Battle Beneath the Waves: The U-Boat War

by Robert C. Stern

Full history of U-boat development, including strategy, tactics and armaments Pursuit and despatch of unarmed the daily horrors of war Life and death the hunters hunted Extraordinary stories of escape and survival against impossible odds Fully documented German sources

Genres: Naval History, World War II, History, Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1999

Reviews

[Russ Jarvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been a reader of WWII history for a long time. I especially enjoy accounts of war at sea. I read most of it sitting on the balcony of a hotel in Myrtle Beach after sunset listening to the waves a few yards away. Those very waters saw their share of the action portrayed in this book.

I liked the way the author switched between close up experiences of the sub commanders and their crews to the larger picture of how the war in the Atlantic was fought with technological advancements and evolving tactics. In the center pages I enjoyed seeing photographs of the people and places I was reading about.

I recommend the book as a fair and concise account of a slice of WWI and WWII that, 75 years hence, tends to sink out of the sight of the casual reader of history.

[Au Yong · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Battle of the Atlantic was a vital theatre of naval operations so it was inevitable that there will be numerous books on this topic alone.
However, this book is different from the others in the pack because it traced the origins of submarine warfare back to the US Civil War. After that, it began the main narrative with U boat warfare during the First World War.
The principal structure of the book was built around the operations of selected individual U boats. This approach could have made it unique from other naval historians. It certainly made this book a captivating read, almost as though the reader was on the U boat itself when the approaching Allied aircraft was sighted.

[John Humber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whereas Iron Coffins gives one man's experience, Battle beneath the Waves give a much broader picture.

The book spans both the Great War and WWII and is therefore (more-or-less) an edited history of submarine warfare. The chapters feature specific U-boats covering significant and not so significant incidents and characters; Gunther Prien and Scapa Flow, the Q-ships and the Laconia incident are all included.

Not for you if you are just idly curious; you need to be interested in this period of history and in naval history too. If you are this book gives a good overall picture and the structure is such that you can read it in one siting if you wish or you can easily dip in and out as the fancy takes you. The first time I read it I was overdosing on the subject and read it in one go; that was nearly ten years ago and I still dip in and out when I fancy a top-up.

[jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent monograph on the U-boat from the Great War through WWII. It also give a basic background on the history of submersibles. I particularly enjoyed reading about the specific U-boats the author cites, encompassing the changes in U-boat tactics, technology, and how they fit into the conflict in general. My only relatively minor gripes about this otherwise actually gripping narrative, is that the small type size makes it rather difficult to read, and the book needs some editing for grammatical errors near the beginning.