The U-Boat War ─ 1939-1945

The U-Boat war is a unique visual record of Hitler's infamous submarine fleet and a grim account of those that lived, worked and risked their lives stalking the depths of the Atlantic and Mediterranean seas. The book analyses the development of the U-boat, the recruitment and training, and reveals how the crews tried to destroy essential Allied supplies across the Atlantic and bring Britain to its knees. Using some 250 rare and unpublished photographs together with detailed captions and accompanying text, the book provides an outstanding insight into the various operations and the claustrophobic existence of the crew, where they lived in cramped and often deplorable conditions. It depicts how this potent force became one of the most dominant German fighting units during World War Two, and became such a worry to Allied shipping that even Winston Churchill himself claimed that the U-boat peril was the only thing that ever really frightened him during the war.
As the tide turned in the Allies' favour with the introduction of sonar, radio intercept and increasing use of airpower, even the courageous and determined German submarines could not prevent the Allies inflicting catastrophic havoc on the U-boat fleet. Of a total of 38,000 crewmen, only 8,000 survived the war.