The History Book Club discussion

This thread is dedicated to discussion of Submarines and Submarine Warfare.

This is a request made by Aussie Rick.

For those interested in Geramny's U-boat campaign during WW II I highly recomend
and by Clay Blair

For some good general histories these are some great books on submarines; "The Navy Times Book of Submarines: A Political, Social and Military History by Brayton Harris.


by Brayton Harris
From the author:
"What you think you know about submarines may not be true. When I began researching this book, I discovered that almost every book which covered the early history of submarines (including several published in the last three years) was riddled with errors. It would appear that the authors, in a hurry to get to the two World Wars and beyond, confined their treatment of the first 300 years of submarine development to a few pages, and their research to a cursory review of other recent books. By getting closer to original sources on such pioneers as Bourne, Drebbel, Papin, Borelli, Symons, Bushnell, Fulton, Sam Colt and Lodner Phillips - among others -- I hope to have set down a reasonably accurate and, I hope, interesting, text. Yes, WWI and WWII certainly are included, in a narrative that runs from 1580 to 1997."



This following title is on my 'to-read' list; "Submarine : An Anthology of Firsthand Accounts of the War Under the Sea, 1939-45" Edited by Jean Hood.


by Jean Hood
Reviews:
"The submarine war was a hard and dangerous one. British submariners suffered 38 per cent casualties, almost all fatal and German U-Boats lost and incredible 85 per cent but continued to fight to the end.
In this oral history collection, submariners of almost all the participating nations recall their service. There are chapters on how submarines were worked, on life aboard and on the particular perils of the service - depth charges, being rammed, staying submerged for many hours. There is also a chapter for each year of the war, with tales from the submariner's perspective. Among the best are: one Royal Navy stoker who remembers hearing that his boat had been sunk and he'd been counted as dead; a U-Boat commander who describes swimming for 49 hours; and an American submariner who recalls returning to Pearl Harbour after the attack. The editor is to be congratulated on finding and putting together such a splendid collection of rare and compelling stories." - Phil Tomaselli for Family History Monthly magazine, Jan 2007

"To some degree, the submariners of The Second World War were a breed apart. Showing often extraordinary valour, they served in the most difficult and perilous conditions imaginable and suffering sometimes astonishing losses in the process. The famed German U-Boat captain Günter Prien wrote of his crew, they were men who "did their duty silently and blindly, who could neither see the day nor the target and who dies in the dark if it had to be".
Jean Hood's excellent book is a fitting memorial to such men. It is an anthology of both published and unpublished accounts of life below the waves - many of them gleaned from the archive of the Imperial War Museum.
Unlike many other recent anthologies, however, this is much more than a mere collection of stories unrelated to one another and lacking background or context.
Arranged chronologically, the accounts chart the waning fortunes of the German and Japanese submarine forces, the technical advances of the Allies, as well as the contributions of lesser known combatants, such as the Poles, Italians and French.
In addition to all this, the book contains a wealth of additional information, such as a glossary of naval slang, and illuminating sections dedicated to everyday life beneath the ocean waves.
It is this sheer volume and breadth of information that will appeal both to the naval history buff, as well as the genealogist. Indeed, for those who have discovered submariners among their forebears, this book should be required reading. However, even for the layman, Submarine is a fascinating read - full of insight, drama and pathos." - Roger Moorehouse for BBC Who Do You Think You Are magazine, February 2008 issue

Here is one book covering the early development of submarines;



by Matthew Stewart
Reviews:
"How do submarines fit into utopia? Stewart (The Truth About Everything: An Irreverent History of Philosophy) recreates the volatile politics and culture of mid–19th-century Barcelona and of a generation of men attempting to throw themselves and their city into the modern age. Of the myriad methods they employed, the most striking is Narcís Monturiol's plan to build a submarine for the betterment of mankind. Having fled the city with the police on his heels one too many times, utopian revolutionary Monturiol had a vision of a submarine to free coral divers from hardship and then free the world from the tumult of the atmosphere. Stewart explores this fantastic connection and comes admirably close to capturing the transcendent weirdness of Monturiol's quest. Equally intriguing is his account of Monturiol's self-education concerning underwater mechanics, conveying the inventiveness and dogged persistence of his work. The reader is filled with relief and almost disbelief when in 1859 the submarine slips safely under water in the Barcelona harbor and confidently rises again. Yet Monturiol's work appears to have been a dead end. Like so much in modern Spanish history, he seems frustratingly invisible to the world at large. Stewart weaves this failure into a meditation on and celebration of Barcelona's own mercurial, passionate, backwards entrance into the modern world." - Publishers Weekly

"In terms of technology, he was decades ahead of his time; in politics, perhaps eternally. Spaniard Narcis Monturiol was an idealist of the ilk Karl Marx ridiculed as "utopian socialists." In the 1860s he redirected his dreams of human liberation from revolution to--the submarine. Readers met him in The Submarine, by Thomas Parrish [BKL My 1 04], and Stewart's biography expands to efflorescent fullness the man's energy and eccentricities. To establish Monturiol's character and ideals, Stewart describes his happy marriage and his editorship of moral and political journals in Barcelona until forced into exile. One day at the seashore, distressed by the sight of an injured coral diver, Monturiol was rapturously transported by the idea of the submarine as a remedy to at least some of humanity's ills. Gregarious and obsessively focused, Monturiol raised money, conducted experiments, and constructed two submarines--but the craft seemed less useful to the Spanish navy than to the uncompromising pacifist Monturiol. With cleverness that never slides into cynicism, Stewart creates an absorbing portrait of a unique personality." - Booklist

I have moved Michael's post from the Suggestion thread to here:


I love books on Submarines, two good books I have read are:

and by Clay Blair

Some other I have earmarked are:

by Herbert A. Werner

by James F. Calvert

by William Tuohy

by John Pina Craven

by Clay Blair Jr.

Cheers 'Aussie Rick'

Ditto

My Pleasure Michael, there are some good books listed there!


I would like to offer a few books covering submarines during the First World War:

by Edwyn A. Gray

by Edwyn Gray

by Werner Furbringer
Publishers blurb:
In a desperate attempt to blockade ritain into surrender during World War I, the U-boat arm of the Imperial German Navy attacked and sank any allied vessel-from troop transport to fishing boat-found along the British and French coastlines. Werner "Fips" Furbringer was one of these U-boats' most successful commanders, and he recounts his true-life adventures with the epic sweep of a skilled novelist. From his early assignment on board the submarine that sank the Lusitania in 1915 to his three years as a commanding officer, Fips shows how with skill, daring, and sheer luck he overcame the dangers of mine fields, searchlight barriers, Q-ships, and armed light houses. His controversial capture and his life as a British prisoner-of-war completes the valiant story.

Available in English for the first time, this classic German memoir vividly depicts an experience that few survived to tell. A brave officer who inspired fierce loyalty in his crews, Fips was a decent man who adhered to an archaic code of chivalry as this frank and eminently readable work clearly indicates.

by Georg von Trapp
Publishers blurb:
The Sound of Music endeared Georg von Trapp (1880–1947) and his singing family to the world, and it also showed how desperately the Nazis wanted Captain von Trapp for their navy. In To the Last Salute we learn why. Trapp’s own story of his exploits as a submarine commander during the First World War is as exciting as it is instructive, bringing to stirring life a little-known chapter in the naval history of that war.

In his many guises, Trapp describes life as captain of Austro-Hungarian U-boats in the Mediterranean and Adriatic seas, emerging by turn as the Imperial Austrian naval officer, the witty observer of international politics, and the indefatigable and ultimately heartbroken patriot opposing the Allied enemy. He relates deadly duels with submarine sweepers, narrow escapes and excruciatingly close calls, and the spectacular sinking of cargo and war ships—all while maintaining a keen sense of the camaraderie of seamen from every corner of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Trapp’s story, in English for the first time, offers a rare combination of human interest, historical insight, and true life-and-death adventure.

Reviews:
“Captain von Trapp's narrative of his wartime U-boat exploits has lurked in German and French for generations and now finds an adequate translator into English in one of his granddaughters. He almost certainly always tried to put his best foot forward, and he emerges from his account as a man of great skill, considerable compassion (even for his victims), and sufficient tact and tolerance to handle the kind of polyglot crews that sailed for the Dual Monarchy. In two submarines, the antique U-5 and the French prize, U-14, he became the highest scoring Austro-Hungarian submariner, despite equipment that was sometimes more dangerous to him and his men than to the enemy. He fought on to the end, knowing that the Dual Monarchy he served so well was crumbling. In the end, he gave the last salute of the title when the imperial flag was hauled down for the last time. Appealing to von Trapp family admirers, of course, and also to naval buffs, regardless of how they respond to music.” – Booklist

“[A] lively, amusing, at-times-gripping memoir of naval warfare in the Mediterranean, and U-boat life. . . . One of its fascinating aspects is the glimpse it offers into the multiethnic makeup of this imperial navy, and the admirable attitudes and behavior of a patriotic officer on the losing side of a great conflict.” - The Atlantic

“In his personal account, translated by his granddaughter Elizabeth Campbell, von Trapp captures the feeling of a bygone era where chivalry and love of country were paramount. . . . His amazing exploits in the Great War and life-and-death experiences as a commander of various U-boats will enthrall readers.” - Military Heritage

“Interesting and informative, the text is a rare history of an Austro-Hungarian involved in War. . . . [To the Last Salute] is highly recommended to those interested in the von Trapp family, the musical The Sound of Music, World War I from an Austro-Hungarian view, and U-boats.” - Curled Up With a Good Book

"To the Last Salute is a professional account of submarine operations during World War I by one of the ace skippers of the k-u-k Navy. . . . This work provides an often gripping tale of some long forgotten but interesting naval actions during the Great War." - NYMAS Review

Here are two very decent books covering early submarine disasters:


by Don Everitt
Publishers blurb:
Only today's atomic submarines have outstripped the fabulous twin-funneled K boats--the biggest, fastest submarines of World War I. But no other class of warship suffered so much calamity and controversy. Authorized by Churchill, these steam-powered submarines became the best-concealed debacle in British naval history. This book provides some answers to what went wrong during the series of dreadful mishaps.

by A. J. Hill
Publishers blurb:
Hanging on display in the United States Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., is a battered and scratched steel plate, two feet in diameter, edged with more than one hundred little semicircles. For more than eighty years, people have wondered how it came to be there and at the story it could tell.

Under Pressure: The Final Voyage of Submarine S-Five is that story. On Monday, August 30, 1920, the S-Five, the newest member of the U.S. Navy's fleet of submarines, departs Boston on her first cruise -- to Baltimore for a recruiting appearance at the end of the week. Two days later, as part of a routine test of the submarine's ability to crash dive, her crew's failure to close a faulty valve sends seventy-five tons of seawater blasting in. Before the valve can be jury-rigged shut, the S-Five sits precariously on the ocean floor under 180 feet of water. Her electrical system is shut down, her radio too weak to transmit, and one drive motor is inoperable -- and, because of a last-minute course change, the sub has gone down in a part of the Atlantic deliberately selected because it is well outside any regularly trafficked sea lanes. Rescue by a passing ship is virtually impossible. No one expects them in Baltimore for another two days. And forty hours worth of air is all they have left. The S-Fives are on their own.

Her captain, Lieutenant Commander Charles M. "Savvy" Cooke Jr., tries to pump the seawater out, but each of three pumping systems fails in succession. The salt in the seawater combines with the sulfuric acid in the sub's batteries to create a cloud of chlorine gas. They have little air, no water, and only the dimmest of light by which to plan their escape. By shifting the water in the sub toward the bow torpedo room, Cooke is able to stand the 240-foot-long sub on its nose, bringing it close to vertical, and, using trigonometry, he calculates that at least part of the boat's stern is now above sea level. In a race against time -- will the crew die of asphyxiation before chlorine gas poisoning? -- Cooke assembles his crew into three-man teams charged with cutting a hole out of the highest point in the sub: the telephone-booth-size tiller room. With no acetylene torch, no power tools -- nothing but ratchet drills and hacksaws -- the crew must cut through nearly an inch of strengthened steel or die in the attempt.

Under Pressure is the story of the thirty-six-hour-long ordeal of the crew of the S-Five. It is a story of the courage, endurance, and incredible resourcefulness of the entire forty-man crew: of Charlie Grisham, the sub's executive officer, a "mustang" promoted to the navy's officer corps from the enlisted ranks; of Chief Electrician Ramon Otto, whose baby daughter was born just days before the S-Five's departure; of Machinist's Mate Fred Whitehead, who at the last minute is able to dog the all-important watertight hatches shut; of Chief of the Boat Percy Fox, who redeems himself for the failure to close the induction valve that sank the S-Five; and of the sub's indomitable captain, Savvy Cooke, leading his crew through sheer force of will.

An incredible drama, a story of heroism and of heroes, Under Pressure is that most remarkable of books, a true story far more dramatic than any fiction.

Review:
"In 1920 U.S.S. S-5, practicing crash dives off the Atlantic coast, sank due to a combination of negligence and poor mechanical design. Fortunately, it went down in relatively shallow water. Unfortunately, the compressed air remaining in the vessel was sufficient to raise only the submarine's stern to the surface. The crew then began a daylong struggle to endure foul air and unnaturally tilted quarters until they could cut a hole in the exposed stern. From there they signaled a passing ship, whose engineers cut another hole through which the crew was rescued. S-5 is still where it sank, but her ingenious captain, aptly nicknamed "Savvy," went on to acquire four stars, a rating this book also deserves. The nightmares inflicted on her crew by the "latest thing in American submarines" will make readers doff their hats in tribute to the early submariners, who went down under the sea in ships that didn't always come up." - Booklist

I see that you two are still having fun over here (smile).

Only just got started Bentley :)

Here are two books covering submarine operations in Australian waters during WW2:


by David Stevens
Publishers blurb:
The U-862 was one of four German submarines sent to serve in the Indian and Pacific Oceans in World War II at the request of the Japanese. It was the only one that made it to Australian waters, where it instigated the largest submarine hunt ever in those waters. It sank seven merchant ships and shot down two aircraft before it surrendered in Singapore at the end of the war. This study is based on official records in Germany, Britain, North America and Australia and on interviews with surviving German crew and Allied navy and air crew.

by Peter Grose
Publishers blurb:
On the night of 31 May 1942, Sydney was doing what it does best: partying. The theatres, restaurants, dance halls, illegal gambling dens, clubs and brothels offered plenty of choice to roistering sailors, soldiers and airmen on leave in Australia's most glamorous city. The war seemed far away. Newspapers devoted more pages to horse racing than to Hitler. That Sunday night the party came to a shattering halt when three Japanese midget submarines crept into the harbour, past eight electronic indicator loops, past six patrolling Royal Australian Navy ships, and past an anti-submarine net stretched across the inner harbour entrance. Their arrival triggered a night of mayhem, courage, chaos and high farce which left 27 sailors dead and a city bewildered. The war, it seemed, was no longer confined to distant desert and jungle. It was right here at Australia's front door. Written at the pace of a thriller and based on new first person accounts and previously unpublished official documents, A Very Rude Awakening is a ground-breaking and myth-busting look at one of the most extraordinary stories ever told of Australia at war.

I enjoyed reading the following WWII submarine story:

by Daniel V. Gallery

Description:
"In June 1944 U.S. Navy Task Group 22.3, a hunter-killer force commanded by Daniel Gallery to track down German submarines, boarded and captured U-505 off the coast of Africa. The unprecedented act was the only time a German submarine had been boarded and captured at sea and the first time the U.S. Navy had captured a foreign warship since 1815. The extraordinary feat is described in gripping narrative by Gallery himself, who chronicles the long and arduous battle against the German U-boat under extremely hazardous conditions. The fact that not a single member of the boarding party was familiar with submarines, and no one could tell if the U-boat was mined or how soon it might sink, further complicated the operation. But once they succeeded in capturing and towing their prize seventeen hundred miles across the Atlantic Ocean, U-505 proved to be of inestimable value, yielding secrets to the radio code used by the German submarine service. The epic struggle earned Gallery and his task force a Presidential Unit Citation. His book earned kudos as a first-rate adventure tale and cemented Gallery's reputation as a popular writer of sea stories. U-505 is now on exhibit at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry."

Gallery also devotes several chapters to the U505 side of the story, helping understand WWII German submarines and the U505 in particular. Part of the fun of reading the book comes from being able to go see and walk through the actual U505 at the museum.

Hi Elizabeth,

That looks like a very interesting book offering a thrilling account of a wartime high-seas drama, nice post!

by Daniel V. Gallery

Here are two books on German U-boat commanders of WW2 and some interesting hyperlinks:


(no cover) U333: STORY OF A U-BOAT ACE by Peter Cremer
Review:
"In this memoir, Peter "Ali" Cremer describes his naval experiences from the first day of World War II until the last. Beginning the war as gunnery officer on a destroyer, he joined the U-boat arm in June 1940. After six months of training, he became commander of U-152. In July 1941, he took on a new commission, U-333. For most of the rest of the war, he commanded this boat through a series of incredible experiences which would seem to make U-333 worthy of distinction as the most battered boat of the conflict. Although the repeated disasters, mechanical failures and near misses may seem to the reader to represent a run of unbroken ill luck, Cremer was actually considered by his own and other crewmen to be a form of life insurance, because against all odds, he always brought his boat back to base. After being rammed by enemy vessels on three separate missions, being severely wounded in a battle with the corvette Crocus, falling victim to dockyard sabotage and narrowly missing being hit by the torpedoes of the HMS Graph (former U-570), in the end Cremer survived his boat, which was sunk with all hands after he had moved on to a new command. He even avoided being imprisoned by the Allies in May of 1945 due to blind luck - for some reason his name did not appear on the British lists of those to be assigned to camps, and thus he found himself a free man at the war's end.

A counterpoint to Cremer's own experiences is provided by his frequent use of Allied documents and war diaries; Cremer began friendly correspondences with several of his former opponents after the war, and presents their versions of events in comparison with his own. He also documents the technological successes and failures of both sides - HF/DF, Metox, the Gnat torpedo, and the Schnorchel among others.

Cremer makes no effort to deny his mistakes or cover up unpleasant incidents. For the first time in this book was revealed the sinking by U-333 of the German blockade runner Spreewald (which was disguised too successfully for her own good as an Allied freighter) and Cremer's subsequent court martial for this deed; he was acquitted and blame assigned to Spreewald for failing to report her position.

As the only U-boat commander to begin his career at the bases of western France, remain on almost continuous active patrol status, and survive until the end of the war, Cremer has produced not only an exciting and well-balanced memoir, but one which provides a unique perspective on the ebb and flow of the Battle of the Atlantic." - Review written by Tonya Allen



Interview with U-Boat Captain Peter Cremer of the U333


by Jordan Vause
Review:
"Wolfgang Lüth is a controversial figure in the U-boat war. An intelligent man who gave great thought to the welfare of his crews, a believer in the virtues of the family, and the second most successful commander in terms of tonnage sunk, Lüth was also a convinced Nazi who enthusiastically expressed his views. He is additionally a tragic figure, dying an ironic death - mistakenly shot by one of his own sentries a few days after the war's end.

In a preface to the book, former comrade-in-arms Erich Topp gives him the benefit of the doubt, preferring to believe that once the veil had been lifted from his eyes, he would have acted logically and intelligently against his former political inclinations. Naturally this is speculation in defense of a man who is not present to answer for himself. Jordan Vause does not speculate on Lüth's possible behavior had he survived, but rather relates and analyzes the major events of the commander's life and attempts to explain, in historical context, the various facets of a complex and contradictory personality.

The result is an objective treatment, probing the distasteful and the admirable equally without flinching. As the author states in his introduction, "History could not make up its mind about Wolfgang Lüth - whether he was good or bad, whether he was a hero or a villain, whether he was worth mentioning at all. I think he was. You must decide for yourself." - Review written by Tonya Allen


Inside a U-boat

Here is another first-hand account from a German U-Boat commander who served during WW2:

by Otto Giese
Publishers blurb:
This war diary of a former German naval officer encompasses a seafaring career of unusual breadth. It begins with the dawning of World War II, while the author is a junior officer on board the ocean liner "SS Columbus", and continues to his confinement in a British prisoner-of-war camp after the war. More than a hundred of Giese's own photographs are presented, providing not only a personal perspective of the war, but an historical overview as well. Included are accounts of the scuttling of the "Columbus", furtive blockade-running, and the arduous life of the men who served in Germany's fleet of "grey wolves" as they prowled the Polar Sea and other remote corners of the world. Even after the German surrender, the war was far from over for Giese and his comrades, who remained deep in the Malayan jungle until captured by the British and imprisoned in the infamous Changi Jail. But along with his tales of hardship and loss Giese conveys the joy and camaraderie common to his experience.

Here are two general histories of German U-boats:



by Jak. P. Mallmann Showell

by Eberhard Rossler

Here are two decent accounts covering U-boat operations in American waters during the Second World War:

by Edwin Palmer Hoyt
Review:
"This fast-moving book uses dramatic style to present the history of Operation Drumbeat and subsequent U-boat operations in American waters from the point of view of the United States. Describing itself as the first book ever to recount the story of how U-boats crossed the Atlantic in World War II to attack U.S. shipping (it precedes the publication of Gannon's Operation Drumbeat by more than a decade), the book catalogs in remarkable detail the pattern of circumstances that made this first strike truly resemble the attack of a small pack of wolves among a large flock of defenseless sheep.

These circumstances included a lack of preparedness for war (the bombing of Pearl Harbor had occurred just five weeks before the first sinking by U-123 (Hardegen), waking the Americans to the realities of war but turning their attention to the west coast); the unwillingness of U.S. Navy and merchant ships to work together for the safety of the latter; the lack of escort vessels and air cover; and the slowness of the United States to realize the realize the seriousness of the situation, both on the part of the general population, who objected to dimming lights along the coast because it would hurt business; and on the part of government officials, who mobilized themselves with a lack of alacrity that alarmed their British allies.

Although the true Operation Drumbeat consisted of only the first wave of U-boats to attack U.S. shipping, the book covers the period January 1942-May 1943, during which time the German presence in American waters remained steady. Told mainly from the American point of view, but including some chapters from the Germans' perspective, many interesting incidents are recounted, including the sinking of U-85 (Greger) and U-352 (Rathke); and the landings of German saboteurs on the U.S. coast. The American inexperience in anti-submarine warfare which at first resulted in many false reports of sightings and sinkings (and heavy casualties among the whale population) and the often strained diplomatic traffic between the UK and the United States are also described.

The book includes a bibliography and chapter notes. The only deficiency of this volume is its lack of an index, which would have made it more useful as a reference tool. Even so, this book is an excellent overview of how the United States first experienced U-boat warfare in its home waters." - Review written by Tonya Allen.



by Michael Gannon
Review:
"In 1942 German U-boats sank nearly 400 Allied ships off the East coast of the U.S., threatening to sever Britain's lifeline and cripple U.S. war industry. Gannon, a University of Florida history professor, reveals the appalling degree of unpreparedness and opposition to military intervention on the American side, despite accurate warnings from British intelligence, and traces much of it to the Anglophobia of the chief of naval operations, Admiral Ernest J. King. In an impressive research coup, Gannon located the former skipper and several crew members of one of the U-boats involved in the campaign. Using interviews with these men and former U.S. and British military personnel, and a war diary of the U-123 , Gannon recreates two action-packed patrols and the sinking of 18 Allied ships by that submarine. The book will be of enormous interest to sub warfare buffs." - Publishers Weekly

Here are two books that cover Japanese midget submarine operations in Australian waters during WW2. The first book I have read and offers a concise but very readable account of these dangerous little boats.

(no cover) Coffin Boats by Peggy Warner

(no cover) Japanese Submarine Raiders 1942 - A Maritime Mystery by Steven L. Carruthers
Review:
"Being a comparative newcomer to the Australian history scene and thus perhaps without preconceived notions, I found this book a very interesting read. The author entitled the book Japanese Submarine Raiders 1942. In fact, the major thrust of his writing is directed at the Japanese midget submarine attack on Sydney Harbour on 31 May 1942, with only passing references to other Japanese submarine operations off the Australian East Coast in the same time frame.

A great deal of research on his subject, and his access to Japanese Navy records, contribute a great deal to the dispelling, one hopes for all time, of the misinformation and mystery which still seems to cloud this important event. An example of this misinformation occurred as recently as the May/June issue of the NSW Ex-Service Association magazine, Reveille, where a correspondent claimed that five midget submarines had taken part in the attack, when Japanese records show that only three midgets were carried piggy-back by the parent submarines. I22, I24 and I27 were involved, the remaining two submarines of the group each carrying a reconnaissance floatplane.

The author covers in great detail the build-up to the raid, including the low level reconnaissance of the harbour by a floatplane, and the deployment of the submarine group off the entrance to Sydney Harbour.

He gives an excellent description of the undetected transit by three midget submarines of the underwater loop defences of the harbour and of the subsequent deep penetration of the harbour by two of the midgets, the third having become entangled in the anti-submarine net near the entrance. The activities (one might almost say ‘antics’) of the harbour defences when the entangled midget was first discovered in the net, make fascinating reading, this being followed by the comedy of errors when an inadequate communications system failed completely to warn the harbour defence authority, including the Port War Signal Station and Naval Headquarters, of the raid in progress. The unsuccessful torpedo attack on USS Chicago, at anchor near the Harbour Bridge, by Lieutenant Ban, commanding the midget submarine I24, and the tragic, if inadvertent, sinking of the accommodation ferry HMAS Kuttabul, are well covered, as is the subsequent recovery of survivors.

Thereafter the frantic and uncoordinated attempts to hunt down real and spurious submarine contacts make interesting reading. What became very evident by this stage of proceedings is the completely unprepared state of the defences of this major Australian port, some six months after the commencement of hostilities with Japan. Why this should be so, despite many advance warnings, including the New Zealand sourced Radio Direction Finding intelligence of a group of hostile submarines in close proximity to the port, will give readers much food for thought and speculation. In this regard, it would be wise to treat some of the information in the book on code-breaking systems, and the dissemination of this type of intelligence, with caution.

Perhaps the major lessons to be learnt from this book is the folly of relying on a powerful friend for the defence of one’s own country, and the failure to observe the dictum that ‘the price of freedom is eternal vigilance’." - Reviewed by Sandy Saunders

For those readers in the United States here is a book covering the Japanese midget submarine operations against Pearl Harbor in 1941.

by John Craddock
Reviews:
"The midget subs launched into the attack at Pearl Harbor is an interesting small part of the whole Pearl Harbor story. The story of the 'Ward' firing on the sub is well know. We know that the 'Ward' then reported the incident and that it was ignored, beginning a long sequence of What If's. This book tells the story of the midget subs at Pearl. It also goes into the story of midget subs in general from the Italian frogmen, the British designs, and more. Other incidents in the war that touch on the subject are covered as well, such as Yamamoto and his meeting with the P-38's. Two points particularly stand out. His analysis of the Japanese view of the war. The abject denial that seems to be underway in Japan as if they were going along one day and then the atomic bombs began to fall. Second is his story of the sub the 'Ward' fired on. He didn't finish the story until the Epilogue at the end of the book, so I'm not going to say what happened. After all, if I had to wait and wait and wait until reading to the end of the book you should too. All I can say is that it's a good thing that the book was so interesting as to make it worth the wait." - John Matlock

"I know for a fact that Julia Craddock was the inspiration of this book. This book provides you with factual information and it keeps you on the edge of your seat. I would most definitely recommend this book because it is AMAZING!!" - Ingrid Garvey

"I came across this book shortly after I saw Pearl Harbor for the first time. It was fascinating to be able to visualize the location and think about how things might have been different. Particularly, just after the visit, the book helped me to realize the true magnitude of the tragedy of that day. . . I recommend it to anyone with an interest in WWII, or just history itself and the way seemingly random events can have such impact on how it is formed." - Blythe F. Toussaint

"Sent ahead of the air assault on Pearl Harbor, a Japanese mini sub was destroyed, nearly destroying Japan's deadly surprise. If we had only known even a bit of what John Craddock tells us noe, our own history could have been so very different." - Sherry Sontag, co-author of "Blind Man's Bluff."

The following book is on my 'to-read' list; "Escape from the Deep" by Alex Kershaw.


by Alex Kershaw
Reviews:
“Popular historian Kershaw (The Bedford Boys) chronicles the extraordinary WWII heroism of the crew of the USS Tang, the deadliest submarine operating in the Pacific, in this spellbinding saga. The Tang's captain, Cmdr. Richard O'Kane, was a celebrated maverick whose contempt for the enemy was absolute. He was offered the opportunity to operate alone in the dangerous Formosa Strait, and the boat's crew sank 13 ships on one of the most destructive patrols of the war. But the last torpedo malfunctioned and boomeranged on the Tang, killing half the crew instantly and sinking the sub. The explosion threw O'Kane and several others into the ocean, but most of the rest were trapped below; only nine of 87 survived. They were picked up by a Japanese patrol boat and taken to a POW camp, tortured and starved. O'Kane, who earned the Medal of Honor, weighed only 88 pounds when liberated. Relying on interviews with survivors and oral histories, and writing with his customary verve, Kershaw delivers another memorable tale of uncommon courage.” – Publishers Weekly

“An expert in the history of small military units (e.g., The Bedford Boys, 2003) tackles his smallest unit yet: the nine survivors of the USS Tang, a submarine sunk off the China coast in 1944 by a circular run of her own last torpedo. The survivors included both those, among them Captain Richard O’Kane, who were washed off the bridge when she sank and those who swam up from 180 feet down to join their comrades in surviving until morning. Picked up by the Japanese and subjected to nearly a year of exceptionally brutal treatment, all nine lived to return home and resume their lives, despite physical and psychological scars. Kershaw has researched exhaustively, including interviewing the last two living survivors, and written compactly the portrait of nine Americans who rose to heroism and of a ship that well deserved its status—it was the most successful combat sub in the Pacific theater—as a legend in the naval history of World War II.” – Booklist (Roland Green)

Here a couple of interesting links for the U-Boat fans out there.

http://www.uboatarchive.net/
http://www.uboat.net/boats.htm
http://www.uboataces.com/

Good post Michael, those links have some great resources and references.

Heres an interesting book thats popped up on Amazon

by Robert Schultz

A sailor's extraordinary experiences on an American submarine in the Pacific are candidly reported in this eyewitness account of war from a torpedoman's perspective. Robert Hunt managed to survive twelve consecutive war patrols on the submarine USS Tambor. During the course of the war, Hunt was everywhere that mattered in the Pacific. He stood on the bow of the Tambor as it cruised into Pearl Harbor just days after the devastation of the Japanese air raid, peered through binoculars as his boat shadowed Japanese cruisers at the Battle of Midway, ferried guns and supplies to American guerilla fighters in the Philippines, fired torpedoes that sank vital Japanese shipping, and survived a near-fatal, seventeen-hour depth-charge attack. For exceptional skill and proficiency at his battle station Hunt received a commendation from Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. This WWII torpedoman's account of the war offers the rare perspective of an enlisted seaman that is not available in the more common officer accounts. To capture and recount the progress of the Pacific War through Hunt's eyes coauthors Robert Schultz and James Shell examined the young submariner's war diary, as well as crew letters, photographs, and captains' reports, and they also conducted hours of interviews. Their vivid descriptions of the ways in which sailors dealt with the stress of war while at sea or on liberty show a side of the war that is rarely reported. The fact that Hunt's submarine was the first of a new fleet of World War II boats and the namesake of a significant class adds further value to his remarkable story.

Review (Amazon)
Schultz (English, Roanoke Coll.) and Shell base their book one of the few completely candid accounts of the submarine war in the Pacific Theater on the war diary of torpedoman Robert Hunt, supplemented by their further original research. Hunt enlisted in 1939 and served on the USS Tambor from 1940 to 1944. He participated in and managed to survive an incredible 12 consecutive war patrols, which covered just about every major event in the war against Japan, from action in support of the U.S. Marines on Wake Island to the Kuril Islands and the Sea of Okhotsk. This is an excellent read, distinctive for its enlisted man's, rather than officer's, perspective. It should be in all World War II collections. --Library Journal

Hi Michael, looks like an excellent book, thanks for the post and all the information, great stuff :)

Here is one of my favourite books covering German U-Boat operations:


by John Terraine
Publishers blurb:
Twice within 25 years Britain was threatened with starvation by the menace of the U-Boat. In this study of submarine warfare, the author explains why Winston Churchill wrote "the only thing that ever frightened me during the war was the U-Boat peril". Until it had been overcome, the Anglo-American entry into Europe in 1944 would have been impossible. John Terraine concentrates on the combatants themselves, both German and Allied, but does not overlook the three main factors in the equation - the political, the military and the technological, as well as the intelligence, the weapons and the devices both sides employed in order to outwit each other. He also focuses on the fighting men on either side, seeing the action from "where it was at".

Review:
"This excellent volume, first published in 1989, has recently been re-released as an inexpensive paperback. Author John Terraine’s unique 'big picture' explanation of the strategy and execution of the U-Boat wars is extremely enlightening - even for the enthusiast who is already quite familiar with this subject. The title of this book is derived from Psalm 107 "They that go down to the sea in ships; that do business in great waters" - very appropriate for this epic topic.

Terraine begins his story by explaining and analysing the German U-Boat offensive of World War One. It is very interesting to see the way in which the lessons of the first war (both remembered and forgotten!) so strongly influenced the conduct of the second.
At the start of WWI the submarine was very much an untried technological innovation. All of the doctrines of attack and defence had to be developed from scratch. This development occurred with impressive speed. By 1917, the US Ambassador to Britain called the U-Boat, "the most formidable thing the war has produced - by far - and it gives the German the only earthly chance that he has to win."

In 1915, 80% of all U-Boat attacks were executed under quaint, gentlemanly rules of engagement; the merchantmen were stopped and searched, the crews seen to their lifeboats, and the ships scuttled. As time went on, the British Admiralty started arming the merchantmen with defensive guns and the U-Boat commanders slipped more and more towards the brutal business of conducting submerged attacks on unsuspecting targets. In 1917 a massive 'unrestricted' U-boat campaign was embraced by the German Government as their only hope for knocking out the British war economy before Germany itself collapsed. The ruthless conduct of this form of warfare created dire problems for Britain, but it also prompted America to take the historically significant step of abandoning its isolationist foreign policy and entering WWI.

Terraine relates many surprising facts about the WWI campaign. The total number of ships sunk by U-Boats in WWI actually exceeded that of WW2! (Although the total tonnage was lower.) The all-time records for individual U-Boat operational successes also date from the first war. The most successful commander was Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, (sinking double the tonnage of WW2’s Otto Kretchmer). Arnauld de la Perière’s boat (U 35) remains the most successful in history. He also conducted the most destructive single patrol ever in July/August 1916, sinking 54 victims within four weeks - while still adhering to the gentlemanly 'prize rules'!

Up until 1917, the gigantic British Navy was embarrassingly unable to deal with the U-Boat threat. Entirely new categories of anti-submarine weapons had to be invented and frantic scientific efforts were focussed on U-boat detection techniques. The horrifically wasteful 1917 ground offensive at Passchendale was even launched in a vain attempt to capture the U-Boat bases in Belgium! Fortunately, British technological progress was rapid, with depth charges and hydrophone underwater listening devices being successfully introduced. (The first prototype echo-location equipment was also developed by the British ASDIC committee.) Additionally, 'Room 40' of the Admiralty successfully broke the German naval codes.

However, the main solution to the U-boat panic turned out to be the establishment of escorted merchant convoys. Sadly, a woeful catalogue of delay and dithering attended the introduction of this tactic in WWI. Many in the British Admiralty believed at the time that it would only create bigger target concentrations for the U-Boats! In fact, the U-boats proved largely unable to find the convoys in the broad expanses of the ocean.

By the summer of 1918, the introduction of convoys, guarded by specialist escort vessels, airships and aircraft, had stemmed the British losses. However, as Terraine relates, the U-Boats had only been foiled this time, not defeated. It was actually the disintegration of the German war economy in 1918 that brought about the surrender of the U-Boat fleet. The 1919 Treaty of Versailles then banned the Germans from building any more U-boats. This seemed to resolve the issue permanently. However, clandestine German Navy enthusiasm continued for this prospective war-winning weapon.

The British rapidly forgot many of their hard-won lessons of 1914-18. When German militarism re-emerged in the mid-1930s the Royal Navy complacently believed that convoys plus ASDIC would be the complete solution to the U-Boat problem. (Although experienced veterans from the first war were also, fortunately, striving to re-establish the codebreaking and intelligence infrastructure which had been so useful twenty years before.)

Ironically, the German Supreme Naval Command also neglected the lessons of the previous war. They too were convinced by the impressive-looking British ASDIC technology. They gave production priority in the late 1930s to battleships! Fortunately for the German Navy (and, as it was to transpire, very unfortunately for the Allies) they had an important dissenting thinker in the person of Karl Dönitz, the dedicated leader of the reconstructed U-boat fleet. In only four brief years from 1936, Dönitz built up a small but highly effective force. He applied his WWI command experience, plus his ideas on how to use radio-coordinated attacks to solve the 'convoy problem', to train and motivate his men to a very high standard of preparedness. When war with Britain arrived rather unexpectedly in 1939, Dönitz’s meagre fleet sprang into action with astonishing success.

Terraine devotes the last three quarters of his book to the various phases of the U-Boat war which raged from the first to the last day of WW2. He relates this complex story in a remarkably clear manner. His approach is to concentrate on the really pivotal events -- the ebb and flow of the worldwide land and air campaigns, the political decisions and the technological breakthroughs. Key convoy actions at sea are examined in detail, again focussing on those convoys where major trends in technology or tactics emerged. The important roles played by both Allied and German codebreaking are well covered, as are the hundreds of other factors which influenced the campaign. Terraine often quotes the contemporary accounts of the participants on both sides, adding a measure of dramatic action to the broader story of command and control. In many places the book reads like a digest of the best 'quotable quotes' from the political leaders (Churchill, Roosevelt, Hitler), the military commanders (Dönitz, Horton, King and many others), the fighting men (such as MacIntyre, Gretton, Monsarrat, Walker and Werner) and the most respected historians (Rowher, Roskill, Middlebrook etc.). Each adds perspective to Terraine’s own lucid commentary.

The end result is an extremely thick book which still begs to be read from cover to cover! Terraine’s writing style is most enjoyable. His extensive indexes also ensure that information on almost any topic related to the U-Boat wars can easily be located.” - by James Oglethorpe, Sydney, Australia (Uboat.net)

Another great book covering German U-Boat operations is this biography on Germany's U-Boat commander; "Donitz: The Last Fuhrer" by Peter Padfield.

by Peter Padfield
Publishers blurb:
This is the definitive biography of Grand Admiral Karl Donitz, one of the major commanders of the Second World War. The Sunday Telegraph described it as "compellingly readable". As supreme commander of the Kreigsmarine, Doenitz was responsible for the staggering death toll among the U-boat crews he sent out to fight the battle of the Atlantic, a bitter contest that constantly threatened to cut Allies’ vital supply lifeline. But this is more than a study of war at sea: it is an unflinching portrait of a dedicated officer who was corrupted by his inner need for a cause and a leader to serve. Doenitz of course discovered both in Adolf Hitler, who found in the admiral his most loyal supporter and confidant and duly appointed him his successor, the last führer of the third Reich – which he indeed became for a few short days in 1945

Review:
"A readable biography of a man whose life was the German navy since before World War I. He served as a U-boat commander in the Great War and remained a fanatical believer in that weapon ever after. He directed the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II, which was lost inter alia because of Ultra, i.e., the decoding of German communications. The author, a man of the sea and lately a writer on naval affairs, is persuasively harsh on this major figure of the Third Reich, whom Hitler appointed his successor and who was given the lightest term of those convicted at Nuremburg; Padfield believes that had the court known all the facts about Dönitz he would have earned the harshest sentence." - Foreign Affairs

One more book that offers a decent and concise history of submarines and their operations. This book; "Stealth at Sea: The History of the Submarine" by Dan Van Der Vat was first published in 1994.

by Dan Van Der Vat
Reviews:
"The first workable prototype?the Fenian Ram?of an underwater warship was designed by Irishman John Holland in 1882. By the turn of the century, the U.S., Britain and especially Germany began to equip their navies with submarines. The submarine became infamous in 1915, when a German U-20 sank the luxury liner Lusitania off the Irish coast?with a tremendous loss of life?an attack that eventually brought the U.S. into WWI. The submarine also necessitated new means to subvert it: convoys, rudimentary sonar, depth charges and ships outfitted with seaplanes. Van der Vat's coverage of the WWII period focuses on innovative German Admiral Donitz's U-boat "wolf packs"; the Allies relying on convoys; and the successes of the U.S. and Japanese in submarine warfare against each other. The post-WWII era concentrates on Admiral Hyman Rickover and the first nuclear-powered sub, the U.S.S. Nautilus, and its trip to the North Pole. The cold war period looks at the technological advances made by Soviet and U.S. subs that became capable of firing ICBMs from any ocean. Van der Vat (The Grand Scuttle) has written a comprehensive volume that will delight submarine buffs." - Publishers Weekly

"This narrative history of undersea warfare is particularly useful in its coverage of the world wars. Van der Vat (The Grand Scuttle, Naval Inst. Pr., 1985) describes the evolution of submarine tactics and technology, the difficulty of coordinating submarine operations for maximum effect, and the problem of deciding whether warships or merchantmen made the more profitable target. He also presents the evolution of countermeasures-convoys and hunter-killer groups-and makes strong cases for the nearly decisive effect of German U-boats during World War I and the major contributions of U.S. submarines to the defeat of Japan between 1941 and 1945. The decision to treat the nuclear age in an epilog results in an overly cursory treatment of submarine development in the past half-century. Nevertheless, this is a worthwhile addition to general collections." - Library Journal

Two decent books covering the major U-boat theatre during the Second World War, the Battle of the Atlantic:

by Richard Snow
Reviews:
"Former American Heritage editor-in-chief Snow brings long experience to this graphic account of the Battle of the Atlantic. He seasons it heavily with the letters of his father, who was an officer on one of the U.S. destroyer escorts vital to the U-boat offensive's final defeat. Snow quickly, colorfully, and accurately sets the stage: the construction and employment of Nazi Germany's formidable submarine force; the heroically improvised British and Canadian response; the fine line Franklin Roosevelt treaded in supporting Britain without committing America directly to war. Even after Pearl Harbor, it took time for a U.S. Navy previously indifferent to antisubmarine warfare to develop an effective doctrine and an industry that would construct the ships to implement it. Twenty-seven hundred Liberty ships put to sea faster than the U-boats could sink them. Four hundred destroyer escorts, built out of spare parts, by amateurs, crewed and commanded by other amateurs, protected the Liberties and hunted the subs. Snow ably uses his father's letters to reconstruct Atlantic duty in the final years of a vital battle for Allied victory." - Publishers Weekly

"From an experienced journalist and editor comes a chatty but absorbing history of the American role in the Battle of the Atlantic, undoubtedly the longest and most crucial campaign of WWII. The book isn’t for beginners because, made up of short essays rather than as a continuous narrative, it leaps around from the upper echelons (e.g., the formative years of Karl Doenitz’s notions about U-boat warfare tactics and Admiral King’s nearly disastrous refusal to begin coastal convoys in 1942) to the low ones (e.g., the many and varied ordeals of the survivors of the liner Athenia, first casualty of the U-boat war). Interspersed among the essays is the WWII career of Snow’s father, who began the war helping build destroyer escorts and ended it serving aboard one. For all its patchiness, the book is historically balanced and eminently readable, deserving a place in at least larger WWII naval collections." - Roland Green (Booklist)

by Andrew Williams
Review:
"This is a startling and at times harrowing study of just how close Britain came to defeat in the Second World War. Goering's Luftwaffe may have failed to break the people's spirit with their night-after-night blitzes, but Admiral Doenitz's U-boats came within an ace of starving the nation into submission. Details of the critical situation were kept from the British public during wartime, but afterwards Winston Churchill admitted that the battle for control of the north Atlantic had frightened him more than anything else throughout the entire conflict. This absorbing book - which accompanies a major BBC TV series - shows us how the Royal and merchant navies fell prey to the Atlantic U-boat menace over a period of more than three years both before and after America's entry into the war. During that time the Allies lost 15 million tons of shipping and 40,000 lives, plus a colossal amount of food and other essential supplies. Viewed in that context, this long but little-understood battle could truly be said to have had greater significance than the Dunkirk retreat or the aerial Battle of Britain. Drawing on first-hand testimony from both sides, Andrew Williams examines the terrifying journey faced by every convoy of supplies to set sail across the Atlantic. In the U-boats, the sailors were even more vulnerable as the Allies hit back. Life in the 'iron coffins' was claustrophobic and stressful. The average life span of a submariner could be measured in months. The photographs accompanying the text are among the most dramatic you will find from the Second World War. If ever razor-sharp conflict was captured on film, this is it. Williams's great skill is in allowing the protagonists to tell their own stories, which say far more than mere statistics ever could. As a reference book of the Second World War, this is essential reading." - Kirkus (UK)

Here is another decent general history of the submarine; "The Submarine: A History" by Thomas Parrish.

by Tom Parrish
Reviews:
"This readable if uneven history of the submarine takes the subject from David Bushnell's Turtle, which carried out the first submarine combat mission in 1776, to the Russian Kursk, whose explosion in 2000 was the latest of many disasters in the accident-prone Soviet and Russian fleet. In between are basically four episodes in the creation of undersea warfare. Late-19th-century developments culminated with engineer John Philip Holland's dual-propulsion system. By WWI, the unrestricted submarine warfare that was supposed to win the war for Germany lost it by bringing in the United States. In WWII, U-boats were again nearly decisive, and the U.S. subs in the Pacific actually were. Finally, in the postwar era, the nuclear submarine carrying ballistic missiles has become the ultimate deterrent. Parrish's coverage in each period varies among technical developments (a plethora of faulty torpedoes), combat operations (including strategy), heroic captains (e.g., Mush Morton of Wahoo) and inventors (Holland, Rickover and Raborn, the father of Polaris). Add a certain number of glitches (the British X-craft used dropped mines, not ones attached by divers against Tirpitz), but also add in smooth and even witty writing, and the result is a most respectable book. It may not be the seasoned experts' ideal, but it should set the new armchair submariner sailing off into the extensive and up-to-date bibliography." - Publishers Weekly

"Parrish synthesizes voluminous naval literature on the submarine in this fine popular presentation. After dispensing with the submarine's imaginative but primitive antecedents, such as David Bushnell's Turtle of 1776, Parrish lays down the technical advances that designer John Holland pulled together to produce the first truly functional submarines a century ago. However, navies were hard pressed to make use of these strange vessels, which were small, slow, and vulnerable if caught on the surface, until World War I revealed their predatory potential. Through descriptions of particularly dramatic or diplomatically significant sinkings, Parrish illustrates the submarine's crucial influence on that war, and subsequently on World War II and the cold war. Within each historical metamorphosis of the submarine, up to its contemporary incarnation as a nuclear-armed nemesis that can destroy an entire country, Parrish showcases famous submariners, including aggressive personalities such as Karl Donitz, "Mush" Morton, and Hyman Rickover. To a minutia-ridden subject, Parrish brings a superb general treatment that will attract naval-history readers." - Booklist

Another concise history of the Battle for the Atlantic during the Second World War: "Bitter Ocean" by David Fairbank White.

by David Fairbank White
Reviews:
"This superior history of the longest-running battle of WWII by White (a former New York Times reporter and author of the novel True Bearing) opens with winter on the North Atlantic and Adm. Karl Dönitz's U-boats hunting Allied merchant ships. The question was whether Britain could be starved into surrender or at least made incapable of launching offensives. Against the Royal Navy, with its American and Canadian allies, were pitted the "wolfpacks" of submarines that decimated whole convoys and sank merchant ships faster than the Allies could build them. In the end, Allied training, code breaking, long-range aircraft, escort carriers and the sheer output of American shipyards turned the tide. Along with the overview, White provides excellent focused passages, such as the ordeal of the tanker San Demetrio, as well as portraits of individual combatants—the colorful British destroyer expert Donald Macintyre and the superbly professional U-boat captain Otto Kretschmer. A better starting place for the general reader to begin learning about this epic portion of WWII would be hard to imagine, and one that gives the British their well-deserved lion's share of the credit for victory has not been written lately." - Publishers Weekly

"In chronicling the balance of attrition--between the Allies' convoys and the German U-boats--that was World War II's Battle of the Atlantic, White confronts a vast bibliography. In the interest of popular appeal, he emphasizes particular captains of ships and subs whose immediate clashes translated into the sunken vessels and drowned sailors that expressed victory or defeat. White accords due space to the intelligence and technological aspects of the battle, and to the strategic battle commanders, but his writer's heart is decidedly with the man at the periscope or on the bridge. Some were publicized during the war, such as Germany's Otto Kretschmer, but most were obscure then and have become even more so with time. White's narrative tracks their individual torpedo and depth-charge attacks with tactical detail, stylistically straining to evoke the cold and fright of being sunk at sea. More successful in the data department, White, aided by a good set of maps, will draw readers interested in the shape taken over time by this protracted turning point of WWII." - Booklist

This new title covering British WW2 subs and submariners is due out in the UK in a few months time; "Sea Wolves: The Extraordinary Story of Britain's WW2 Submarines" by Tim Clayton.

by Tim Clayton
Description:
Sea Wolves is the story of the crews who bravely manned British submarines in the Second World War. This small band of highly trained and highly skilled individuals fought in the front line for six long years, undertaking some of the most dangerous missions of the war. Britain's Sea Wolves operated close to shore in mined waters, attacking warships and heavily guarded convoys. But in the course of these vital operations, the submariners suffered devastating casualties.This is the vivid, thrilling story of the survivors and their promising young comrades who fought with such courage, in the face of the sickening terror of depth-charge attacks and the cold fear of having to escape from a sunken submarine filled with the bodies of close friends.

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "This new title covering British WW2 subs and submariners is due out in the UK in a few months time; "Sea Wolves: The Extraordinary Story of Britain's WW2 Submarines" by Tim Clayton.

he writes great books on subs

Hi Michael, he is a good author and I have quite a few of his books, I will have to add this one to the library as well!

by Tim Clayton

came across this book that may be of interest.


by Sherry Sontag


From Booklist
Two investigative reporters and a researcher have joined forces to produce an excellent history of U.S. submarine espionage operations that reads like a Tom Clancy novel. They take the story from the early days of the cold war, when we lost, by accident, the diesel submarine Cochino on a spy mission and nearly lost the Gudgeon to Soviet antisubmarine forces. They continue through the shift to nuclear submarines, the loss of the Scorpion (destroyed by defective torpedoes after completing a spy mission), the role of the Halibut in finding the Soviet missile boat later salvaged by the CIA's Glomar Explorer, and the cable-tapping operations in which the Parche won more presidential unit citations than any other submarine in American history. They also cover open-sea efforts to shadow Soviet submarines, which occasionally led to dangerous collisions, and add to our knowledge of the horrendous safety record of the Soviet nuclear navy and the vices and virtues of Hyman G. Rickover, father of its American counterpart. Roland Green

Good post Tom, would you believe I have a copy of this book but have not read it yet!


by Sherry Sontag

Here is a new release covering one German U-boat from WW2; "U-48: The Most Successful U-Boat of the Second World War" by Franz Kurowsk.

by Franz Kurowsk
Description:
Following the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, Germany was not permitted to build or operate submarines. Clandestine training about Finnish and Spanish submarines took place and U-boats were still built to German designs in Dutch yards. At the outset of the Second World War, Dönitz argued for a 300-strong U-boat fleet, since his force of 57 U-boats could only inflict pin-pricks against British seaborne trade . In August 1939, U-48 left Germany, commanded by Vaddi Schultze, to take up a waiting position around England. It scored its first success on 5 September, when it torpedoed the British freighter Royal Sceptre, then the Winkleigh on 8 September. On both occasions the first of many Schultze showed himself to be a notable humanitarian: he addressed signals to Churchill giving positions of the sinkings so that crews could be saved. By 1 August 1941, U-48, the most successful boat of the Second World War, had sunk 56 merchant ships of 322,478 gross tons and one corvette. She was then transferred to the Baltic as a training boat. Schultze became commander of operation 3 U-Flotilla and later was appointed commander, II/Naval College Schleswig. He died in 1987 at the age of 78. U-48 was scuttled on 3 May 1945.

Just finished reading a great U-Boat memoir

byHerbert A. Werner

Product Description
This is a story of triumph, disaster and eventual survival - against all odds. Herbert Werner was one of the few U-boat commanders whose skill, daring and incredible luck saw him safely through to the end of the war. His is an epic and chilling description of the fearful havoc wrought by one small U-boat on the Atlantic convoys. But easy success ebbed away in the face of ever-improving Allied detection and attack techniques. The hunters became the prey, to suffer appalling losses. Of 842 U-boats launched 779 were sunk, 'iron-coffins' to 28,000 men. Herbert Werner's graphic account of war waged from beneath the sea, of horror and cold, cruel death, is dedicated to the seamen of all nations who died in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Good post Michael, thanks for the information. I have seen the book about but had not purchased a copy yet, might have to soon :)

A few more not mentioned...


by Carl Lavo

Eugene Fluckey was one of the great naval heroes of World War II. His exploits as captain of the submarine USS Barb revolutionized undersea warfare and laid the groundwork for the nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine fleet that today is the primary deterrent and capability of the United States against nuclear attack. He earned numerous presidential, congressional, and military honors, including the Medal of Honor and four Navy Crosses. In the war against Japan, Fluckey fired the first ballistic missiles from a submarine and sank more tonnage than any other U.S. submarine skipper.


by I.J. Galantin

In this memoir of his 41-year military career, from midshipman to four-star rank, mostly in the submarine service, Galantin provides an authoritative overview of the evolution of the sub and its role in the U.S. Navy. A distinguished combat veteran of WWII, he saw postwar service as head of the Navy Department's submarine branch; and, as director of the Navy's Special Projects Office, he had a leading role in developing the Polaris missile system for subs. Long involved in high-level planning and policy-making in the Pentagon, he gives a good account of how the Navy met the Soviet challenge at sea as well as the submarine's role in the post-Cold War era. Our nuclear subs, he argues, remain the chief deterrent to global strategic aggression.

Good adds, thanks Tom. One more not mentioned and that I have sitting ready to read is:


by Mike Ostlund
Description:
Find ’Em, Chase ’Em, Sink ’Em is the first book to recount the tragic and mysterious loss of the World War II submarine USS Gudgeon.

In April 1944, the highly decorated submarine USS Gudgeon slipped beneath the waves in one of the most treacherous patrol areas in the most dangerous military service during World War II. Neither the Gudgeon nor the crew was ever seen again.

Author Mike Ostlund’s “Uncle Bill,” the operator of a farm implements business, was aboard that ship as a lieutenant junior grade. Through extensive research of patrol reports in U.S. and Japanese naval archives, interviews with veterans who had served aboard the Gudgeon before its final patrol, and the personal effects of the lost men’s relatives, Ostlund has assembled the most accurate account yet of this remarkably successful submarine’s exploits, of the men aboard from steward to captain, and of what we now know about her demise.

Find ’Em, Chase ’Em, Sink ’Em details the memories and life lessons of the young men who went to sea aboard Gudgeon before its last patrol knowing hardly anything, and coming home having seen too much.

For a thorough history of the WWII U.S. submarine war in the Pacific Clay Blair Jr.

Nice add

Saw this one browsing at the book store today..


by Timothy Mulligan

Thanks Jim and Tom.

Tom wrote: "came across this book that may be of interest.

by Sherry Sontag"

is really a good submarine tale.

I'm currently beginning a new book project about German UBoats off the coast of the US during WW1, and I found this discussion immensely helpful. Thanks to all of you for the bibliographies above: I've ordered many of the books listed there.

It seems to me that there is a real shortage of books treating the Uboats of WW I and their development. If you have any recommendations for additional resources, I would be very glad to receive them.

Kathryn wrote: "I'm currently beginning a new book project about German UBoats off the coast of the US during WW1, and I found this discussion immensely helpful. Thanks to all of you for the bibliographies above:..."

I just finished this book about sea power in general during WWI....and much of it was dedicated to the German U Boats. You might want to attempt to find it but it seems to be fairly obscure.......it is quite good.

The Great War at Sea: History of Naval Action, 1914-18 by Adolph A. Hoehling (no cover or author photos available.

Hi Kathryn,

Two good books covering WW1 Submarines and U-boats are the following:

by Edwyn A. Gray

(no cover) A Damned Un English Weapon: The Story Of British Submarine Warfare, 1914 18 by Edwyn Gray

For some personal accounts from German sub commanders during WW1 these two may help as well:

by Georg von Trapp

by Werner Furbringer

Kathryn wrote: "I'm currently beginning a new book project about German UBoats off the coast of the US during WW1..."

If your project involves more research than nonfiction pleasure reading then some governmental books following the Great War should also be considered. One computer accessible from 1920 and chock full of information is:

“Publication, Issues 1-4” by The United States Office of Naval Records and Library under the direction of Josephus Daniels Secretary of the Navy (no book cover, no link and no photo)