Hitler's Gray Wolves: U-Boats in the Indian Ocean

by Lawrence Paterson

Next to nothing has been written about the U-boat war in the Indian Ocean. This is the story of a forgotten campaign. The battle began in August 1943, when a German submarine arrived in the Malaysian harbor of Georgetown. In total, nearly forty U-boats were assigned to penetrate the Indian Ocean, serving alongside troops of the occupying Imperial Japanese forces.

The Japanese allowed U-boats to use Malaysia as an operational station. From that base, they mixed with Japanese forces on a hitherto unseen scale: a move which spread the U-boat war throughout the vast Indian Ocean and into the Pacific. Success in this theater of war held a real chance to swing the tide of battle in North Africa in favor of Rommel, but the Germans essentially did too little too late.

The joint action also gave U-boats the opportunity to penetrate the Pacific Ocean for the first time, attacking shipping off the Australian coast and hunting off New Zealand. Plans were even afoot for an assault on American supply lines. The cooperation' also brought into stark relief the fundamental differences of German and Japanese war aims. After the crews of Italian supply submarines joined the Germans and Japanese, relations between the fighting men of the three main Axis powers were often brutal and almost constantly turbulent.

Stories of U-boats laden with gold and treasure stem almost exclusively from boats destined to and returning from Japanese-controlled Malaysia, laden with material exchanged between the two major partners of the Triple Axis Alliance.

Genres: World War II, History, Military History

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Born and raised in New Zealand, but now living in southern Italy. I've been interested in history, particularly WW2 history, since I can remember.

Reviews

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

The war against the German U-boats was one of the pivotal battles in World War II, and dozens upon dozens of books have been written about it. But there was a part of this overall battle which hasn't received as much ink, and that's the U-boat attacks in the Indian Ocean and the cooperation between all three Axis powers (Germany, Japan and Italy) in this naval arena. Fortunately, this book has helped fill that gap and shed some more light on this part of the U-boat war.

The Germans started sending U-boats around the southern tip of Africa into the Indian Ocean in 1943 and continued to do so (or at least attempt to) right up to the last days of the Third Reich. Just reaching the Indian Ocean was a demanding task for most U-boats as they had to avoid ever-increasing Allied air and naval forces, not to mention carefully monitor their fuel levels. Mid-ocean re-fueling was a necessity for many boats and added another level of stress into what was becoming by this point an almost suicidal job. Almost all of the U-boats which attempted to make the run from Europe to Japanese-controlled bases in Malaysia, Indonesia and/or Singapore carried a variety of supplies and goods for exchange, along with passengers of various import. The same is true of the boats returning to Europe--they were crammed with raw materials and vital substances for the Third Reich in almost every available inch of space. Plus, they were still tasked with carrying out attacks on Allied shipping as well.

The author has done a really good job of documenting all of the various missions undertaken by the U-boats, as well as their successes and oftentimes, demise. There is a really nice amount of information about life at Pacific bases such as Singapore, Jakarta and Penang, along with some good pictures. While the Japanese, Italians and Germans were on the same side, they didn't exactly see eye to eye in a variety of ways, and this provides some interesting reading.

If the U-boat war interests you, then pick this one up. It's not overly long, but definitely worth the read.

[Enrica Garzilli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Witnesses and over 100 orginal photos! A must read to know the history of the battles in the Indian Ocean during WW2.

[Brian Andrewsone · Rating 3 out of 5]

It have a history of the u-boats in the Indian ocean during WW2. But instead of reading like an account or stories it read more like an incident report.

[Frank]

Very detailed book! Great reading if you like Uboat operations.