From "The Other Side"

[Puster Bill]

Originally Posted by Pepe le Moko

I read the book recently, not a masterpiece but yes it is interesting to see the whole thing from the other side.

I am reading Iron Coffin now while playing SHIII and it is funny to see the difference between the two, how the escorts, destroyers etc thought the U boats were like predators trying to hunt the flock of hapless sheeps they are trying to protect and how it was unfair and disheartening to see them sunk one after the other.

The U boats captains on the other hand like Werner in his book thought they were getting persecuted. He uses this word a lot and it is kinda ironic when you think about it because basically they were trying to sunk helpless ships, well in the begining at least.

I thought the name of the first ship was a bit silly though, it was the Compass Rose or something i think.

You have to remember a couple of facts:

1. The events in "The Cruel Sea" happen from 1939 to 1943 when the Germans had the upper hand, for the most part.

2. Werner's "Iron Coffins", on the other hand, is mostly about the war from 1942 to 1945, when the Allies had the upper hand. Werner didn't get a boat of his own until 1944.


What really strikes me as incongruous is the defeatist tone of the movie "Das Boot". It is supposed to happen in October of 1941, when the U-bootwaffe was near the height of it's power. It should have been set in October of 1943, when the tide had quite clearly turned against them.