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Old 03-06-08, 09:49 PM   #6
UnterseeBoogeyMan
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I loved Das Boot in book form myself.

As for other ones;

U-Boat Killer by Captain Donald S. Macintyre
He was one of the subkilling aces of the Royal Navy. He talks about the night he participated in sinking Kretchsmer's boat, his capture and how Schepke was caught on the surface. He goes over the Allied technological advances he used (hedgehogs, better asdic, radar) and how the ASW tactics evolved. He has a unique perspective because he was there. He also talks about how the acoustic torpedo, the Gnat, gave them a headache. His usage of some of Walker's anti-sub's tactics are really fun to read too.

The U-Boat Peril by Bob Whinney
He's another British destroyer captain that sank 3 U-boats during the war.
His insights range beyond just the Battle of the Atlantic to the Royal from before the war, through the war to the end. He talks about the lowpay/low morale in the beginning, shortages through the war, and the politics that could wreck an officer's career in the Royal Navy. Its a good read too.

Convoy by Martin Middlebrook
He centers his book on the epic 1943 convoy battle where one convoy caught up with a slower convoy in the middle of ongoing U-boat pack attacks. He charts from end to beginning of the battle, the strategies of Doenitz vs. the British Admiralty, the tactics of the u-boats and the ASW of the British. What's surprising, is so much as the turn of a rudder would give away a U-boat. He does a good job of showing how convoy escorts were laid out, how uboats were set in a line and how they shadowed.

The U-boat War by David Westwood
I am reading it now, just started. As far as I can make out, it covers the U-boat war more from a strategic/logistical viewpoint. What standsout so far, is the Z-Plan (Raeder's goal for having a balanced Navy by 1944, 47 at the latest) had to be shelved because the war started in '39 and Hitkler promised him 44 or 45. It covers how the Germans were able to train crews and develope the submarine technology under the tight leash of the Versailles treaty. A private firm would build the boat for the Finns, not Germany, but have German sailors train on it. That is how Prien an Shepke were trained up.

This last one isn't U-boats, it's sub, but a great read if you enjoyed Das Boot.
Run Silent Run Deep by Edward Beach
Thee film doesnt do it justice. The book is muich better and the movie would have been better has the film-makers stuck to the book. Lots of cat-and mouse action going on here.
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