Description
Gannon (history, U. of Florida, retired) examines the successes of German U- boat crews during the first eight months of 1942, noting that these submarines caused twice as many Allied casualties during this period as the attack on Pearl Harbor. Written for general readers and fans of military history, this book documents the exploits of five U-boats and their push toward the American coast, revealing that the U.S. Navy ignored British intelligence warnings and was unable to interfere with these attacks. Appendices include mechanical and operational details of the U-boats and maps outlining American patrols, the Operation Drumbeat campaign and the ships sunk by U-123 during patrols in U.S. waters. This is the first paperback printing of the original 1990 hardcover version. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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In the first eight months of 1942, German submarines sank nearly 400 Allied freighters and tankers along the U.S. Atlantic coast with a loss of more than 5,000 merchant seamen and sailors-twice the number of fatalities at Pearl Harbor. This book helps readers understand the complexities of the long Battle of the Atlantic by examining those disastrous early days of war and following the U-boats into action. The book traces the voyages of five U-boats to their destinations as they sink twenty-five ships unmolested by the U.S. Navy, which failed to follow through on British intelligence warnings. It also provides a compilation of personal stories from crewmen and officers of U-123 and from the Allied sailors and merchant seamen cast adrift in lifeboats by the U-boat's torpedoes. A bestseller when first published in 1990, it is now back in print as a trade paperback.
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