"Teddy Suhren; Ace of Aces: Memoirs of a U-Boat Rebel"

[John Pancoast]

Though I'm not a fan of memoirs for various reasons, this is a good read.

Some interesting parts:

- "We never attacked underwater by night; the attack periscope simply didn't gather enough light." (No mention of the observation scope being used for attacking at all)

- "It is vital to keep the boat absolutely still at the moment of making observations; it mustn't move at all, otherwise the angle will vary."

[derstosstrupp]

Indeed a rebel he was. I read in the book “U-boat War Patrol: Hidden Photographic Diary of U-564” that when he was pulling up to the dock after his 70-day patrol, he shouted over to a friend of his ashore asking whether the Nazis were still at the helm, and when told yes, he loudly ordered both engines full astern.

He’s very lucky he was one of Dönitz’s favorites. Had a very sad post-war story though.

[derstosstrupp]

I noticed a translation error in the second “observations” one. The original German has “im Augenblick des Abdrückens” - “At the moment of firing”. The “angle “mentioned refers to the lead angle (Vorhaltewinkel), which makes more sense now.

[John Pancoast]

I noticed a translation error in the second “observations” one. The original German has “im Augenblick des Abdrückens” - “At the moment of firing”. The “angle “mentioned refers to the lead angle (Vorhaltewinkel), which makes more sense now.

Thanks for the info., I was wondering about that statement myself.

[KaleuBauman]

Indeed a rebel he was. I read in the book “U-boat War Patrol: Hidden Photographic Diary of U-564” that when he was pulling up to the dock after his 70-day patrol, he shouted over to a friend of his ashore asking whether the Nazis were still at the helm, and when told yes, he loudly ordered both engines full astern.

He’s very lucky he was one of Dönitz’s favorites. Had a very sad post-war story though.

Just finished reading that this afternoon. I got a kick out of that bit.