Product Description

This is a story of triumph, disaster and eventual survival - against all odds. Herbert Werner was one of the few U-boat commanders whose skill, daring and incredible luck saw him safely through to the end of the war. His is an epic and chilling description of the fearful havoc wrought by one small U-boat on the Atlantic convoys. But easy success ebbed away in the face of ever-improving Allied detection and attack techniques. The hunters became the prey, to suffer appalling losses. Of 842 U-boats launched 779 were sunk, 'iron-coffins' to 28,000 men. Herbert Werner's graphic account of war waged from beneath the sea, of horror and cold, cruel death, is dedicated to the seamen of all nations who died in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #32824 in Books
• Published on: 1999-09-16
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

About the Author
Herbert A Werner was born in 1920. He joined the German Navy in 1939, and the U-boats in 1941, taking up his first command in 1943. He survived the war, was interned by the Americans, British and French, eventually to become an American citizen in 1957.

Customer Reviews

A personal account of life in command of a U-Boat.
This author commanded a series of German U-Boats throughout WW2 and this is his own personal story. The photographs are also from his own personal collection and are, therefore, unlikely to have been published elsewhere. The Maps, however, could so easily be improved.

In Part One of this book, Herbert Werner takes the reader through the glorious years of success after success for both Germany and her U-Boat offensive. In Part Two, however, we reach that turning point in the war which he aptly describes as "Above us Hell." Finally, Part 3 is equally effectively described as "Disaster to Defeat."

An interesting and well written account of the U-Boat war of WW2 - not only because the author actually took part, but also because he was fortunate enough to survive that war and relive his experiences so that we might read and learn.

NM.

Superb....Better than fiction
I have read loads of books on WW2. It was such a huge event.Yes, of course, being a world war thats obvious. But my point is that there are so many many aspects and stories that I doubt we will ever learn everything that happend in the vastness of WW2.

This book has left me in sheer awe and wonder. Awe in as much as what Herr Kapitan Werner endured throughout the years of the war firstly as an officer aboard a U Boat following training at the Naval College then eventually as Commander.

In the first years of war we hear of the battle in the Atlantic where convoys were very easy pickings for the 'wolfpacks'. We learn that the 'tide soon turns' and following the joining of the USA and advances in allies technology, the hunter becomes the hunted. U Boats become easy pickings for allied destroyers.

There is no doubt that Herr Werner was an extremely skilled commander but it will leave you in wonder at how he survived against all odds throughout the war. His survival includes overcoming the madness and senseless orders of U Boat Command and the sheer arrogance and mindlessness of senior officers (those in the main having seen little if any action other than indulging in their own oppulence).

We also hear of the heartbreak and loss as families of Herr Werner and his crew are wiped off the face off the earth by allied bombers.

Irrespective of which side they were on, there were millions of extremely brave and courageouse men and women during WW2 and this book provides an amazing story of just some of those. When the book brings us to the wars end you will no doubt breath a sigh of relief for the safety of the Commander and his loyal crew. Rest not....following capture and becoming a prisoner of war the story continues to have the reader glued to each page.

Believe me....fiction could not better this incredible story.

EXCELLENT 'INSIDE-THE-U-BOAT" WARTIME COVERAGE
This is the very best book I have read actually describing the conditions inside a German u-boat during World War II Atlantic Ocean war patrols. It is well written with both action and information in mind. The action standpoint is superb and makes the reader wonder how Capt Werner and his crew ever survived the punishment they took in their little fragile "egg" as aircraft and ships constantly dropped bombs and depth charges on them. From the information standpoint, Werner gives us a very comprehensive and interesting description of what it is like inside the early u-boats. It is hard to imagine how the crew lived like they did in their constantly rocking boat: without bathing for months, eating moldy food, suffering from constant humidity, freezing or roasting as the season might be (no airconditioning or heaters), and not having proper sanitary conditions (using a bucket in rough seas, etc.) Very good detail on u-boat life both aboard ship and in port. From another information standpoint, Werner gives us a good description of what average Germans were thinking as the war progressed, what sort of damage ordinary citizens were taking as the war proceeded in depth over Germany both from the heavy air bombardment plus the advancement of Allied armies from the south, east, and north. Werner is also a "ladies man" so we do hear a lot about the girlfriends in every port, so to speak, plus German submariners' night life in different occupied locations. (They seemed to like France a lot.) It is good that Werner provides you this gamut of information: living inside the boat, dealing with the difficult navy bureaucracy, joys of in-port liberty, his nice but unfortunte family, the Nazi party bother, and so on since it furnishes the reader with a rounded out picture of life during these unusual times. Werner is lucky to have come back alive, and we are fortunate he wrote this book. His family and many of his friends were not so fortunate as the reader will see.