I just finished "U-Boat Commander" by Peter Cremer. If you haven't read this book, you simply must! It is the best u-boat account I have ever read. It covers the beginning of his career in 1940 and the invasion of Norway, his time in command of a type VII-C, right up to the very end of the Third Reich, where he led a naval anti-tank battalion after his type XXI was out of combat condition, and was then the commander of Grand Admiral Donitz's security guard during his short stint as Fuhrer. He survived almost the entire span of the war, and passed away in 1992. Truly an amazing real story!
He even has information shared with him by some of his Allied adversaries (destroyer captains and such) that he had run-ins with, and some of them became friends after the war. A really fascinating person.
Also read recently "Taker Her Deep!: A Submarine vs. Japan in World War II" by Admiral I. J. Galantin, about his career as a sub commander throughout World War 2. Equally amazing.
Both have some inset pictures from the authors' personal collections of their ship, crew, damage recieved, etc.
Both of these are actual personal accounts, and so to me have an edge on a lot of the fiction and historian-written books that have been mentioned, so I thought I would share them with you all. Learned a lot about the technology development of new gadgetry and what the commanders really thought of them.
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