About books

[Lt.Fillipidis]

Does anyone know any good books describing the life on uboats, engagements or anything about uboats?
Besides Iron Coffins.

[kranz]

Review section of this forum, uboat.net review section for titles. I recommend: Lone Wolf Life & Death of U-Boat Ace Werner Henke by Mulligan, Cajus Bekker-don't remember the exact title, Kretschmer's book, Atlantic roulette by Bercuson and many more. Depending on what you want to read-sth like Iron Coffins(titles given above) or like Clair Blair?

[mookiemookie]

A few good ones I've recently read:

U-boat War Patrol: The Hidden Photographic Diary of U-564: http://www.amazon.com/U-boat-War-Pat...ref=pd_sim_b_3

U Boote Crews: http://www.amazon.com/U-BOOTE-CREWS-.../dp/235250046X

Steel Boats, Iron Hearts: http://www.amazon.com/Steel-Boat-Iro.../dp/1932714073

[Kapt Z]

U-Boat War Patrol, by Lawrence Paterson

This is a fantastic book! Compilation of photos and text of a patrol of U-564 under Teddy Suhren during the summer of 1942. Easy read with lots of info on day to day ops on a u-boat from leaving Brest to patrol in the Caribbean and back again.

[Jimbuna]

Regarded by many as the definitive work on the subject:

Hitler's U-boat War....2 volumes by Clay Blair

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?...lair&x=14&y=17

Another favourite in my collection:

Ubootwaffe, Marine - Kleinkampfverbände 1939-1945

http://translate.google.com/translat...%3Den%26sa%3DN

http://translate.google.com/translat...%3Den%26sa%3DG

[Murr44]

Originally Posted by Kapt Z

U-Boat War Patrol, by Lawrence Paterson

This is a fantastic book! Compilation of photos and text of a patrol of U-564 under Teddy Suhren during the summer of 1942. Easy read with lots of info on day to day ops on a u-boat from leaving Brest to patrol in the Caribbean and back again.

I'll second that recommendation & give this book my own . The text is accompanied by well over 200 photos, many of which are previously unpublished & most are of very good quality. He has another book called Hitler's Grey Wovles: U-Boats in the Indian Ocean which is a very interesting title.

Another book is called Another Place, Another Time: A U-Boat Officer's Wartime Album by Werner Hirschmann with Donald Graves. Very readable & has lots of interesting photos from Hirschmann's private collection. Also has an index containing everything that you would ever want to know about the IX C/40 boats.

Originally Posted by Lt.Fillipidis

Does anyone know any good books describing the life on uboats, engagements or anything about uboats?
Besides Iron Coffins.

There are literally hundreds of books and videos regarding U-boat warfare, the Battle of the Atlantic, German Navy (Kriegsmarine), etc. There are even a good number of books about World War One U-boats. One of which I'm reading right now: A Sailor of Austria (1994) WW1 novel by John Biggins

I guess the real question is how many of these books are easily available to you in Greece? Most of my books have come from either Amazon or Ebay. I would recommend to you that you buy only hardcover books, first editions in top condition, if possible. You can generally find them as cheap as newly published softcovers and it makes for a better collection.

Most all the books recommended so far are excellent. But they vary in content, in that some lean toward personal experiences with little in facts and/or dates. Others, like Blair's 2 volumn Hitler's U-boat War lean heavily toward facts and dates with little if any personal background. Other books may tend to be mostly photographic in nature, plenty of pictures with captions, not a lot of text with no personal insight.

A few recommendations:

Twenty Million Tons Under the Sea (1956) or U-505 by Daniel V Gallery (same book, different title, author commanded the strikeforce that captured U-505 & author helped bring U-505 to a museum in Chicago)

The Boat: Das Boot (1975) novel by Lothar-Gunther Buchheim

Das Boot - the Original Uncut Version on DVD (1982) directed by Wolfgang Petersen

The Golden Horseshoe: The Wartime Career of Otto Kretschmer, U-boat Ace (various release dates) by Terence Robertson or Night Raider of the Atlantic (various release dates) same book, same author, different title)

Memoirs: Ten Years and Twenty Days (various release dates) by Karl Doenitz (father of the WW2 U-boats and wolfpack attack methods)

U-boat Ace: The Story of Wolfgang Luth (1990) by Jordan Vause

U-boat Commander: A Periscope View of the Battle of the Atlantic (1984) by Peter Cremer

U-boat Combat Missions (Hardcover - 2007 - 0760789363) by Lawrence Paterson (many photos and descriptions on U-boat life)

and just about all the many fine books (very fact based) by Jak P. Mallmann-Showell (a German naval historian/author; his father died while serving on a U-boat)

Hope this is helpful.

[atleiker]

I enjoyed Wolf: U-Boat Commanders in WWII by Jordan Vause.

Study of leadership styles of different commanders and lots of good history. Naval Institute Press.

[Robert Fulton]

U-Boats at War by Harold Busch was written in 1955. I enjoyed it. It lacks a unifying theme, but most of its several segments derive from primary sources.

[UnterseeBoogeyMan]

Das Boot is an excellent work of fiction.

Convoy by Martin Middlebrook is well done. It describes the Ginormous convoy battle of 1942,involving the HX convoy that overtook the slower SC convoy. What resulted was a running battle between the convoy/escorts and the wolfpack for 10 or more days. Air power from Coastal Command forced Doenitz to pull his boats away, but it was the last major success for the Uboats in the way.

Enigma, by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore is good too. It focuses on the crypto-side of the war, but extensive amounts of the book are devoted to the Allies trying to beat the Uboat threat.

Recently finished 10 Years and 20 Days by Karl Doenitz. Very concise, filled with detail - covers evolving tactics, technology,construction of the different types of boats. Also, writes about his time as Chancellor of Germany after Hitler shot himself. A good read for anyone into the Battle of the Atlantic. He quotes Captain Roskill extensively (to compare against his war-time notes), so I'll have to pick up Roskill's book on the war sometime.

[Lt.Fillipidis]

Thanks a lot for all these recommendations guys!
Im sure all these books will keep me occupied for quite some time!

[Coyote88]

Lothar Guenther Buchheim, author of Das Boot, also published a book of photographs and descriptive text from his time aboard a U-boat. You might need a larger library to find it, but it's certainly worth a look. The English translation was published in the US by Knopf as U-Boat War in 1978.

Do avoid a book called Bitter Ocean by David Fairbank White. Dude thinks he can write and he can not.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Coyote88

Lothar Guenther Buchheim, author of Das Boot, also published a book of photographs and descriptive text from his time aboard a U-boat. You might need a larger library to find it, but it's certainly worth a look. The English translation was published in the US by Knopf as U-Boat War in 1978.

Do avoid a book called Bitter Ocean by David Fairbank White. Dude thinks he can write and he can not.

A little harsh don't you think?

I have that book in my library and whilst it's nowhere near one of the best, it's still worthy of a read.

[Coyote88]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

A little harsh don't you think?

Way too many clumsy, literary touches that miss the mark. About half a dozen "Her call number was XYZ; it would call no more" and many many similar efforts. After reading that a ship getting under way became "airborne," I made the book do likewise.

OTOH, Torpedo Junction, by Homer Hickam, Jr., is a most engaging account of America's first encounter with U-boats off the Atlantic coast. The focus is largely on the American response and slow, painful learning process, but he gives pretty good accounts from the German perspective when the sources are available. Recommended.

[Sir Big Jugs]

Thanks for all the recommendations!