Platapus
02-17-12, 05:28 PM
Neither Sharks nor Wolves: The Men of Nazi Germany’s U-boat Arm, 1939-1945
Timothy P. Mulligan 1999 Naval Institute Press
I received this book for Christmas and I finally got a chance to get through it. As the title implies, this book is about the U-boat crew and less about U-boats themselves. This has been a void in the U-boat library and I am glad it was written.
Mr. Mulligan was an archivist at the National Archives in Washington DC, where he specialized in US and captured German military and naval records. He has also written “Lone Wolf: The life and death of U-boat ace Werner Henke”. For those who have the U-boat commander’s handbook, it is the same Henke for which the handbook is dedicated.
As an archivist and historian, Mr. Mulligan bases his research on the German records but also surveyed more than 1,100 surviving U-boat crew members. His book is well cited and, when appropriate, the significant portions of his statistical analysis are included. All in all, this was an easy fun book to read.
The book is structured roughly into four sections, each of which focuses on a specific aspect of the human aspect of U-boat crews.
First are several chapters that depict live aboard a U-boat. He introduces the structure of officer and crew rank and ratings. This has always been a problem for me as the German U-boat rank/rating schema does not match up with the American schema.
Second there is an investigation on how the U-Boat service was created, organized, structured, and operated. Mulligan challenges the myth of the all volunteer U-boat service -- it was only 100% volunteer in the late ‘30s. Later in the war, even officers were “voluntold” to go to the U-Boats. Mulligan goes in to great detail on the cultural and demographic diversity of U-Boat crews. Though statistics, Mulligan illustrates ages, civilian occupations, demography and other human factors concerning U-boat crews.
Next there is one of the better discussions concerning unrestricted submarine warfare. How it came about, how it was structured, the political viewpoints and finally how the German Navy, especially the U-boat service felt about it.
In all honestly, concerning unrestricted submarine warfare, Mulligan does not go as far in depth as Terraine’s “The U-boat wars 1916-1945” but Mulligan covers this effectively. If anyone is really serious about learning how unrestricted submarine warfare came about in Germany, I can highly recommend Terraine’s book, but his book is a lot harder to read.
The book wraps up with an investigation into a topic of special interest to me and one I have not found covered as well -- why was the German Navy as politically isolated from the Nazi party as it was. This really gets to the heart of some important issues. Were U-boat captains/crews hard core nazis. The answer, unfortunately is complicated and I would not do Mulligan justice trying to summarize this important topic. Mulligan does, properly, reference back to events that occurred in WWI that had direct impact on this issue.
I am very glad I have this book in my submarine library. Many of the other submarine books focus on technology of submarines and history of tactics. Mulligan introduces the human aspect of the U-boat service. It is well worth reading.
As the fictional captain in Das Boot says “You have to have good men. Good men, all of them.” Mulligan explains why these men were so good.
Timothy P. Mulligan 1999 Naval Institute Press
I received this book for Christmas and I finally got a chance to get through it. As the title implies, this book is about the U-boat crew and less about U-boats themselves. This has been a void in the U-boat library and I am glad it was written.
Mr. Mulligan was an archivist at the National Archives in Washington DC, where he specialized in US and captured German military and naval records. He has also written “Lone Wolf: The life and death of U-boat ace Werner Henke”. For those who have the U-boat commander’s handbook, it is the same Henke for which the handbook is dedicated.
As an archivist and historian, Mr. Mulligan bases his research on the German records but also surveyed more than 1,100 surviving U-boat crew members. His book is well cited and, when appropriate, the significant portions of his statistical analysis are included. All in all, this was an easy fun book to read.
The book is structured roughly into four sections, each of which focuses on a specific aspect of the human aspect of U-boat crews.
First are several chapters that depict live aboard a U-boat. He introduces the structure of officer and crew rank and ratings. This has always been a problem for me as the German U-boat rank/rating schema does not match up with the American schema.
Second there is an investigation on how the U-Boat service was created, organized, structured, and operated. Mulligan challenges the myth of the all volunteer U-boat service -- it was only 100% volunteer in the late ‘30s. Later in the war, even officers were “voluntold” to go to the U-Boats. Mulligan goes in to great detail on the cultural and demographic diversity of U-Boat crews. Though statistics, Mulligan illustrates ages, civilian occupations, demography and other human factors concerning U-boat crews.
Next there is one of the better discussions concerning unrestricted submarine warfare. How it came about, how it was structured, the political viewpoints and finally how the German Navy, especially the U-boat service felt about it.
In all honestly, concerning unrestricted submarine warfare, Mulligan does not go as far in depth as Terraine’s “The U-boat wars 1916-1945” but Mulligan covers this effectively. If anyone is really serious about learning how unrestricted submarine warfare came about in Germany, I can highly recommend Terraine’s book, but his book is a lot harder to read.
The book wraps up with an investigation into a topic of special interest to me and one I have not found covered as well -- why was the German Navy as politically isolated from the Nazi party as it was. This really gets to the heart of some important issues. Were U-boat captains/crews hard core nazis. The answer, unfortunately is complicated and I would not do Mulligan justice trying to summarize this important topic. Mulligan does, properly, reference back to events that occurred in WWI that had direct impact on this issue.
I am very glad I have this book in my submarine library. Many of the other submarine books focus on technology of submarines and history of tactics. Mulligan introduces the human aspect of the U-boat service. It is well worth reading.
As the fictional captain in Das Boot says “You have to have good men. Good men, all of them.” Mulligan explains why these men were so good.