U Boot war books

[AG124]

I personally liked Night Raider of the Atlantic, (the story of top U-Boat Ace Otto Kretchmer) as well.

Originally Posted by mountainmanUK

"Grey Wolf, Grey Sea", by E.B.Gasaway

Superb book telling the tale of U-124

I agree - actually, it was the first U-Boat novel I ever read. It had a lasting impression on me, as you may be able to tell from the number in my user name. The version I read was a 1980s reprint without the photo section, but with a really cool looking cover.



The book was recently reissued as well.

[mr chris]

Some great books there guys, Keep them coming i neeed to fill my new bookshelf. Will start shopping around for them tomorrow i hope. (Will do it while the wife is in bed so i dont end up spending to much cash!!! )

[AG124]

I suppose you are not interested in US Submarines in the Pacific theatre? If you are, there are many good books in that genre as well.

Also, it's interesting that I found a submarine book called Silent Hunter at my local library for 10 cents over a year ago -it is late cold war era. It is fictional, and I have never bothered to read it as it appears to be junk, upon closer inspection.

I presently have a collection of over 80 books on U-boats, but I have only read about one-half of them so far. I try to buy hardcover first editions if possible. But some of my earlier purchases were paperbacks.

While I collect most all U-boat books, I prefer reading books that are personal memoirs or first hand accounts of u-boat warfare.

A couple of my favorite books have been:

Iron Coffins: A Personal Account of the German U-boat Battles of WWII by Herbert Werner

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

Operation Drumbeat: Germany's U-boat Attacks Along the American Coast in WWII by Michael Gannon

The Laughing Cow: A U-boat Captains Story by Jost Metzler

Steal Boat, Iron Hearts: A U-boat Crewmans Life Aboard U-505 by Hans Jacob Goebeler

[AG124]

I also started to read the story of U-977, but didn't like it as much as some other books I had read. I particularly didn't like the introduction by Monsarrat - too prejudiced and unnecessary for me. Still, since the book was written by Heinz Shaeffer himself, it may be worth a read. There are much newer additions available than the one that I have.

[mr chris]

Originally Posted by AG124

I suppose you are not interested in US Submarines in the Pacific theatre? If you are, there are many good books in that genre as well.

Also, it's interesting that I found a submarine book called Silent Hunter at my local library for 10 cents over a year ago -it is late cold war era. It is fictional, and I have never bothered to read it as it appears to be junk, upon closer inspection.

I am very intreted in all sudmarine warfare durring WWII. So any books on the pacific theater would be welcome.

[AG124]

In that case, The Destroyer Killer by Edwin P. Hoyt has always been one of my favorites. It contains the story of Cdr Samuel Dealey of the USS Harder who became know as the Destroyer Killer after sinking between 4-7 destroyers, 2 frigates, a damaged patrol boat and possibly an armed trawler as well. Also by the same author are Bowfin (the story of the US submarine of that name) and US Submarines at War, an extremely good book containing a general but detailed history of the US submarine force from its beginning until the 1980s.

You may also want to check out US Submarine Operations of World War Two, later reissued as Pig Boats, by Theodore Roscoe. I wouldn't rate it as my favorite book of the genre, but it is worth a read. Silent Victory, also by Clay Blair, is also a very good book on US subs.

For the Japanese side, I very much enjoyed I-Boat Captain by Zenji Orita, a Japanese submarine commander of WWII. It is great hearing a first-person account from the Japanese submarine force. I also read a book from a Japanese pilot's point of view, but I didn't enjoy it as much and don't remember the title.

I have read many good books on surface warfare in the Pacific as well, including Climax at Midway (Thaddeus Tuleja), Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan (from the Japanese side), and a couple of other lesser Midway books with generic names (they are not really worth going out of your way for, and are probably OOP). Also, I enjoyed Leyte Gulf by Edwin P. Hoyt and another book on the battle of the Bismark sea, although I can't remember the title. The author insisted that one of the Japanese DDs sunk there wa actually a cruiser though, using sketchy logic. That damaged the books impact for me. I also own McCambell's Heroes by Edwin P. Hoyt, but I have never read it. Come to think of it, Hoyt has a good book on the USS Enterprise...Also, there is a book on the Enterprise called The Big E. On Pearl Harbour, there are many books available but I particularly recommend At Dawn we Slept by the late Gordon Prange.

I think that's enough for now. Maybe I should post some Amazon.com link as well, if it is alright with Neal. Of course, SubSim is involvd with Amazon anyway so that shouldn't be a problem - don't know if Amazon has all of these though.

[mr chris]

Thanks AG1424.
Have got most of the books that were mentioned for the u-boat war on order now so looking forward to reading them when they arrive.
Thanks for the list and discriptions of the books about the pacific theater. Will start to search for them soon. Was searching though my bookcase and found that i had 2 books on the pacific.
MIRACLE AT MIDWAY by Gordon W. Prange
INFAMY: PEARL HARBOUR AND IT'S AFTERMATH by John Toland
Both i found to be great reading especialy the pearl harbour book was struck by the massive infighting among the people at the top of the U.S.A. Codebraking. It painted a picture that pearl harbour could have been avoided. The book also paints a very shaddy picture at the very top of the U.S.A. goverment, Navy and Army at the time. It left me with the opinon that Admiral Kimmel was used as a scapegoat by the top brass. A very sad state of affairs if you ask me.

[AG124]

Ironically, I am reading Toland's Infamy even as we speak. It is a good read - I too had never heard of this much infighting. I think most people would dismiss the whole book at first glance as a ranting conspiracy theory, which it is not.