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Steel Boat, Iron Hearts: A U-boat Crewman's Life Aboard U-505
Hans Goebeler is known as the man who “pulled the plug” on U-505 in 1944 to keep his beloved U-boat out of Allied hands. ‘Steel Boat, Iron Hearts’ is his no-holds-barred account of service aboard a combat U-boat. It is the only full-length memoir of its kind, and Goebeler was aboard for every one of U-505’s war patrols.
375 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 20, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
February 2, 2022
As the subtitle says, this was a memoir of a German U-boat crewman who served during WWII. U-boat service was dangerous. During WWII, about 37,000 Germans served on U-boats. Only 6,000 of them survived the war. Despite the danger, the U-boat service attracted some of the German Navy’s best recruits.
Hans Goebeler admits that his family initially supported Hitler, because the Weimar Republic wasn’t doing much for them economically, and his father, who had been a POW in Russia and then the Soviet Union during WWI, was very much set against the Communists. Add in a Grandfather filling young Hans with stories of the glory of the Franco-Prussian War, and you have a young man eager to join his country’s armed forces.
Despite the fact that Goebeler’s U-boat was on the wrong side of the war, it was easy to identify with the men on board. They were, after all, just serving their country. They acted like professional sailors, regardless of their political beliefs. True, they sank a few Allied merchant ships, but they usually surfaced afterward to aid any survivors. It was war, yes, but with a touch of chivalry, at least under Goebeler’s first skipper. Under his second skipper, the unlikeable, unreasonable ship captain became part of the crew’s enemy. They also had to deal with extensive sabotage by the dock workers in the French port of Lorient. During most of 1943, U-505 was being repaired. Just when they thought everything was fixed, they would do a test dive and discover a leak, or find a small hole leaking oil, or some other problem that would force them to return to port before they’d really started their patrol. This happened multiple times. Reading this, I’d think “well done, saboteurs, you’ve kept that boat out of the war for months” but I could also understand the crew’s frustration at having to turn around again and again and again.
Life aboard a WWII sub or U-boat wasn’t pleasant. Water dripped everywhere, there was no privacy (the toilet was a bucket by the diesel engines), and no baths. Fresh food quickly spoiled, and what they ate when it was gone lacked balanced nutrients. Equipment wasn’t dependable even in the best of times. Torpedoes didn’t always work, even if aimed correctly, and reloading them was heavy, backbreaking labor. And that was before you were attacked by an airplane or had depth charges rolled on top of you. I was impressed by how much a U-boat could take and still not sink. In some ways, it reminded me of stories about B-17s taking lots of hits and still limping home. Though they didn’t know it at the time, the German Navy also operated under the disadvantage of having their codes broken by the British.
The memoir had its light moments. For example, while the crew was in port, they’d often take naps when they were supposed to be working on the bilge. Someone would be sure to tap a pipe every few minutes so the officers wouldn’t know the men were sleeping off their hangovers. Or when U-505 picked up some German sailors after their surface ship was sunk and had them on board for a few days, “they couldn’t understand why we enjoyed serving on a vessel that sank several times a day. We couldn’t understand why they enjoyed serving on a boat that couldn’t dive to escape the enemy.”
In the summer of 1944, U-505 was captured by the US Navy (the first enemy vessel captured by the US Navy intact on the high seas since the War of 1812). The Americans didn’t want word to leak out that they’d captured the ship—and its secrets, and its codes—so the crew weren’t allowed to write to their families to tell them they’d survived, and they were isolated while in POW camps.
Considering the fact that the book was written by a sailor, the language was fairly clean. I’d still recommend it only for older readers though, as there is plenty of information about how sailors entertain themselves while in port. Goebeler was never detailed about his time with the “mademoiselles,” especially during the first half of the book, but during the second half I got the impression he was bragging a bit about his prowess with the ladies. Since he was paying most of the women for their company, I wasn’t impressed. (Not that I would have been impressed anyway. I’m of the opinion that such activities should be saved for married couples, though I’ve also read enough to know many people don’t agree with me, especially during wartime.)
Overall, I’d recommend the book for anyone wondering what life was like aboard a WWII U-boat. The book was informative, interesting, and a good glimpse at the other side of the war.
Hans Goebeler admits that his family initially supported Hitler, because the Weimar Republic wasn’t doing much for them economically, and his father, who had been a POW in Russia and then the Soviet Union during WWI, was very much set against the Communists. Add in a Grandfather filling young Hans with stories of the glory of the Franco-Prussian War, and you have a young man eager to join his country’s armed forces.
Despite the fact that Goebeler’s U-boat was on the wrong side of the war, it was easy to identify with the men on board. They were, after all, just serving their country. They acted like professional sailors, regardless of their political beliefs. True, they sank a few Allied merchant ships, but they usually surfaced afterward to aid any survivors. It was war, yes, but with a touch of chivalry, at least under Goebeler’s first skipper. Under his second skipper, the unlikeable, unreasonable ship captain became part of the crew’s enemy. They also had to deal with extensive sabotage by the dock workers in the French port of Lorient. During most of 1943, U-505 was being repaired. Just when they thought everything was fixed, they would do a test dive and discover a leak, or find a small hole leaking oil, or some other problem that would force them to return to port before they’d really started their patrol. This happened multiple times. Reading this, I’d think “well done, saboteurs, you’ve kept that boat out of the war for months” but I could also understand the crew’s frustration at having to turn around again and again and again.
Life aboard a WWII sub or U-boat wasn’t pleasant. Water dripped everywhere, there was no privacy (the toilet was a bucket by the diesel engines), and no baths. Fresh food quickly spoiled, and what they ate when it was gone lacked balanced nutrients. Equipment wasn’t dependable even in the best of times. Torpedoes didn’t always work, even if aimed correctly, and reloading them was heavy, backbreaking labor. And that was before you were attacked by an airplane or had depth charges rolled on top of you. I was impressed by how much a U-boat could take and still not sink. In some ways, it reminded me of stories about B-17s taking lots of hits and still limping home. Though they didn’t know it at the time, the German Navy also operated under the disadvantage of having their codes broken by the British.
The memoir had its light moments. For example, while the crew was in port, they’d often take naps when they were supposed to be working on the bilge. Someone would be sure to tap a pipe every few minutes so the officers wouldn’t know the men were sleeping off their hangovers. Or when U-505 picked up some German sailors after their surface ship was sunk and had them on board for a few days, “they couldn’t understand why we enjoyed serving on a vessel that sank several times a day. We couldn’t understand why they enjoyed serving on a boat that couldn’t dive to escape the enemy.”
In the summer of 1944, U-505 was captured by the US Navy (the first enemy vessel captured by the US Navy intact on the high seas since the War of 1812). The Americans didn’t want word to leak out that they’d captured the ship—and its secrets, and its codes—so the crew weren’t allowed to write to their families to tell them they’d survived, and they were isolated while in POW camps.
Considering the fact that the book was written by a sailor, the language was fairly clean. I’d still recommend it only for older readers though, as there is plenty of information about how sailors entertain themselves while in port. Goebeler was never detailed about his time with the “mademoiselles,” especially during the first half of the book, but during the second half I got the impression he was bragging a bit about his prowess with the ladies. Since he was paying most of the women for their company, I wasn’t impressed. (Not that I would have been impressed anyway. I’m of the opinion that such activities should be saved for married couples, though I’ve also read enough to know many people don’t agree with me, especially during wartime.)
Overall, I’d recommend the book for anyone wondering what life was like aboard a WWII U-boat. The book was informative, interesting, and a good glimpse at the other side of the war.
February 4, 2013
Unlike my last WWII-from-the-German-side book, this one was pretty awesome and engaging.
It's the story of the U-boat that now rests in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, as told by a diesel mechanic who loved it. That particular U-boat, U-505, is well-documented, as Daniel Gallery wrote a book about the task force that captured it, and there is a lot of stuff at the museum about the story, but this book was the missing piece in that picture.
The book has a truly hilarious number of forewords. I think there were four? But hey, if I could get my old captains etc to promote my book, I suppose I would. The writing style is fresh and funny, and it looks like Goebeler wrote it himself in English. I guess all that study paid off.
"Well, Asdic pings are like a woman’s labor pains; the shorter the interval between them, the closer the moment of truth. These pings were getting closer—and at a very alarming rate!"
"Blazing stars filled the summer heavens, the whole universe seemingly dipping and swaying with the gentle rocking of our boat."
The book chronicles events that happened in the years Goebler served with the 505, from the time he joined her brand-new, through a disastrous bombing, up to and after the time it was captured by Gallery. It also has a lot of information about his favorite working girl in Lorient, and dockyard sabotage, and the morale and mood of German sailors through the war.
Goebeler has also spent a lot of time thinking about the wider implications of what was going on in the war while he was stuck in a tin can.
"By forcing us to remain submerged, the Allies had turned our U-boats into little more than slow-moving minefields; dangerous to their ships only if they happened to blunder across our path."
I found this a thoroughly charming slice-of-life book, and remarkably sunny, given the subject matter.
Read if: You like slice-of-life books, you are a WWII junky. You have read a lot of things from the allied side, but nothing from the Axis.
Skip if: You are one of those people who never enjoyed sitting around and listening to your grandparents talk about their life.
Also read: U-505
It's the story of the U-boat that now rests in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, as told by a diesel mechanic who loved it. That particular U-boat, U-505, is well-documented, as Daniel Gallery wrote a book about the task force that captured it, and there is a lot of stuff at the museum about the story, but this book was the missing piece in that picture.
The book has a truly hilarious number of forewords. I think there were four? But hey, if I could get my old captains etc to promote my book, I suppose I would. The writing style is fresh and funny, and it looks like Goebeler wrote it himself in English. I guess all that study paid off.
"Well, Asdic pings are like a woman’s labor pains; the shorter the interval between them, the closer the moment of truth. These pings were getting closer—and at a very alarming rate!"
"Blazing stars filled the summer heavens, the whole universe seemingly dipping and swaying with the gentle rocking of our boat."
The book chronicles events that happened in the years Goebler served with the 505, from the time he joined her brand-new, through a disastrous bombing, up to and after the time it was captured by Gallery. It also has a lot of information about his favorite working girl in Lorient, and dockyard sabotage, and the morale and mood of German sailors through the war.
Goebeler has also spent a lot of time thinking about the wider implications of what was going on in the war while he was stuck in a tin can.
"By forcing us to remain submerged, the Allies had turned our U-boats into little more than slow-moving minefields; dangerous to their ships only if they happened to blunder across our path."
I found this a thoroughly charming slice-of-life book, and remarkably sunny, given the subject matter.
Read if: You like slice-of-life books, you are a WWII junky. You have read a lot of things from the allied side, but nothing from the Axis.
Skip if: You are one of those people who never enjoyed sitting around and listening to your grandparents talk about their life.
Also read: U-505
March 4, 2015
This book delivers an excellent insight into what it was like to serve on one of Germany's U-boats during World War II. The author has written this book in the twilight of his life and as such has a great perspective tempered by time on this part of history.
What really stood out for me was the humility shown by the author and the respect he displays to those that make up his story regardless of what side they fought on. Also the icing on the cake in this story is how the author in his post war life worked hard to bring both sides together so they could respect, remember and celebrate those who did not return.
I also think that the author helps distinguish the difference between the Nazi's and those ordinary Germans that where caught up in the war. It is way too easy to label all those that fought for Germany as Nazi's and it is humbling to be reminded that this was not so. So if you are looking for a great insight into the life as a U-boat sailor this book is a great place to start.
What really stood out for me was the humility shown by the author and the respect he displays to those that make up his story regardless of what side they fought on. Also the icing on the cake in this story is how the author in his post war life worked hard to bring both sides together so they could respect, remember and celebrate those who did not return.
I also think that the author helps distinguish the difference between the Nazi's and those ordinary Germans that where caught up in the war. It is way too easy to label all those that fought for Germany as Nazi's and it is humbling to be reminded that this was not so. So if you are looking for a great insight into the life as a U-boat sailor this book is a great place to start.
February 5, 2015
Goebeler's book was tremendous. This memoir is an outstanding display of honesty. Goebeler was honest about who he was as a later teen serving in the war and what he did and how he felt. In U-Boat literature U-505 is usually viewed as an unlucky boat but Geobeler shows that the U-505 was in reality lucky. This book is highly recommended to anyone interested in the Atlantic Campaign during WWII.
December 24, 2016
An entertaining and mostly honest retelling of Goebeler's experiences in WWII. I'd have given more stars, except for the author's parting words discussing the genocide of the Germans after the end of WWII. Goebeler may have been a patriot and not an antisemite (or he may have been an antisemite), but to not understand the difference between an actual genocide and the consequences of losing the war your country started is pretty high ranking indifference.
August 31, 2011
I've been reading and collecting books on WW1 & WW2 submarines and U-boats for over 30 years and feel like I've read accounts from almost every perspective. This book, however, was really good and was one of the most authentic U-boat books I've ever read.
The author is one of the very few survivors from a U-boat in WW2. The big headlines, of course, scream that the U-boat was captured in battle, but there is much more to the story than that. This young crewman was with the boat for over two years, thru several war patrols. He writes from the perspective of a young crewman who, fortunately, was stationed in the control room where most of the day to day action was. He heard everything and watched the good and bad captains and officers.
If you only read one book this year, please read this one. It is well written, well punctuated, and is intensely intresting.
I highly recommend this book to everyone!
The author is one of the very few survivors from a U-boat in WW2. The big headlines, of course, scream that the U-boat was captured in battle, but there is much more to the story than that. This young crewman was with the boat for over two years, thru several war patrols. He writes from the perspective of a young crewman who, fortunately, was stationed in the control room where most of the day to day action was. He heard everything and watched the good and bad captains and officers.
If you only read one book this year, please read this one. It is well written, well punctuated, and is intensely intresting.
I highly recommend this book to everyone!
June 29, 2009
Fascinating look at WWII submarine service from the German perspective. U-505 was captured and now is on exhibit in Chicago.
September 19, 2018
Very interesting, but what kept me bothering right until the end was the lack of objective assessment of role of Germany in the war by the author, who had more than enough time for digesting his experience from the time distance. Like, futility of all the lives lost for unjust war for basically nothing and because of one man's lack of regular testicular desiccation? I think I maybe heard the word "duty" or some equivalent of it one too many times.
But to the author's credit, I'm grateful for sharing his point of view and especially like the fact he even resettled to USA to live near his beloved, faithfully restored submarine. That was heart braking and I totally dig that sentiment.
But to the author's credit, I'm grateful for sharing his point of view and especially like the fact he even resettled to USA to live near his beloved, faithfully restored submarine. That was heart braking and I totally dig that sentiment.
June 25, 2022
This was super interesting especially as I have seen the boat in Chicago. It was also fascinating to see world war two from a German's perspective.
August 23, 2022
Very interesting and detailed history of one U-boat during WWII. I didn't know dockyard sabotage was this effective!
Hans kept an accurate list of what happened and what was sunk during the war, along with which failures happened to both boat and crew. His details about working under three different skippers were first rate. I would have appreciated more about his working with the boat in the Chicago museum.
Hans kept an accurate list of what happened and what was sunk during the war, along with which failures happened to both boat and crew. His details about working under three different skippers were first rate. I would have appreciated more about his working with the boat in the Chicago museum.
September 11, 2025
Hele patriotische matroos, waar ik persoonlijk niet goed op ga maar goed. Dat terzijde is hij erg arrogant, valt constant in de herhaling en is een shitpost van r/thatHappened
Iron Coffins is zo veel beter, lees dat als je geinteresseerd bent in U-bootjes
Iron Coffins is zo veel beter, lees dat als je geinteresseerd bent in U-bootjes
January 26, 2013
An exceptional memoir about the crew of the U-505, an extraordinary tale that happens to be true...Das Boot and more!
Closing paragraph of the book:
"George Santayana once said, “Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.” But what good is studying history if all one reads are one-sided fairy tales written by the victors? It seems clear to me that only if we know the whole truth about the past, can we determine the right solutions for the future. This is crucial for everyone, not just for those whom history has cast into the role of villain.”
Closing paragraph of the book:
"George Santayana once said, “Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.” But what good is studying history if all one reads are one-sided fairy tales written by the victors? It seems clear to me that only if we know the whole truth about the past, can we determine the right solutions for the future. This is crucial for everyone, not just for those whom history has cast into the role of villain.”
January 4, 2014
Great history of U-505 from a reputable, sometimes biased, source. Great detail in how the crews trained, were assigned boats, and performed on the missions. Having seen the U-505 in Chicago I was interested in a more detailed account of the boat's history and this book performed admirably. It was a bit tiring to hear Goebeler get angry about allied bombing of the U-Boat bases and subsequent collateral damage of nearby residential areas but failing to understand the destruction was the result of the German occupation. When the author stuck to the U-Boat story it was really good.
December 20, 2019
I feel bad to say it, but early on questions were raised in my mind about the validity of much that's written in the book, and by the end, I was convinced much the content of the book was either Hans getting old and his memory playing tricks on him or (hopefully not) some untruths added for effect on the book as the story of U505 doesn't have alot to twll in terms of success against Allied shipping. But, again, there was some totally unrealistic bordering on rediculous claims in many parts of the book. Take much of it with a grain of salt.
August 10, 2022
I read this after visiting the boat in Chicago with my son. It really helped me understand its place in history and made a casual visit to the Museum of Science and Industry much more interesting.
February 28, 2025
Well written. Informative of a u-boat crewman’s wwii experience.
May 9, 2018
Great book
A very enjoyable book. I had a hard time putting it down and read it in one day. Interesting and I learned quite a bit too. Recommend
A very enjoyable book. I had a hard time putting it down and read it in one day. Interesting and I learned quite a bit too. Recommend
May 13, 2013
"books have a life of their own," it is said, and thanks to goodreads technology, reviews now generate their own drama. saw this book on sale a few months ago on amazon but itunes did not match, and I preferred brand loyalty (and still new to ebook pricing). well, Amazon just renewed their Big Deal sale, 500 ebooks at 3.99 or less, until 27 May and so acquired this little war classic for 1.99. what larks! a great $2.
accounts the adventures of a crew member, Hans Goebeler, who had the fortune to work in the control room, seeing three captains go by, and dealing, as he does, with the storm of varying claims made about the U-505, a large submersible type xii(?) u-boat. if you are interested in spoiling the work, you can go read the wikipedia entry but there are at least two big surprises in the text.
reading this took me back to the german studies teacher at university who insisted on some middle-class, middle-age, middle-aged couple who exchanged letters... sometimes there is value in gaining a non-elite's perspective; rather than the officer's tale, one crewmember who saw it all.
good, taut writing, and typical of many memoirs that many could have written, the one who actually did mentions in passing "hey, i spent all my time reading and writing". writers/readers control the future? because they are the only ones who relate to future lives what happened? ha
"I marched swiftly in three steps and saluted with my right hand."
bwahahahhahaha
accounts the adventures of a crew member, Hans Goebeler, who had the fortune to work in the control room, seeing three captains go by, and dealing, as he does, with the storm of varying claims made about the U-505, a large submersible type xii(?) u-boat. if you are interested in spoiling the work, you can go read the wikipedia entry but there are at least two big surprises in the text.
reading this took me back to the german studies teacher at university who insisted on some middle-class, middle-age, middle-aged couple who exchanged letters... sometimes there is value in gaining a non-elite's perspective; rather than the officer's tale, one crewmember who saw it all.
good, taut writing, and typical of many memoirs that many could have written, the one who actually did mentions in passing "hey, i spent all my time reading and writing". writers/readers control the future? because they are the only ones who relate to future lives what happened? ha
"I marched swiftly in three steps and saluted with my right hand."
bwahahahhahaha
April 13, 2025
This memoir by an enlisted man is quite a different viewpoint than from the commanding officer. While recounting the patrols and the incidents that occur during them he is on pretty solid ground, his penchant for telling us every detail of his shore leave grows old very quick. You'd think after the second time he described it he would have made his point but he keeps hammering us with it. There's no self-awareness here that this man is in occupied France and the French don't love him they're just using him for his money. He thinks of occupied France as his playground and his right as a conqueror although he doesn't put it that way. Politically naive and unapologetic and proudly unreconstructed, he is insistent until the end that communism was the real enemy and we just didn't realize it, which pretty much echoes a dozen other memoirs I've read from former German servicemen. Having toured the U 505 in the past I find this is incredibly valuable as a window into the events and a place that I've been, but his insistence on being in the right and that history has not been recorded accurately because we don't like the German / Nazi system wears thin very quickly. All in all a very good memoir from the German point of view with the usual hiccups.
June 23, 2013
This was a good war memoir. I appreciate reading stories from
individual soldiers and sailors, and it was particularly
interesting to get the view of someone in the enemy forces during
the war. I would liken this to 'Forgotten Soldier' by Guy Sajer,
another German enlisted man.
'Steel Boats, Iron Hearts' starts out rather slow and tedious,
and at first I wondered if there would be enough excitement
to keep me going. The writing style was a little weak, with
a few too many attempts at colorful descriptions. However,
as more and more adventures and close escapes were added, it
seemed that the story took off on its own and held my attention.
it was almost as if Goebeler finally was overtaken by the real
excitement of his own history and was no longer struggling to
be a descriptive writer.
It certainly makes me want to visit the submarine when I have
the chance to get to Chicago.
individual soldiers and sailors, and it was particularly
interesting to get the view of someone in the enemy forces during
the war. I would liken this to 'Forgotten Soldier' by Guy Sajer,
another German enlisted man.
'Steel Boats, Iron Hearts' starts out rather slow and tedious,
and at first I wondered if there would be enough excitement
to keep me going. The writing style was a little weak, with
a few too many attempts at colorful descriptions. However,
as more and more adventures and close escapes were added, it
seemed that the story took off on its own and held my attention.
it was almost as if Goebeler finally was overtaken by the real
excitement of his own history and was no longer struggling to
be a descriptive writer.
It certainly makes me want to visit the submarine when I have
the chance to get to Chicago.
September 12, 2018
Fascinating insight into the minds and hearts of U-Boat sailors in WWII. The author, perhaps unwittingly, shows how chauvinistic young German men had their minds and hearts perverted by Nazi propaganda. Nazi U-Boat submariners committed war crimes against thousands of innocent people. To Goebeler, they were just brave sailors.
My father, a U. S. Merchant Marine officer, perished in a lifeboat with his crew in the North Atlantic after floating around for days. U-211 torpedoed their tanker multiple times until it broke in half and sunk. In his log, the captain of U-211 makes mention of seeing lifeboats...and then speeding away.
That's what the Kriegsmarine did.
Filled with episodes of self-agrandizement, this book is one man's feeble attempt to rewrite history.
My father, a U. S. Merchant Marine officer, perished in a lifeboat with his crew in the North Atlantic after floating around for days. U-211 torpedoed their tanker multiple times until it broke in half and sunk. In his log, the captain of U-211 makes mention of seeing lifeboats...and then speeding away.
That's what the Kriegsmarine did.
Filled with episodes of self-agrandizement, this book is one man's feeble attempt to rewrite history.
October 14, 2013
I read Steel Boat, Iron Hearts a couple of months after visiting Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, where the World War II submarine, U505, is on permanent exhibit. This book is a must if you've seen the exhibit, or alternatively, a prelude to visiting the exhibit. I gave it 4 stars rather than 5 only on the possibility that one might read the book and not have the opportunity to see the actual submarine on display. If I were to consider the book and the exhibit together, I would rate it a 5.
October 19, 2013
I have visited the U-505 at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry twice and both times it has been the highlight of the time at the museum. I picked this up last time and after finally reading it can't wait to go back and look at the boat again with these stories in mind. Its a good book one that feels very authentic and gives you a glimpse of what it was like to serve on the U-BOAT and in the German Navy. The capture of the U-505 is a small part of the story at the end of a much more interesting story about the life of the boat and Hans Goebeler's experience as a submariner.
February 19, 2017
This amazing book was written from the German perspective of one Hans Goebeler, a former N.C.O or "Non-Commissioned Officer" on the U-505 submarine. This amazing true story chronicles the journey young Hans took through his upbringings, to his training, to his service onboard the U-505. This is a MUST READ for anyone curious about a NON-PROPAGANDA look at the German perspective in WW2, specifically the Kriegsmarine U-boat Service.
5 Stars! Highly Recommend!
The Audio book version is great too!
5 Stars! Highly Recommend!
The Audio book version is great too!
February 6, 2014
Pretty interesting ready. I enjoyed reading about the submariners life in WWII and it was interesting to hear it from the German side. The author does make it seem like he could do no wrong though. Despite this fact the book is very engaging and educational, just not sure I can trust all the personal stories. Also towards the end he mentions a few times some sexual encounters he had, no details but not really needed.
June 20, 2013
Interesting perspectives from an 'average (young) enlisted man' not unlike any who serve (politics and country aside). Even though the story is told from later life, he confirmed his observations with others before putting things down in print. He also helps to give a better sense of how hard life was both on and off the U-boats. It is a worthwhile read IMHO.
August 23, 2015
His story + His Story = Real History
I have found the perspective of someone from the German Navy fascinating. Yes, as an American sailor myself, I certainly have a perspective on that war. But seeing what it looked like to the other side is worth something too. Only when you get both sides of the story, can you have real history.
I have found the perspective of someone from the German Navy fascinating. Yes, as an American sailor myself, I certainly have a perspective on that war. But seeing what it looked like to the other side is worth something too. Only when you get both sides of the story, can you have real history.
June 22, 2013
Fascinating first-person memoir of life on the U-boat. Loved it and am thankful he wrote it. It's told without enmity toward their enemy (us). More about the pride of a young man achieving his dream, what it really meant, and the mutual respect he engendered with comrades and foes. Recommended.
September 3, 2016
Great book, personal well written account by an actual
My father was a sailor on board the US aircraft carrier when The U505 was captured. A better accounting of the events during the actual capture than Gallery's book U505.
My father was a sailor on board the US aircraft carrier when The U505 was captured. A better accounting of the events during the actual capture than Gallery's book U505.
April 17, 2013
Interesting true story from a 'foe' from World War II. Wish he had gone more into his captivity in America. Definitely makes me want to see this submarine in Chicago!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews