allied powers in Europe. And since many of those ships departed from American docks, Donitz decided to stop those boats before they could even leave port.
And what followed was pure, unadulterated carnage. Starting in January 1942, when Hardegen and his fellows reached the American eastern seaboard, through July of that year, the Germans attacked and sank over 400 ships - many of them only a stone's throw away from the coastline. Millions of tons of needed supplies never made it out of American waters... and 5,000 lives were lost, almost twice as many as those at Pearl Harbor.
Operation Drumbeat still ranks as the United States' worst naval disaster.
And in his compelling and engaging history of the campaign, Michael Gannon takes you right to the heart of the action. We are on board U-123 with Hardegen and his dedicated crew as they become the champions in Operation Drumbeat, sinking the greatest number of ships during their two patrols to the American coast. But we also get to know Hardegen and his inner circle as soldiers in war - men who are causing the greatest carnage their enemy has seen in their home waters, but not with malice or cruelty (in fact, Gannon includes a poignant anecdote in which Hardegen chases down a ship he had seen on the horizon and orders it back to a wreck he just created to rescue the lost vessel's survivors).
Pages spent with Hardegen are interspersed with sections of context - we hang out with Karl Donitz, fighting tooth and nail to win the war in the Atlantic with the limited resources afforded him. We meet Ernest King, the American Admiral in charge of the US Navy, and the one who let the German u-boats destroy merchant shipping for 6 months before deciding to address the issue. We befriend Admiral Adolphus "Dolly" Andrews, in charge of the defense of the American eastern seaboard, struggling to stem the slaughter with toothpicks and chewing gum because he couldn't get any support from the US Navy.
And we meet the captains and crew of the ships lost during those devastating months.
It's a hell of a ride, and boy, does Gannon make every single acceleration, turn, bump, and dead stop as exciting as... well, going for a spin on a German u-boat, off the coast of Florida, in March 1942.
You see, Hardegen's U-123 is one of five submarines U-Boat Admiral Karl Donitz has selected for Operation Drumbeat - a campaign to sink as much merchant shipping along the eastern coast of the United States as possible. After Germany declared war on the US in the days following the latter's declaration of war on Japan, Donitz knew the path to victory was through the prevention of ships laden with goods like food, oil, and mechanics reaching the Allied powers in Europe. And since many of those ships departed from American docks, Donitz decided to stop those boats before they could even leave port.
And what followed was pure, unadulterated carnage. Starting in January 1942, when Hardegen and his fellows reached the American eastern seaboard, through July of that year, the Germans attacked and sank over 400 ships - many of them only a stone's throw away from the coastline. Millions of tons of needed supplies never made it out of American waters... and 5,000 lives were lost, almost twice as many as those at Pearl Harbor.
Operation Drumbeat still ranks as the United States' worst naval disaster.
And in his compelling and engaging history of the campaign, Michael Gannon takes you right to the heart of the action. We are on board U-123 with Hardegen and his dedicated crew as they become the champions in Operation Drumbeat, sinking the greatest number of ships during their two patrols to the American coast. But we also get to know Hardegen and his inner circle as soldiers in war - men who are causing the greatest carnage their enemy has seen in their home waters, but not with malice or cruelty (in fact, Gannon includes a poignant anecdote in which Hardegen chases down a ship he had seen on the horizon and orders it back to a wreck he just created to rescue the lost vessel's survivors).
Pages spent with Hardegen are interspersed with sections of context - we hang out with Karl Donitz, fighting tooth and nail to win the war in the Atlantic with the limited resources afforded him. We meet Ernest King, the American Admiral in charge of the US Navy, and the one who let the German u-boats destroy merchant shipping for 6 months before deciding to address the issue. We befriend Admiral Adolphus "Dolly" Andrews, in charge of the defense of the American eastern seaboard, struggling to stem the slaughter with toothpicks and chewing gum because he couldn't get any support from the US Navy.
And we meet the captains and crew of the ships lost during those devastating months.
It's a hell of a ride, and boy, does Gannon make every single acceleration, turn, bump, and dead stop as exciting as... well, going for a spin on a German u-boat, off the coast of Florida, in March 1942.
February 12, 2018
Don't let the tag line mislead you, this is a sweeping work encompassing much if not all of the Battle for the Atlantic. Gannon uses U-123 as a focus, and builds a narrative around historic documentation that brings to mind Shelby Foote's ACW works ... but with adequate supporting footnotes. In addition to touching on topics such as Benchley Park, the death of Nazi naval air power, and the importance of Leigh light equipped Liberators in ASW; Gannon does an excellent job of supporting his central thesis of the failure of American naval leadership (most notably Ingersoll and King).
While the general reader might be overwhelmed by his coverage of the details of submarine and ASW operations, this book is a must-read for those interested in the Battle for the Atlantic or submarine warfare in general. I'd also recommend anyone interested in naval warfare or World War II consider reading it as well.
While the general reader might be overwhelmed by his coverage of the details of submarine and ASW operations, this book is a must-read for those interested in the Battle for the Atlantic or submarine warfare in general. I'd also recommend anyone interested in naval warfare or World War II consider reading it as well.
March 11, 2020
My first contact with this book came as I struggled to find something to do a book report on in junior high. I skimmed it enough to get a passing grade. Coming back so many years later to read it for real is surreal.
The book itself is an exhaustively detailed account of the "Drumbeat" attacks off the American east coast. I felt like the author successfully made his point that these U-Boat attacks were worse than Pearl Harbor, and I enjoyed reading about Reinhard Hardegan, who was the most successful U-Boat ace to attack the east coast.
Good stuff for any serious student of Germany's U-Boat war during WW2.
The book itself is an exhaustively detailed account of the "Drumbeat" attacks off the American east coast. I felt like the author successfully made his point that these U-Boat attacks were worse than Pearl Harbor, and I enjoyed reading about Reinhard Hardegan, who was the most successful U-Boat ace to attack the east coast.
Good stuff for any serious student of Germany's U-Boat war during WW2.
February 14, 2025
There are better reviews of this book in this space than mine will be. I apologize in advance. I had big hopes and dreams for this going in, but I had to tone things down a bit.
Operation Drumbeat gets lots of kudos for its detailed and engaging narrative. The book provides a gripping account of Germany's U-boat campaign along the American East Coast during the early months of 1942.
Gannon's meticulous research and storytelling bring this little-known chapter of World War II to life, making it a must-read for anyone interested in naval history.
The book highlights the failures of American naval intelligence and the bravery of German U-boat crews, offering a balanced perspective on the events. It's not just a historical account; it reads in many places like a thrilling novel, making it accessible and enjoyable for a wide audience.
It’s dense enough that you can’t read it while doing six other things. You need to pay close attention to it, or you’ll get lost and bored. Since it’s right close to 22 hours long, getting lost and bored isn’t an option.
The author posits that the German U-boat campaign of the U.S. east coast was a far worse thing to endure than was Pearl Harbor. I was vehemently skeptical going in, but he may be right. The campaign certainly cost more lives than did Pearl Harbor, but it lacked that knife-slashing immediacy of a surprise attack. We knew this was coming; we chose not to do anything about it for six months, and that’s disgraceful.
Ernest King, who was the top navy man in Washington, essentially ignored the U-boats’ damage until a polio-recovered Brit came over and almost by sheer force of will helped him see that he needed to get better control of the coastline including turning out lights that made freighters more visible to U-boats.
Gannon tells the story largely from the point of view of Reinhard Hardegen, the captain of U-123. It is one of five submarines dispatched to the American east coast by Admiral Karl Donitz. Donitz would have loved to send 20 U-boats, but five was all he could spare. Those five devastated the supply chain and took some five thousand lives.
Gannon puts a detailed human face on the book’s subject matter. You see firsthand how a submarine crew celebrates Christmas while steaming toward the American coastline to wreak havoc and destroy lives and supplies.
Ernest King’s nothingburger response appalled me. Congress never held him accountable for the fiery, watery nightmare Hardegen and his submariner associates inflicted on the U.S. without restraint for months.
You see Hardegen’s humanitarian side, too. He works to implement the rescue of men whose ship he destroyed moments earlier. At one point, he was close enough to a Florida hotel that he could easily see the tourists watching a conflagration of his making. He could have easily shelled the hotel, killing scores of tourists, but he left well enough alone.
This is not an easy book to read. If you’re more comfortable with books wherein the U.S. military performs well and succeeds, this will tie your guts in knots and give you a nasty case of the itchy-twitchies. In no way does the navy leadership perform well at all.
In short, this is a good history, but it’s dense in places. If you read it, you need to commit yourself to it just as Reinhard Hardegen committed his submarine to ear-popping fast dives when necessary to save it. Because Hardegen took lots of risks, there are several suspenseful accounts here of moments when his U-boat should have sunk and didn’t.
There are far more interesting accounts of life on U-boats if the high drama and horror of that lifestyle fascinates you. Herbert Werner’s Iron Coffins: A Personal Account of the German U-boat Battles of World War II is a far more gripping and enthralling read.
Operation Drumbeat gets lots of kudos for its detailed and engaging narrative. The book provides a gripping account of Germany's U-boat campaign along the American East Coast during the early months of 1942.
Gannon's meticulous research and storytelling bring this little-known chapter of World War II to life, making it a must-read for anyone interested in naval history.
The book highlights the failures of American naval intelligence and the bravery of German U-boat crews, offering a balanced perspective on the events. It's not just a historical account; it reads in many places like a thrilling novel, making it accessible and enjoyable for a wide audience.
It’s dense enough that you can’t read it while doing six other things. You need to pay close attention to it, or you’ll get lost and bored. Since it’s right close to 22 hours long, getting lost and bored isn’t an option.
The author posits that the German U-boat campaign of the U.S. east coast was a far worse thing to endure than was Pearl Harbor. I was vehemently skeptical going in, but he may be right. The campaign certainly cost more lives than did Pearl Harbor, but it lacked that knife-slashing immediacy of a surprise attack. We knew this was coming; we chose not to do anything about it for six months, and that’s disgraceful.
Ernest King, who was the top navy man in Washington, essentially ignored the U-boats’ damage until a polio-recovered Brit came over and almost by sheer force of will helped him see that he needed to get better control of the coastline including turning out lights that made freighters more visible to U-boats.
Gannon tells the story largely from the point of view of Reinhard Hardegen, the captain of U-123. It is one of five submarines dispatched to the American east coast by Admiral Karl Donitz. Donitz would have loved to send 20 U-boats, but five was all he could spare. Those five devastated the supply chain and took some five thousand lives.
Gannon puts a detailed human face on the book’s subject matter. You see firsthand how a submarine crew celebrates Christmas while steaming toward the American coastline to wreak havoc and destroy lives and supplies.
Ernest King’s nothingburger response appalled me. Congress never held him accountable for the fiery, watery nightmare Hardegen and his submariner associates inflicted on the U.S. without restraint for months.
You see Hardegen’s humanitarian side, too. He works to implement the rescue of men whose ship he destroyed moments earlier. At one point, he was close enough to a Florida hotel that he could easily see the tourists watching a conflagration of his making. He could have easily shelled the hotel, killing scores of tourists, but he left well enough alone.
This is not an easy book to read. If you’re more comfortable with books wherein the U.S. military performs well and succeeds, this will tie your guts in knots and give you a nasty case of the itchy-twitchies. In no way does the navy leadership perform well at all.
In short, this is a good history, but it’s dense in places. If you read it, you need to commit yourself to it just as Reinhard Hardegen committed his submarine to ear-popping fast dives when necessary to save it. Because Hardegen took lots of risks, there are several suspenseful accounts here of moments when his U-boat should have sunk and didn’t.
There are far more interesting accounts of life on U-boats if the high drama and horror of that lifestyle fascinates you. Herbert Werner’s Iron Coffins: A Personal Account of the German U-boat Battles of World War II is a far more gripping and enthralling read.
September 19, 2013
The amazing thing about this book is the discovery that FDR's Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Ernest King was responsible for gross neglect of defending the east coast against wildly successful U-boat attacks in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. The United States lost scores of merchant ships with No German losses during the first 6 months of the war. The implications were arguably greater than Pearl Harbor but went largely unnoticed due to Admiral King's malfeasance. He simply lied to the American people by saying the US Navy sunk 40 German subs when in fact it sunk none. The author's tracking of U-Boat Captain Rhineheart Hardigan's two transatlantic U-Boat attack missions (Operation Drumbeat) were effective teaching tools & as a literary device--this was a truly great book! I learned a lot.
February 24, 2020
A history lesson flipping to a novel and back to history
Operation Drumbeat combines a history lesson interspersed with an equal number of novel-like chapters. The German U-Boat attacks on shipping along the US Atlantic seaboard during WWII, combined with a focus on German submarine U-123 and its commander Reinhard Hardeman, provides a look at the overall operation from German side of the naval war and the operations and of one specific submarine.
The deeply researched facts, figures and footnotes become a bit ponderous at times, reading like a textbook. Dry, factual, stuffed with information down to the small details. However, the various components of the overall U-boat missions are brought together into one coherent body of knowledge. Some of the most important documents were not made public until the 1970s and 1980s, so this book appears to have an excellent composite from which to draw reasonably good conclusions, which the author does.
The exploits of U-123 and its crew is the highlight of the story, bringing to life the characters, attitudes and environments of the men and their challenging mission. The historical chapters may cause one to close the cover early, but the novelistic chapters on the ship and its crew keep one fixed until the chapter’s end. The book is not written with the style and flourish of a best-selling author, it is written by a college history professor, but the events and the reconstituted crew-talk in the U-123 U-boat’s chapters make it more captivating to read than a lot of fiction. The author reports on both the attacking U-boats and on the attacked ships, drawing from documents and interviews with both sailors and survivors.
Operation Drumbeat is a good read with tons of information and an opportunity to learn about the German submarine attacks on freight and tanker supply ships that transited the US East Coast on 1942. In round numbers, 400 merchant ships were sunk by U-boats with the loss of 5,000 lives. That’s twice the number of souls lost compared to Pearl Harbor, and the tonnage sunk is orders of magnitude higher.
The subtitle “Pearl Harbor of the Atlantic” is appropriate. This was a major conflict, right on US shores and has been somehow not gained the notoriety of some of the other war operations, but it should be among the top 10 in placement of importance. Well, the US was a loser in this specific 1942 conflict. It was one of victory for the German navy on the east coast of the US and it is an era that the US Navy would probably would rather not see highlighted.
Operation Drumbeat combines a history lesson interspersed with an equal number of novel-like chapters. The German U-Boat attacks on shipping along the US Atlantic seaboard during WWII, combined with a focus on German submarine U-123 and its commander Reinhard Hardeman, provides a look at the overall operation from German side of the naval war and the operations and of one specific submarine.
The deeply researched facts, figures and footnotes become a bit ponderous at times, reading like a textbook. Dry, factual, stuffed with information down to the small details. However, the various components of the overall U-boat missions are brought together into one coherent body of knowledge. Some of the most important documents were not made public until the 1970s and 1980s, so this book appears to have an excellent composite from which to draw reasonably good conclusions, which the author does.
The exploits of U-123 and its crew is the highlight of the story, bringing to life the characters, attitudes and environments of the men and their challenging mission. The historical chapters may cause one to close the cover early, but the novelistic chapters on the ship and its crew keep one fixed until the chapter’s end. The book is not written with the style and flourish of a best-selling author, it is written by a college history professor, but the events and the reconstituted crew-talk in the U-123 U-boat’s chapters make it more captivating to read than a lot of fiction. The author reports on both the attacking U-boats and on the attacked ships, drawing from documents and interviews with both sailors and survivors.
Operation Drumbeat is a good read with tons of information and an opportunity to learn about the German submarine attacks on freight and tanker supply ships that transited the US East Coast on 1942. In round numbers, 400 merchant ships were sunk by U-boats with the loss of 5,000 lives. That’s twice the number of souls lost compared to Pearl Harbor, and the tonnage sunk is orders of magnitude higher.
The subtitle “Pearl Harbor of the Atlantic” is appropriate. This was a major conflict, right on US shores and has been somehow not gained the notoriety of some of the other war operations, but it should be among the top 10 in placement of importance. Well, the US was a loser in this specific 1942 conflict. It was one of victory for the German navy on the east coast of the US and it is an era that the US Navy would probably would rather not see highlighted.
May 18, 2019
I really wanted to like this book, but ultimately I was disappointed. The book centers on a U-boat officer, Reinhard Hardegen, and his patrols off the US east coast during WWII. It has all the makings of an interesting book for anyone interested in WWII history. But there were two things that really took away from this book. First, the author seemed to use an extensive amount of German verbiage. I understand that this is a book about German military, but I don’t need to know what every aspect of strategy, weapons, and tools are in the German language. It was just too much. Second issue I had I don’t believe to be the fault of the author. I read this book on an iPad through the Kindle app. There were multiple misspellings and typos. Not sure if this is because of technology or if the book was translated, but it was very distracted and very prevalent. U-123 was shown as U-L23, U-/23, U-128, and on and on.
April 3, 2018
My boss gave me this book as a Christmas gift. I was aware that a great U boat battle took place in WWII, but I had no idea about the deep German strategy behind it. Operation Drumbeat is a great gathering of the historical facts and they were presented a wonderful book. It got really deep into the mindset and tactics used by the U boat commanders. At the beginning of the war, it was an easy effort and eventually the Americans began to learn from their mistakes. What followed was a deadly cat and mouse game. Michael Gannon did a wonderful job of crafting an overall story.
September 24, 2017
This work is the standard text for Operation Drumbeat. Mr. Gannon's prose is very easy to read. This is an excellent overview of the events that occurred offshore during the attack.
This work was the inspiration for my own writing about this subject. I had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Gannon in preparation of my book; U-Boat Assault on America. He was very approachable and a pleasure to have spoken with him.
I am very sorry to have learned of his passing.
This work was the inspiration for my own writing about this subject. I had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Gannon in preparation of my book; U-Boat Assault on America. He was very approachable and a pleasure to have spoken with him.
I am very sorry to have learned of his passing.
December 20, 2018
In December 1941 the Germans launched Operation Drumbeat, a submarine offensive on shipping close to the United States. Their thinking was that they could take advantage of America's lack of preparedness to deliver a serious blow. They were so effective that Michael Gannon refers to their success as an Eastern Pearl Harbor. He is highly critical of the US Navy, especially its commander Admiral Ernest King. The narrative is centered on German submarine U-123 and its commander Reinhard Hardegen
October 3, 2019
Frontboot
Engrossing dive into the Uboat's first attack on the American coast.
Gannon's use of all his sources brings the reader a clear and vivid picture of life aboard Germany's submarines with all elation and terror. All it's sights, sounds, smells, touches, and tastes as well.
I have it 4 stars because the author's nearly excessive use of his sources, giving many digressions that tend to drag on the otherwise exciting narrative.
Engrossing dive into the Uboat's first attack on the American coast.
Gannon's use of all his sources brings the reader a clear and vivid picture of life aboard Germany's submarines with all elation and terror. All it's sights, sounds, smells, touches, and tastes as well.
I have it 4 stars because the author's nearly excessive use of his sources, giving many digressions that tend to drag on the otherwise exciting narrative.
October 5, 2021
Excellent, if a bit dated now, book looking at the U-Boat campaign against the American coast after Germany declared war. The book focuses on a German submarine, U-123, and the American and British responses to the calamities of the eastern seaboard. The author clearly shows how the losses were avoidable if we had only followed the experiences of the British. Definitely a good read for anyone interested in naval history.
September 11, 2019
Meticulously researched
I love a thoroughly researched book and Operation Drumbeat is clearly that. The author offers harsh criticism of the feeble anti submarine efforts by the U.S. Navy in response to the 1942 German u-boat offensive. But the criticism is justified by the detailed research. Well done!
I love a thoroughly researched book and Operation Drumbeat is clearly that. The author offers harsh criticism of the feeble anti submarine efforts by the U.S. Navy in response to the 1942 German u-boat offensive. But the criticism is justified by the detailed research. Well done!
January 22, 2019
Good history lesson
This was an enjoyable read. It has always confounded me as to how we defeated Germany in WW II. We can only thank Hitler as he ran his war. The USA was no better in leadership with infighting and back biting.
This was an enjoyable read. It has always confounded me as to how we defeated Germany in WW II. We can only thank Hitler as he ran his war. The USA was no better in leadership with infighting and back biting.
November 21, 2018
Describes the success of the U-boat attacks along the American Coast and gives reasons for that success.
April 11, 2019
Good but long.
February 26, 2020
That's as far as I got. Dreadfully boring, full of details which would be of interest to a very few.
April 10, 2020
Submarine warfare from the German point of view
Well researched story of a German uboat and it's commander. As a former Navy ASW type I can relate to the story
Well researched story of a German uboat and it's commander. As a former Navy ASW type I can relate to the story
April 6, 2021
Outstanding. Didnt trlize we almost lost the war due to our arrogance. Sobering reminder that we are not the Be all to End all.
July 6, 2021
7/6/2021
March 22, 2023
Approx date - illuminating
June 19, 2023
It was interesting to get perspective from both the German side and the Americans. I knew very little about U-Boat action on the East coast. Very informative.
February 21, 2017
A superb and engrossing account of the War in the Atlantic.
January 29, 2016
I had this book on my shelf for years as I was reluctant to read what I expected to be a dreary and unpleasant account of American military incompetence at the beginning of World War II on the Atlantic coast. As a US resident, reading about endless sinkings didn't seem like something I wanted to spend time with.
I couldn't have been more wrong. This is a fascinating read. It is told through the first person accounts of the captain and crew of U123 as well as certain merchant ship survivors. Throughout, the book identifies both the British and American countermeasures and intelligence efforts - with the American Navy refusing for months to learn from the Brits.
Each attack made by U123 is detailed down to the sighting, aiming, and launching of torpedoes. The author places the reader right in the conning tower and in the life rafts.
The author was especially fortunate to have interviewed the UBoat captain and surviving crew plus he had access to the detailed war diary of the UBoat. This makes the book as immediate as if one were reading a story from the Iraq or Afghanistan wars.
How could the book have been better ? Perhaps digging deeper into why Admiral King was so Anglophobic. Why, even after Pearl Harbor, did the US Navy prepare so poorly for the defense of the coastal sea lanes?
I suspect the answers lie in organization inertia, careerism, and unwillingness to imagine something other than what you had trained and planned for. And these problems have never gone away - think 9/11.
Footnote: if you are in Chicago, visit the U505 at the Museum of Science and Industry contemporaneous with reading this book.
I couldn't have been more wrong. This is a fascinating read. It is told through the first person accounts of the captain and crew of U123 as well as certain merchant ship survivors. Throughout, the book identifies both the British and American countermeasures and intelligence efforts - with the American Navy refusing for months to learn from the Brits.
Each attack made by U123 is detailed down to the sighting, aiming, and launching of torpedoes. The author places the reader right in the conning tower and in the life rafts.
The author was especially fortunate to have interviewed the UBoat captain and surviving crew plus he had access to the detailed war diary of the UBoat. This makes the book as immediate as if one were reading a story from the Iraq or Afghanistan wars.
How could the book have been better ? Perhaps digging deeper into why Admiral King was so Anglophobic. Why, even after Pearl Harbor, did the US Navy prepare so poorly for the defense of the coastal sea lanes?
I suspect the answers lie in organization inertia, careerism, and unwillingness to imagine something other than what you had trained and planned for. And these problems have never gone away - think 9/11.
Footnote: if you are in Chicago, visit the U505 at the Museum of Science and Industry contemporaneous with reading this book.
April 6, 2016
"Operation Drumbeat" is the story of German U-boat operations off the US Atlantic Coast in early 1942, with a focus on Reinhard Hardegen and U-123 which made two such patrols and sank a large number of ships both times.
Although published 2 1/2 decades ago, this is still a very informative look at the subject matter, both the U-boat operations and attacks and the US Navy's anti-submarine warfare (and it's initial failure). It also goes into a great deal of depth on U-boats in general, much of which will probably come as a surprise to readers unfamiliar with the subject. Although a large book, I didn't find the writing dry.
There are only really two things I disliked about this book, although not I think insignificant issues. There is ALOT of reconstructed dialogue in this book which is unusual for non-fiction. While it makes the history more lively I really question this decision from an accuracy standpoint. The other issue is the strong focus on Hardegen results in large amounts of biographical information about him before the two key patrols of U-123 (which I found unnecessary) and also comes at the expense of spending much time on the other U-boats. It's definitely more of a representative case study than a complete history, although the author is fairly honest about this except in the title.
While there is probably some new information out there that would expand on this book, it seems to have aged pretty well and I would consider it a must-read for anyone interested in World War II, the Battle of the Altantic, and submarines in general (or U-boats in particular).
Although published 2 1/2 decades ago, this is still a very informative look at the subject matter, both the U-boat operations and attacks and the US Navy's anti-submarine warfare (and it's initial failure). It also goes into a great deal of depth on U-boats in general, much of which will probably come as a surprise to readers unfamiliar with the subject. Although a large book, I didn't find the writing dry.
There are only really two things I disliked about this book, although not I think insignificant issues. There is ALOT of reconstructed dialogue in this book which is unusual for non-fiction. While it makes the history more lively I really question this decision from an accuracy standpoint. The other issue is the strong focus on Hardegen results in large amounts of biographical information about him before the two key patrols of U-123 (which I found unnecessary) and also comes at the expense of spending much time on the other U-boats. It's definitely more of a representative case study than a complete history, although the author is fairly honest about this except in the title.
While there is probably some new information out there that would expand on this book, it seems to have aged pretty well and I would consider it a must-read for anyone interested in World War II, the Battle of the Altantic, and submarines in general (or U-boats in particular).
August 11, 2013
Michael Gannon's "Operation Drumbeat" recounts the first six-months of 1942, when Germany launched a U-boat blitz against merchant shipping along the American coast, and in the process, Gannon deftly and, I think correctly, argues, very nearly won the Second World War. This is the best World War II history book I've ever read, hands-down, and, quite likely, the best history book I've ever read. Exquisitely detailed and well-sourced with all sources cited, Gannon makes an excellent and persuasive argument that adds to the historical literature in the tradition of the best academic books, even though this book is not academic. At the same time, he achieves the elusive prize many "serious" books try and fail to achieve. This book truly "reads like a novel." I stayed up late just to make it through several action-packed and suspenseful sections. The accounts of U-boats in plain sight of Americans on shore torpedoing passing tankers and freighters are hair-raising to be sure. Imagine strolling along a moonlit Florida beach and suddenly seeing a massive explosion just out to sea and then the silhouette of a Nazi submarine shelling an American merchant ship. It's an astounding story oft ignored in our collective memory of the war. For a time, though brief, the enemy was at our doorstep, just as they had been for the British during the Blitz. "Operation Drumbeat" is an incredible book that tells an incredible story!
December 27, 2013
Very well written account of the (almost) disastrous campaign at the US coast in 1942 where Gannon points out that Drumbeat was a far heavier blow to the Allied and US cause than Pearl Harbor.
Because Pearl Harbor was a short, sharp blow it has received much more attention, but in losses of shipping, seamen, % of tankers lost and thus strategical resources, Drumbeat was much more critical.
Has Dönitz been able to convince Hitler to assign many more U-Boats to Drumbeat, the campaign could have had dire consequences for the Allies.
To take U-123 as an example of the U-Boats involved in Drumbeat, Gannon has found the most interesting boat and commander. Hardegen is almost too good to be true: a German naval hero who (alledgedly) stood up to Hitler for employing the wrong strategy in the war at sea, who sank immense amounts of Allied ships and tonnage, who gained the highest decorations and who was mercifull to the seamen of the ships he sank (whenever possible) and (not a mean fact in itself) who survived the U-Boat war at sea (where 87% of his comrades lost their lives and 780 U-Boats were sank) and lived to tell.
The final lines of the book, where in the 1980's Hardegen meets a Norwegian sailor he sank of the US coast, is a fitting end to the book.
Because Pearl Harbor was a short, sharp blow it has received much more attention, but in losses of shipping, seamen, % of tankers lost and thus strategical resources, Drumbeat was much more critical.
Has Dönitz been able to convince Hitler to assign many more U-Boats to Drumbeat, the campaign could have had dire consequences for the Allies.
To take U-123 as an example of the U-Boats involved in Drumbeat, Gannon has found the most interesting boat and commander. Hardegen is almost too good to be true: a German naval hero who (alledgedly) stood up to Hitler for employing the wrong strategy in the war at sea, who sank immense amounts of Allied ships and tonnage, who gained the highest decorations and who was mercifull to the seamen of the ships he sank (whenever possible) and (not a mean fact in itself) who survived the U-Boat war at sea (where 87% of his comrades lost their lives and 780 U-Boats were sank) and lived to tell.
The final lines of the book, where in the 1980's Hardegen meets a Norwegian sailor he sank of the US coast, is a fitting end to the book.
March 11, 2014
Parts of this book were boring...too many numbers! Do we really need to know the exact specifications of the two kinds of binoculars used? Overall, however, it was interesting and informative. I did not know the amount of U-boat activity off the East Coast and in th Gulf of Mexico! When the author explained life on the submarine or the attacks on Allied shipping, the book was well-written and kept my attention. Gannon made an excellent case blaming many deaths on Admiral King and the American command -I mean, lack of command. Just a few simple, common-sense decisions made differently would have saved many lives, not only those of the men who died but of people who suffered due to the shipping cargo lost. Gannon has an extensive bibliography and some of the footnotes were interesting reading as well. I am amazed that the Allies won WWII, given the idiocy going on in the upper levels of command. There were a few photographs but they did not reproduce well, unfortunately.
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