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U-505
Admiral Daniel V. Gallery boarded and captured a German U-Boat at sea in June, 1944—the first American officer to so capture an enemy warship since 1815!
U-505 is Admiral Gallery’s own story of his extraordinary feat—and also a gripping narrative of the fierce Allied war against the German U-Boat fleet.
“EXCELLENT.”—Chicago Tribune
“Terrific…the first-hand story of Uncle Sam’s U-Boat killers.”—Chicago Daily News
“Brimming with thrills.”—Philadelphia News
“An engrossing tale…Pungent, entertaining, informative.”—Navy Times
“A humdinger of a sea story…a highly readable book, trimmed from stem to stern with the writer’s irrepressible sense of humor.”—Chicago Sunday Times
“Excellent in several ways: it provides a fine quick survey of the whole Atlantic war, it describes the operation of the German U-boat service, and, most dramatically, it tells how an American task force under Admiral Gallery achieved the unique feat of capturing a German submarine.”—Publishers’ Weekly
“U-505 IS ONE OF THE WAR’S MOST EXCITING MEMOIRS.”—Chicago News
“One of the best non-fiction books about World War II.”—Raleigh News & Observer
“A first-rate adventure tale…suspense and excitement told with a seaman’s salty zest…excellent reading.”—Chicago Sunday Tribune
“A masterful job that merits the attention of every lover of sea stories.”—Pittsburgh Press
U-505 is Admiral Gallery’s own story of his extraordinary feat—and also a gripping narrative of the fierce Allied war against the German U-Boat fleet.
“EXCELLENT.”—Chicago Tribune
“Terrific…the first-hand story of Uncle Sam’s U-Boat killers.”—Chicago Daily News
“Brimming with thrills.”—Philadelphia News
“An engrossing tale…Pungent, entertaining, informative.”—Navy Times
“A humdinger of a sea story…a highly readable book, trimmed from stem to stern with the writer’s irrepressible sense of humor.”—Chicago Sunday Times
“Excellent in several ways: it provides a fine quick survey of the whole Atlantic war, it describes the operation of the German U-boat service, and, most dramatically, it tells how an American task force under Admiral Gallery achieved the unique feat of capturing a German submarine.”—Publishers’ Weekly
“U-505 IS ONE OF THE WAR’S MOST EXCITING MEMOIRS.”—Chicago News
“One of the best non-fiction books about World War II.”—Raleigh News & Observer
“A first-rate adventure tale…suspense and excitement told with a seaman’s salty zest…excellent reading.”—Chicago Sunday Tribune
“A masterful job that merits the attention of every lover of sea stories.”—Pittsburgh Press
- GenresHistoryWarWorld War II
440 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 9, 2016
About the author
Daniel V. Gallery
32 books13 followersDaniel Vincent Gallery was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy. He saw extensive action during World War II, fighting U-Boats during the Battle of the Atlantic, where his most notable achievement was the June 4, 1944, capture of the German submarine U-505. After the war, Gallery was a prolific author of fiction and non-fiction. During the post-war military cutbacks, he wrote a series of articles criticizing the heavy reductions being made to the US Navy. These articles placed him at odds with the Truman administration during the episode which became known as the Revolt of the Admirals.
The so-called "Revolt of the Admirals" broke out during Louis Johnson's tenure as Secretary of Defense under Harry Truman in 1948. Johnson planned to scrap the carrier fleet, merge the Marine Corps into the Army, and reduce the Navy to a convoy-escort force. Gallery wrote a series of articles for The Saturday Evening Post fiercely criticizing these plans. The final article, "Don't Let Them Scuttle the Navy!" was so inflammatory that Gallery barely escaped court-martial for insubordination. Even so, the episode cost Gallery his third star. It effectively finished his career, though he served 12 more years on active duty. At the time of his forced retirement in 1960 (for "health reasons") he was second in seniority on the Rear Admirals' List.
The so-called "Revolt of the Admirals" broke out during Louis Johnson's tenure as Secretary of Defense under Harry Truman in 1948. Johnson planned to scrap the carrier fleet, merge the Marine Corps into the Army, and reduce the Navy to a convoy-escort force. Gallery wrote a series of articles for The Saturday Evening Post fiercely criticizing these plans. The final article, "Don't Let Them Scuttle the Navy!" was so inflammatory that Gallery barely escaped court-martial for insubordination. Even so, the episode cost Gallery his third star. It effectively finished his career, though he served 12 more years on active duty. At the time of his forced retirement in 1960 (for "health reasons") he was second in seniority on the Rear Admirals' List.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 18, 2025
I’m a sucker for a good book or movie about any aspect of World War II. I became interested in submarine warfare of the period after seeing the claustrophobic and terrifying “Das Boot,” an interest that was strongly reinforced while reading the fantastic “Shadow Divers” many years later. After a recent tour of the U-505, which has been on display at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry since 1954, my wife somehow found this book, written by Daniel Gallery, commander of the task force that captured that boat and ultimately brought it to Chicago.
This book is nominally the story of that capture, although we don’t get there until page 261, some 87% of the way through. The original title, “Twenty Million Tons Under the Sea,” referring to the total displacement of the warships and merchant vessels sunk in the Atlantic during World War II, might have been more apt, because this book is really the story of the Second Battle of the Atlantic; specifically, Gallery’s story, as it is very much a memoir and he makes no pretense of trying to be encyclopedic. It is, nevertheless, a good synopsis of the war at sea from 1939 to 1945, explaining how crucial control over the oceans was to national survival, how the German U-boats nearly won that war, how Allied advances in technology and tactics eventually turned the tide, and – importantly – how big a role luck plays in every battle. He simultaneously teaches us about life and service on a submarine – the U-505, in particular – as he slowly narrows his focus to the day the boat is captured.
Gallery does all this quite well, calling upon “exchange ratios” and other statistics to demonstrate the extent of the war and how the initiative slowly changed, as well as on log books, interviews and letters to flesh out his story. His parallel chapters detailing a particular battle, one told from the perspective of the hunted and one by the hunter, are really quite well done.
On the other hand, his idiosyncratic, colloquial, repetitive, sexist, and derogatory purple prose was frequently maddening. A German battleship confronted by three smaller British cruisers “was very much like a grizzly bear facing three angry terriers.” In the first years of the war, German “U-boats ripped into our Atlantic seaboard shipping like hungry wolves turned loose among a flock of sheep.” I lost count of the sentences that ended with exclamation points. (“Maybe the war would be over before this U-boat could be finished!”) How many times must you be told that submarines didn’t rescue survivors of a torpedoed ship because they physically couldn’t? And while Gallery writes of his respect for the professionalism and dedication to duty of German submariners, he calls our enemy in the Pacific “Japs” and our Russian allies “Reds” and even “savage.” Women (not that there are many women in this book) are frequently referred to as “gals,” and ships and sailors who let you down are “weak sisters.”
Even with those criticisms, I tore through the book like a hungry wolf turned loose among a flock of sheep! (Yes, I'm being ironic but also truthful.) As Admiral Farragut is said to have uttered in an earlier war, “damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.”
This book is nominally the story of that capture, although we don’t get there until page 261, some 87% of the way through. The original title, “Twenty Million Tons Under the Sea,” referring to the total displacement of the warships and merchant vessels sunk in the Atlantic during World War II, might have been more apt, because this book is really the story of the Second Battle of the Atlantic; specifically, Gallery’s story, as it is very much a memoir and he makes no pretense of trying to be encyclopedic. It is, nevertheless, a good synopsis of the war at sea from 1939 to 1945, explaining how crucial control over the oceans was to national survival, how the German U-boats nearly won that war, how Allied advances in technology and tactics eventually turned the tide, and – importantly – how big a role luck plays in every battle. He simultaneously teaches us about life and service on a submarine – the U-505, in particular – as he slowly narrows his focus to the day the boat is captured.
Gallery does all this quite well, calling upon “exchange ratios” and other statistics to demonstrate the extent of the war and how the initiative slowly changed, as well as on log books, interviews and letters to flesh out his story. His parallel chapters detailing a particular battle, one told from the perspective of the hunted and one by the hunter, are really quite well done.
On the other hand, his idiosyncratic, colloquial, repetitive, sexist, and derogatory purple prose was frequently maddening. A German battleship confronted by three smaller British cruisers “was very much like a grizzly bear facing three angry terriers.” In the first years of the war, German “U-boats ripped into our Atlantic seaboard shipping like hungry wolves turned loose among a flock of sheep.” I lost count of the sentences that ended with exclamation points. (“Maybe the war would be over before this U-boat could be finished!”) How many times must you be told that submarines didn’t rescue survivors of a torpedoed ship because they physically couldn’t? And while Gallery writes of his respect for the professionalism and dedication to duty of German submariners, he calls our enemy in the Pacific “Japs” and our Russian allies “Reds” and even “savage.” Women (not that there are many women in this book) are frequently referred to as “gals,” and ships and sailors who let you down are “weak sisters.”
Even with those criticisms, I tore through the book like a hungry wolf turned loose among a flock of sheep! (Yes, I'm being ironic but also truthful.) As Admiral Farragut is said to have uttered in an earlier war, “damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.”
August 14, 2017
I found this book after visiting the Museum of Science and Industry. I didn't discover the U505 exhibit until near the end of the day and so I didn't get a chance to see it all. When I realized the significance of the exhibit and its history, I looked for a book about it and was delighted to discover this one, a first-hand account written by the man who fought in the war, experienced the battles, and hatched the idea of capturing one of these submarines - and then did it.
The book is excellent because it is written from the perspective of a naval officer who understands the boats and the tactics and the significance of this Battle of the Atlantic. He also covers the German perspective quite thoroughly, using information taken from the captains' logs that apparently became accessible after the war was over. You get an insider's view of the operation of the U boats, and that helps you understand the strategies used by both sides.
This is not a dry textbook of tactics and facts, but you'll get the history and the facts and statistics as you read the story. You'll also understand the author's respect for the sailors on both sides of the conflict, who must carry out orders from politicians even when those orders don't make sense in practice.
The book ends with the story of how the U505 was recognized for its historic significance, and how the private, public, and even government sectors got involved in the fundraising and the paperwork, and how the ship was finally moved to its spot in Chicago.
The book is excellent because it is written from the perspective of a naval officer who understands the boats and the tactics and the significance of this Battle of the Atlantic. He also covers the German perspective quite thoroughly, using information taken from the captains' logs that apparently became accessible after the war was over. You get an insider's view of the operation of the U boats, and that helps you understand the strategies used by both sides.
This is not a dry textbook of tactics and facts, but you'll get the history and the facts and statistics as you read the story. You'll also understand the author's respect for the sailors on both sides of the conflict, who must carry out orders from politicians even when those orders don't make sense in practice.
The book ends with the story of how the U505 was recognized for its historic significance, and how the private, public, and even government sectors got involved in the fundraising and the paperwork, and how the ship was finally moved to its spot in Chicago.
June 25, 2023
3 to 3.5 stars. This story, "U-505" by Admiral Daniel V. Gallery is a very interesting tale. The German submarine U-505 was the only one captured during World War II. Admiral Gallery was the Task Force Commander of the naval force that captured the submarine. So this was a personal account of his experience with the submarine's capture and subsequent journey to Chicago's Museum of Science And Industry. The best parts of the book were Gallery's discussion of naval warfare. He was of course extremely knowledgable on this subject. I downgrade the book for a few reasons. The story of the U-505 did not require a book. It could have been told in a long magazine article. Author Gallery fills out the book with unrelated stories, some of them interesting, some not so much. He also has a fair amount of dialog between sailors in the book. For most of that, he would have no way of knowing what was being said, if anything. He includes a hand full of reference materials, but includes no citations for facts, quotes, etc. Finally, I could have done without Gallery's pontifications on politics, etc.
May 22, 2018
This is a true story from the actual captain of a aircraft carrier squadron who captured a German U-boat during the later years of WWII. He not only gives the service record of the sub but also the various commanders their service records. He discloses many details about the "Atlantic War" that would only be known by someone who was there. A very unique look into a part of the war which is not too well known. Very interesting to any naval and history buff. That sub is on display at the Arts and Science Museum in Chicago.
February 11, 2021
Great read.
I first toured the sub one year after graduating high school with my best friend Rusty Whitely from Pawtucket West High School in 1959. 8 years ago my wife and I again toured it as we were traveling around the country. It was a great time and I would recommend it. I would also recommend traveling during the school year as the lines at all the popular attractions are much smaller maore manageable
I first toured the sub one year after graduating high school with my best friend Rusty Whitely from Pawtucket West High School in 1959. 8 years ago my wife and I again toured it as we were traveling around the country. It was a great time and I would recommend it. I would also recommend traveling during the school year as the lines at all the popular attractions are much smaller maore manageable
August 21, 2020
I found a paperback copy on my dad's bookshelf. Some of the facts here are dubious but the inside information is outstanding along with details of U-505's cruises before the one where she was captured. Some of the details really are stranger than fiction.
June 16, 2022
U-505
I read this book over 50 years ago when I was on the USS Virgo AE 30. That was about late 69 or early 70. It was a good read then. It is still a good read 50 years later. Good historical facts.
I read this book over 50 years ago when I was on the USS Virgo AE 30. That was about late 69 or early 70. It was a good read then. It is still a good read 50 years later. Good historical facts.
February 21, 2026
Good history reading
Moves fast and authentic details making a good read.should be required reading for our youth. Forgetting our past guarantees or repeating the mistakes of the past!
Moves fast and authentic details making a good read.should be required reading for our youth. Forgetting our past guarantees or repeating the mistakes of the past!
October 9, 2018
Not a bad read!
Interesting read worth the time.i suggest you read my it! I hope to video sit down 505 one day soon.
Interesting read worth the time.i suggest you read my it! I hope to video sit down 505 one day soon.
December 29, 2021
The book gives a history of U-Boats and the war on the water. Very good read.
February 16, 2024
Excellent first hand account for any WW2 non-fiction readers.
June 2, 2024
a great read
This book held my interest from beginning to end. I could not put it down. I learned many things that I had no idea of before. Wonderful!
This book held my interest from beginning to end. I could not put it down. I learned many things that I had no idea of before. Wonderful!
March 6, 2025
Now I want to go see the U 505 in Chicago!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews