Best U-boat books?

desirableroasted · 10-06-10, 02:28 PM

What's your fave U-boat book?

I have an Amazon order in the works, and thought about including some U-boat stuff.

I am considering:

Werner, Iron Coffins
Vause, U-Boat Ace (Luth)
Kriegsmarine et al, U-boat Commander's Handbook

As I am ordering about 25 books, I really only have room for 2 or 3 on this topic.

What's your favorite? Are any of these real winners or real dogs? Any that I am missing entirely and should consider?

Thanks, Roasty

frau kaleun · 10-06-10, 03:13 PM

I would give a thumbs up to all three of these, I have them and have read all of them.

Werner's book is a classic of the genre, perhaps even more so because of all the contention regarding the accuracy of his recollections (or lack thereof).

Vause's book I loved, also check out his Wolf: U-Boat Commanders in World War II if you haven't already. I found it on Amazon as well, but IIRC I had to order it from a third party vendor.

The Commander's Handbook I didn't even read much about before ordering, just saw it and clicked - expected it to be more of a "novelty" I guess. But it turns out to be a very cool read, lots of detailed info there on what was being taught at the time as SOP for a u-boat in a wide variety of situations.

Jimbuna · 10-06-10, 03:16 PM

IMHO one of the definitive works are the two volume Clay Blair books Hitler's U-Boat war...vol 1 The Hunters volume 2 The Hunted.

K-61 · 10-06-10, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbuna

IMHO one of the definitive works are the two volume Clay Blair books Hitler's U-Boat war...vol 1 The Hunters volume 2 The Hunted.

I acquired volume 2 in a secondhand book store. I have been searching ever since for volume 1 but no luck yet. I think at this point I'd offer one of my kidneys for a copy.

flag4 · 10-06-10, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by K-61

I acquired volume 2 in a secondhand book store. I have been searching ever since for volume 1 but no luck yet. I think at this point I'd offer one of my kidneys for a copy.

hey there K-61, i got vol 1 the other week from america - i live in england. got it for £6.42 + post, from betterworldbooks thru amazon. its a hard back too! good luck

K-61 · 10-06-10, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flag4

hey there K-61, i got vol 1 the other week from america - i live in england. got it for £6.42 + post, from betterworldbooks thru amazon. its a hard back too! good luck

Danke! I'll look for it again. Cheers! Yes, I am looking for a hardcover to match the volume 2.

ReallyDedPoet · 10-07-10, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by K-61

I acquired volume 2 in a secondhand book store. I have been searching ever since for volume 1 but no luck yet. I think at this point I'd offer one of my kidneys for a copy.

Save your Kidney's, I see the first volume is currently on Amazon.ca:
Here

Help this place by getting it through the SUBSIM Store

Jimbuna · 10-08-10, 11:38 AM

The Golden Horseshoe: The Story of Otto Kretschmer, Germany's Top U-boat Ace (Fortunes of War) [Paperback]

Terence Robertson (Author)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Golden-Horse...555688&sr=1-13

Picked this interesting read up whilst on holiday recently for £4.99

Tessa · 10-16-10, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by K-61

I acquired volume 2 in a secondhand book store. I have been searching ever since for volume 1 but no luck yet. I think at this point I'd offer one of my kidneys for a copy.

Imo these is the best set of books that cover the entire war, and does its best to only include political garbage when it interferred or crippled u-boat operations. I think of this as the u-boat Bible in a manner, as it a chronological accounting and history of every u-boat and major (and minor ones) events of the war from a very non-partisan point of view. The facts are presented as how they were perceived at the time things happened, then compared to historical records so that mistakes (over claiming on tonnage) can be corrected.

For a book that is purely a history book, when I pick it up it reads very easily like a good novel or book I would read for pure pleasure. It's not as dry as it sounds!

Frequently since the game doesn't provide intelligence reports (other than major ones) I'll pick up the book before my patrol, flip to the appropriate time period and read through the section when my patrol is going to happen, and make note of any intelligence reports they had at the time when they suspected a convoy or task force was going to be moving through a certain area and go there to try and find or intercept it.

I got really lucky, found my (Hardbound) set at the library. They're quite overdue

but luck appears to have wanted me to have those books as I've never gotten any overdue notices or charges from them (knock on wood).

LiveGoat · 10-17-10, 05:02 PM

The U-boat by Eberhardt Rossler

Great Technical Book but expensive lots of deck plans and dry info. One of my faves that sadly was sold to pay the rent.

http://www.amazon.com/U-Boat-Evoluti...7351956&sr=1-1

An affordable alternative is U-boat: the Illustrated History of the Raiders of the Deep:

http://www.amazon.com/U-Boats-Illust...4&sr=1-1-fkmr0

Also just read Bucheim's U-Boat War. A friend bought it for me on Amazon used (Library copy with plastic dust jacket cover. Nice condition).

Currently on volume two of Blair's book. Probably my favorite books on TBotA so far.

Oh, BTW if anyone's interested a pdf copy of the BdU KTB, here it is:

http://documents.scribd.com/docs/7xw...hehg4g3pxo.pdf

Was disappointed while reading it to find that Donitz doesn't dish any gossip, though. "That Raeder was being a real bitch to me again today. I could scratch his eyes out! Oh well, everyone knows the Fuhrer likes me better. Oh, there's some boudoir pics of Goering floating around that... oops, here comes Roessing, more later."

flag4 · 10-06-10, 03:27 PM

hi Roasty

Iron Coffins; contraversial, he made it up from (memory), does not all check out with history - but still a fine read, a classic. (a hot potato here at subsim!)

luth, u boat ace, excellent! whish i was about to read it.

Handbook - a handbook of do's and donts for the real commander - excellent to pick thru.

i have 5 at my feet.

lothar-gunthar bucheim; u boat war. a pictorial essay/diary in black and white photos - A MUST, if you can afford it!

timothy p mulligan; neither sharks nor wolves; a nuts and bolts of the men who trained and served in the u boat arm. a little dry to read, but totally immersive. maybe pricey£££

michael gannon: operation drumbeat: u boats attack american coast. one of my favorites, i didnt want it to end. it is BRILLIANT!

jordan vause. wolf: u boat commanders in ww2. another fine book by the author. about the more well known commanders. he writes with care and love for his subject.

clay blair: Hitlers U Boat War. The Hunters 1939-1942. some regard this as the bible. it is a 2 parter. the other is The Hunted 42-45. a big job coming in at 800 pages. it covers everything. from amazon: Already acclaimed on publication in the United States, the U-Boat war is here chronicled with authority, fidelity, objectivity, and extraordinary detail. He also writes vivid and dramatic scenes of naval actions with startling new revelations and conclusions about all aspects of the Battle of the Atlantic. he can get a panning from certain critics

....and there are so many more too.........keep on reading

Cpt. Martin · 10-11-10, 07:15 PM

I just bought this one, it hasn't arrived yet, but it sounds great

"Twenty-two U-boat veterans tell their stories in this collection of their experiences, recorded by the author during several years of travel throughout Germany. While many books have been written about the U-boat war, this is one of the few that focuses on the lives of the submariners, and rarer still is its concentration on the crewmen rather than the officers. Melanie Wiggins interviewed seventeen men of the enlisted ranks, along with five commanders, to take readers into the terrifying world of underwater warfare, where every single crewman made a crucial difference in the fate of his boat. As she searched for and interviewed U-boat men, Wiggins also collected photographs from scrapbooks and archives, and consulted war-era personnel records and secret diaries. Her attendance at a reunion of the crew of U-682 netted a wealth of information as did her interviews with submarine veterans in Görlitz, former East Germany. Her interviews with Admiral Otto Kretschmer just two months before his death and ninety-four-year-old Commander Jürgen Wattenberg in Hamburg add important dimensions to the work.
Among the individual sagas included are Radioman Hans Bürck's description of his 1942 patrol to Aruba and the visit of Japanese submarine I-30 at Lorient; Fireman 2nd Class Josef Erben's explanation of how his boat, U-128, got stuck on a large rock and had to be hauled free; POW Ernst Gö:thling's memories of being wounded in a British prison camp when German planes mistakenly dropped bombs in the area; and Herman Wien's description of U-180 transporting Indian anarchist Subhas Chandra Bose to Madagascar. Every account gives new details about the crews' activities at sea and their experiences in prisoner-of-war camps"

frau kaleun · 10-11-10, 07:29 PM

Got and read the Wiggins book a few months back - had it saved on my wish list for a while before it was even available. Got it as soon as Amazon had it to ship and really enjoyed it.

I just ordered these three:

Silent Hunters: German U-Boat Commanders of World War II
Theodore P. Savas

Lone Wolf: The Life and Death of U-Boat Ace Werner Henke
Timothy P. Mulligan

Grey Wolf, Grey Sea
E.B. Gasaway

All used from third party vendors via Amazon at pretty decent prices, each was less than $15 including shipping. Looking forward to receiving them!

Herr-Berbunch · 10-12-10, 05:17 AM

I do hope everyone is using the subsim/store link for these purchases

frau kaleun · 10-12-10, 07:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Herr-Berbunch

I do hope everyone is using the subsim/store link for these purchases

10-06-10, 02:28 PM	#1
desirableroasted Grey Wolf Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: In the mountains, now. On the edge of the sea before. Posts: 933 Downloads: 47 Uploads: 0	Best U-boat books? What's your fave U-boat book? I have an Amazon order in the works, and thought about including some U-boat stuff. I am considering: Werner, Iron Coffins Vause, U-Boat Ace (Luth) Kriegsmarine et al, U-boat Commander's Handbook As I am ordering about 25 books, I really only have room for 2 or 3 on this topic. What's your favorite? Are any of these real winners or real dogs? Any that I am missing entirely and should consider? Thanks, Roasty __________________ "Well, now, that's true... the IXC is a bit of a chick magnet..but you really can't beat the VIIB for off-road fun."

10-06-10, 03:16 PM	#3
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 190,770 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	IMHO one of the definitive works are the two volume Clay Blair books Hitler's U-Boat war...vol 1 The Hunters volume 2 The Hunted. __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!!

10-08-10, 11:38 AM	#8
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 190,770 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	The Golden Horseshoe: The Story of Otto Kretschmer, Germany's Top U-boat Ace (Fortunes of War) [Paperback] Terence Robertson (Author) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Golden-Horse...555688&sr=1-13 Picked this interesting read up whilst on holiday recently for £4.99 __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!!

10-06-10, 03:27 PM	#11
flag4 Watch Officer Join Date: May 2007 Location: as far away as possible Posts: 1,625 Downloads: 147 Uploads: 0	hi Roasty Iron Coffins; contraversial, he made it up from (memory), does not all check out with history - but still a fine read, a classic. (a hot potato here at subsim!) luth, u boat ace, excellent! whish i was about to read it. Handbook - a handbook of do's and donts for the real commander - excellent to pick thru. i have 5 at my feet. lothar-gunthar bucheim; u boat war. a pictorial essay/diary in black and white photos - A MUST, if you can afford it! timothy p mulligan; neither sharks nor wolves; a nuts and bolts of the men who trained and served in the u boat arm. a little dry to read, but totally immersive. maybe pricey£££ michael gannon: operation drumbeat: u boats attack american coast. one of my favorites, i didnt want it to end. it is BRILLIANT! jordan vause. wolf: u boat commanders in ww2. another fine book by the author. about the more well known commanders. he writes with care and love for his subject. clay blair: Hitlers U Boat War. The Hunters 1939-1942. some regard this as the bible. it is a 2 parter. the other is The Hunted 42-45. a big job coming in at 800 pages. it covers everything. from amazon: Already acclaimed on publication in the United States, the U-Boat war is here chronicled with authority, fidelity, objectivity, and extraordinary detail. He also writes vivid and dramatic scenes of naval actions with startling new revelations and conclusions about all aspects of the Battle of the Atlantic. he can get a panning from certain critics ....and there are so many more too.........keep on reading __________________ [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] ' We are here on Earth to fart around. Don't let anybody tell you any different.' Kurt Vonnegut

10-12-10, 05:17 AM	#14
Herr-Berbunch Kaiser Bill's batman Join Date: May 2010 Location: AN72 Posts: 13,203 Downloads: 76 Uploads: 0	I do hope everyone is using the subsim/store link for these purchases __________________

10-06-10, 03:13 PM	#2
frau kaleun Rear Admiral Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Skyri--oh who are we kidding, I'm probably at Lowe's. Again. Posts: 12,706 Downloads: 168 Uploads: 0	I would give a thumbs up to all three of these, I have them and have read all of them. Werner's book is a classic of the genre, perhaps even more so because of all the contention regarding the accuracy of his recollections (or lack thereof). Vause's book I loved, also check out his Wolf: U-Boat Commanders in World War II if you haven't already. I found it on Amazon as well, but IIRC I had to order it from a third party vendor. The Commander's Handbook I didn't even read much about before ordering, just saw it and clicked - expected it to be more of a "novelty" I guess. But it turns out to be a very cool read, lots of detailed info there on what was being taught at the time as SOP for a u-boat in a wide variety of situations.

10-17-10, 05:02 PM	#10
LiveGoat XO Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: New York City Posts: 408 Downloads: 439 Uploads: 0	The U-boat by Eberhardt Rossler Great Technical Book but expensive lots of deck plans and dry info. One of my faves that sadly was sold to pay the rent. http://www.amazon.com/U-Boat-Evoluti...7351956&sr=1-1 An affordable alternative is U-boat: the Illustrated History of the Raiders of the Deep: http://www.amazon.com/U-Boats-Illust...4&sr=1-1-fkmr0 Also just read Bucheim's U-Boat War. A friend bought it for me on Amazon used (Library copy with plastic dust jacket cover. Nice condition). Currently on volume two of Blair's book. Probably my favorite books on TBotA so far. Oh, BTW if anyone's interested a pdf copy of the BdU KTB, here it is: http://documents.scribd.com/docs/7xw...hehg4g3pxo.pdf Was disappointed while reading it to find that Donitz doesn't dish any gossip, though. "That Raeder was being a real bitch to me again today. I could scratch his eyes out! Oh well, everyone knows the Fuhrer likes me better. Oh, there's some boudoir pics of Goering floating around that... oops, here comes Roessing, more later."

10-11-10, 07:15 PM	#12
Cpt. Martin Swabbie Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 8 Downloads: 46 Uploads: 0	I just bought this one, it hasn't arrived yet, but it sounds great "Twenty-two U-boat veterans tell their stories in this collection of their experiences, recorded by the author during several years of travel throughout Germany. While many books have been written about the U-boat war, this is one of the few that focuses on the lives of the submariners, and rarer still is its concentration on the crewmen rather than the officers. Melanie Wiggins interviewed seventeen men of the enlisted ranks, along with five commanders, to take readers into the terrifying world of underwater warfare, where every single crewman made a crucial difference in the fate of his boat. As she searched for and interviewed U-boat men, Wiggins also collected photographs from scrapbooks and archives, and consulted war-era personnel records and secret diaries. Her attendance at a reunion of the crew of U-682 netted a wealth of information as did her interviews with submarine veterans in Görlitz, former East Germany. Her interviews with Admiral Otto Kretschmer just two months before his death and ninety-four-year-old Commander Jürgen Wattenberg in Hamburg add important dimensions to the work. Among the individual sagas included are Radioman Hans Bürck's description of his 1942 patrol to Aruba and the visit of Japanese submarine I-30 at Lorient; Fireman 2nd Class Josef Erben's explanation of how his boat, U-128, got stuck on a large rock and had to be hauled free; POW Ernst Gö:thling's memories of being wounded in a British prison camp when German planes mistakenly dropped bombs in the area; and Herman Wien's description of U-180 transporting Indian anarchist Subhas Chandra Bose to Madagascar. Every account gives new details about the crews' activities at sea and their experiences in prisoner-of-war camps"

10-11-10, 07:29 PM	#13
frau kaleun Rear Admiral Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Skyri--oh who are we kidding, I'm probably at Lowe's. Again. Posts: 12,706 Downloads: 168 Uploads: 0	Got and read the Wiggins book a few months back - had it saved on my wish list for a while before it was even available. Got it as soon as Amazon had it to ship and really enjoyed it. I just ordered these three: Silent Hunters: German U-Boat Commanders of World War II Theodore P. Savas Lone Wolf: The Life and Death of U-Boat Ace Werner Henke Timothy P. Mulligan Grey Wolf, Grey Sea E.B. Gasaway All used from third party vendors via Amazon at pretty decent prices, each was less than $15 including shipping. Looking forward to receiving them!