Hitler's War Beneath the Waves


Book Description

During World War I, German U-boats had been the most effective naval weapon against the Allies and without America's entry into the war in 1917 Britain could have been starved into surrender. Hitler's accession to power led to the rapid development of numerous military projects, including provision for submarines. Interestingly, the German navy was the branch of the German armed forces with the highest proportion of Nazis and Nazi sympathizers. And this is the story of their part in the war, focusing in particular on the role of the wolf pack of U-boats in the Atlantic, whose stealthy presence beneath the waves ensured that British merchant ships were dicing with death every time they put out to sea.




Hitler's War Beneath the Waves


Book Description

At the beginning of World War II, the devastating impact of German submarines on both the Royal Navy and merchant shipping saw Britain on the brink of starvation and defeat. The enemy was formidable. U-boat crews saw themselves as an elite and they preferred to scuttle their vessels at the end of the war rather than surrender. They suffered the heaviest losses of any branch of the German services: out of 40,900 men, 28,000 were killed and 5,000 taken prisoner; by 1945, the average age was 19 and the survival rate was only three missions. This is the story of how the Allies redressed the balance of power, focusing in particular on the role of the wolfpacks of U-boats in the Atlantic, whose stealthy presence beneath the waves ensured that British ships diced with death every time they put to sea.




War Beneath the Sea


Book Description

Praise for War Beneath the Sea "I am truly filled with awe and admiration...fascinating and a great contribution to the entire lore of submarines.... I wish I had written the book." ?Capt. Edward L. Beach, USN (Ret.) author of Run Silent, Run Deep "Peter Padfield is the best British naval historian of his generation now working. [His] book...will now become the standard work on the subject." ?Daily Telegraph (London) "Peter Padfield has produced by far the best and most complete critical history of the submarine operations of all the combatants in the Second World War, at the same time providing vivid narrative accounts of particular actions and events." ?Lloyd?s List (London) "An excellent account of submarine warfare in 1939?45... [it] recreates the tribulations and horrors of that especially brutal form of warfare within a sturdily analytical and often critical framework." ?The Economist "[A] marvelously complete and detailed study of World War II submarine warfare...an interesting, serious, and timely book." ?Houston Chronicle "A brilliant submarine warfare study." ?Military Review




THE WAR UNDER THE WAVES


Book Description

Immerse yourself in one of the most riveting World War 2 history books, The War Under the Waves. This exceptional military history book plunges you into the depths of naval warfare, highlighting the courage, resilience, and sacrifice of the British and American Navies, Air Forces, and particularly the unsung heroes of the merchant marines of World War 2. As Churchill's Britain stood alone against Hitler's onslaught, Roosevelt's America had to navigate an isolationist Congress to lend a helping hand. Britain's survival hung in the balance, hinging on the crucial lifeline of ocean shipping for sustenance, supplies, and fuel—a lifeline ruthlessly threatened by Germany's formidable submarine fleet. Britain's monumental struggle to keep the lifeline intact, initially aided by fifty American destroyers generously lent by Roosevelt, forms the crux of this gripping narrative. The book emphasizes the importance of Churchill and Roosevelt's leadership in overcoming the direst of circumstances. After Pearl Harbor, the United States became wholly immersed in the war, battling the Japanese and Hitler's forces, including the menacing German U-boats lurking in the Atlantic's depths. The War Under the Waves presents the stark reality of how close Britain came to the brink of defeat. Yet, it was through the combined bravery of British and American forces that merchant shipping, troopships, and tankers were safeguarded, facilitating the safe crossing of the Atlantic. The war's turning point emerged from these perilous battles under the waves— a tide that carried with it the defeat of Hitler's Germany and the victory of Allied forces. This compelling historical account is a testament to the audacious triumph over Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz's U-boats, charting the course of the victories that determined the Second World War's outcome. Readers of all ages, particularly young adults seeking to understand the history of the U-boat war and older adults appreciating the magnitude of the Allies' victory, will find this "war history book" unforgettable. Discover the story of survival, perseverance, and victory in The War Under the Waves, where history unfolds under the depths of the Atlantic.




War Beneath the Waves


Book Description

From the national bestselling author of Final Patrol comes a gripping story of heroism under the sea. In November 1943, while on war patrol in the Makassar Strait, the USS Billfish submarine was spotted by the Japanese, who launched a vicious depth charge attack. Explosions wracked the sub for fifteen straight hours. With his senior officers incapacitated, diving officer Charlie Rush boldly assumed command and led key members of the crew in a heroic effort to keep their ship intact as they tried to escape. Now, in War Beneath the Waves, this intense story is finally told in all its harrowing detail. It is an inspiring tale of one man's leadership and courage under fire, and of the remarkable efforts of a submarine crew to do their duty and save their ship.




Battle Beneath the Waves


Book Description

This is the powerful story of the U-boat wars, recreated from the experiences of German survivors. The drama and excitement of it all is more than matched by the constant, numbing danger, unimaginable to anyone who has not lain silent and freezing, facing death beneath the waves in a trapped submarine under attack. All this is set in the context of changing U-boat strategy, and highlights not just the faults that were to cause the U-boats, in the end, to fail, but the extraordinary bravery of the men who sailed in them, seventy per cent of whom died.




Hitler's Occult War


Book Description

"First published in Great Britain 1990 as Storm-Troopers of Satan"--T.p. verso.




Anti-Submarine Warfare


Book Description

The submarine was undoubtedly the most potent purely naval weapon of the twentieth century. In two world wars, enemy underwater campaigns were very nearly successful in thwarting Allied hopes of victory - indeed, annihilation of Japanese shipping by US Navy submarines is an indicator of what might have been. That the submarine was usually defeated is a hugely important story in naval history, yet this is the first book to treat the subject as a whole in a readable and accessible manner. It concerns individual heroism and devotion to duty, but also ingenuity, technical advances and originality of tactical thought. What developed was an endless battle between forces above and below the surface, where a successful innovation by one side eventually produces a counter-measure by the other in a lethal struggle for supremacy. Development was not a straight line: wrong ideas and assumptions led to defeat and disaster.




Churchill, Master and Commander


Book Description

'Masterful research, impeccable detail, with a beautifully flowing narrative of which Churchill himself would have been proud.' - Professor Peter Caddick-Adams From his earliest days Winston Churchill was an extreme risk taker and he carried this into adulthood. Today he is widely hailed as Britain's greatest wartime leader and politician. Deep down though, he was foremost a warlord. Just like his ally Stalin, and his arch enemies Hitler and Mussolini, Churchill could not help himself and insisted on personally directing the strategic conduct of World War II. For better or worse he insisted on being political master and military commander. Again like his wartime contemporaries, he had a habit of not heeding the advice of his generals. The results of this were disasters in Norway, North Africa, Greece and Crete during 1940–41. His fruitless Dodecanese campaign in 1943 also ended in defeat. Churchill's pig-headedness over supporting the Italian campaign in defiance of the Riviera landings culminated in him threatening to resign and bring down the British Government. Yet on occasions he got it just right: his refusal to surrender in 1940, the British miracle at Dunkirk and victory in the Battle of Britain, showed that he was a much-needed decisive leader. Nor did he shy away from difficult decisions, such as the destruction of the French Fleet to prevent it falling into German hands and his subsequent war against Vichy France. In this fascinating new book, acclaimed historian Anthony Tucker-Jones explores the record of Winston Churchill as a military commander, assessing how the military experiences of his formative years shaped him for the difficult military decisions he took in office. This book assesses his choices in the some of the most controversial and high-profile campaigns of World War II, and how in high office his decision making was both right and wrong.




Battle Beneath the Waves


Book Description

A collection of true stories featuring German U-boatmen vividly tell what it was like to undergo the terror and tedium of living for weeks on end in a narrow, stinking tube, targeting their counterparts for sudden, sinking death. In these first-person accounts, even the torpedo attacks are routine; what creates terror is the sudden instant when something goes horribly, often fatally, wrong.