Bitter Ocean: The Dramatic Story of the Battle of the Atlantic 1939-1945

by David Fairbank White

Between 1939 and 1945, more than 36,000 Allied sailors and navy airmen and 36,000 merchant seamen lost their lives in perhaps the least-known major battle of World War II, the Battle of the Atlantic. All the tanks, planes, bombs, and other vital supplies that the U.S. used to fight in Europe - as well as the American troops themselves - crossed the Atlantic aboard ship, a journey made perilous by the German U-boats that prowled the seas. In "Bitter Ocean" author and maritime journalist David Fairbank White gives us a masterful, authoritative account of how these American, Canadian, and British air and sea forces fought the Germans and prevailed - at a terrible cost.

As dreadful as the loss of life was for the Allies, the Germans fared even worse; more than 80 percent of German U-boat crewmen never made it home. Drawing on a wealth of archival material as well as interviews with veterans on both sides of the ocean campaign, White takes us aboard ship and beneath the waves as he reconstructs this epic battle. "Bitter Ocean" vividly evokes the grim years when Admiral Karl Dönitz's U-boats succeeded in sinking more tonnage than Allied shipyards could replace and shows us the technological breakthroughs that reversed the course of the battle in 1943.

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

368 pages, Paperback

First published May 2, 2006

Reviews

[Sonny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive history of the struggle between Allied convoys carrying war materials to Great Britain and Russia and German u-boats in the North Atlantic.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has a lot of potential, as the Battle for the Atlantic was one of the key struggles during World War II. Unfortunately, this book reads like a Reader's Digest cliff notes version of the battle, which makes sense as the author has written for Reader's Digest. The book is loosely chronological, but he also skips all over the place. He also has several tendencies to repeat himself. The "groaning, shuddering convoy system was near collapse" appears multiple times. He also describes sonar as a pod that shoots out beams to find submarines. Perhaps a bit more research was in order. Ok if you are looking for a quick read, but not for any in depth description of the battles.

[Nic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just want to start out saying that if you are not dedicated to WWll history, this book may not right for you. In my opinion, it was an amazing book that informs the reader of the naval battles that are not as well known as their land counterparts. It tells you of the sinking of the Bismarck, to how the allied forces were able to overcome the German U-Boat problem. It’s is an overall great book and I would efinintky recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about WWll History.

[Doug · Rating 2 out of 5]

War is mostly boredom with occasional moments of terror. This book adequately recreates the boredom but conveys none of the terror. Battles are described as sterile events - freighters plowing thru the cold north Atlantic while a u-boot wairs, then fires. I gave up about halfway thru the book.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was interesting. Despite all the books I have read on the 2nd world War, I still learned a fair bit reading this book.

[Tony Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

An informative book about the history of the Battle of the Atlantic, the confrontation between the U-Boats of WWII and the convoys of merchant ships crossing the Atlantic before and during America's entry in the war. For those who are avid fans of history, especially naval history, this is a very enlightening book, but I only give it 2 stars due to the fact that even thought the author is a reporter for The New York Times, he is a poor writer of books... excessive use of meaningless adjectives and the repetitive inclusion of the same facts within a page or chapter can get to you. If you can get by these shortcoming and his use of some words that were last found in a 19th century edition of Webster's Dictionary, I recommend this book for its content.

[Keith Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is chock full of first-person accounts of their role in the campaign, which makes the book a lively and entertaining read. But the syntax is a bit strangled in places and the author is inclined to hyperbole. At one point he says that later in the war merchant ships were targeted by V2 rockets. Okay, I get that if the ship is in a southern UK port, and the port is hit with a V2 it may get damaged or destroyed, but you can't target a moving ship with a ballistic missile.

[Matthew Robus · Rating 1 out of 5]

I grabbed the book because the subject interested me-I wanted to learn more details about the under-appreciated Battle of the Atlantic. However, the writing was some of the worst I've ever seen in print--many phrases appeared again and again, as if the author couldn't think of other ways to finish off a paragraph. I'm surprised this ever made it past an editor at a publishing house. Terrible.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent look at the Battle of the Atlantic, although the author gets too cute with narrative and storytelling that sort of takes away from the battle. Also, not enough maps and skips around from convoy battle to convoy battle. Altogether, a decent book, but not the best history of the battle I have read.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The longest battle of the war was the Battle of the Atlantic. This is a well documented, yet concise history of the war which makes great use of sources from both the Axis and the Allies. It's a great read filled with many interesting personalities.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

An OK broadbrush overview at best.

But....

I don't see why the USN wasted their time in the Atlantic after reading the book. The Royal Navy had it all in hand.

And those POWERFUL ships with 6 inch guns..................

A great waste of time if one knows anything about the war in the Atlantic.

[John Weibull · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great book about the Battle for the Atlantic. An easy read that will keep you entertained.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating. And a little sad.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book, but the writing seemed a bit distance at times. It contains great knowledge of the Allies Atlantic struggle.