Dönitz and the Wolf Packs

Dönitz and the Wolf Packs PDF Author: Bernard Edwards
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473840759
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 358

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Book Description
On 17 September 1942 Admiral Karl Donitz, C-in-C U-boats, issued the following directive:To all Commanders - 'All attempts to rescue members of ships sunk, therefore also fishing out swimmers and putting them into lifeboats, righting capsized lifeboats, handing out provisions and water, have to cease. Rescue contradicts the most fundamental demands of war for the annihilation of enemy ships and crews'.This order ended what had hitherto been a war in which the opposing factions treated each other with a certain respect, seaman to seaman, showing mercy where mercy was due. It also marked the point at which the Battle of the Atlantic became a dirty war of attrition, with the U-boats hunting in packs snarling and snapping at the heels of the hard-pressed convoys. Ships began to go down like corn before the reaper, men were dying in their hundreds in the cold grey waters of the great ocean. This was a battle without quarter. A battle the U-boats would have won had it not been for the grit and determination of the convoy escorts and the unflagging resilience of the men who manned the vulnerable merchant ships.This book faithfully records the progress of the Battle of the Atlantic, which began within hours of the declaration of war on 3 September 1939 and continued without let-up until the last torpedo was fired on the night of 7 May 1945, just one hour before Germany surrendered. The story is told from both sides of the periscope.

Dönitz and the Wolf Packs

Dönitz and the Wolf Packs PDF Author: Bernard Edwards
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473840759
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 358

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Book Description
On 17 September 1942 Admiral Karl Donitz, C-in-C U-boats, issued the following directive:To all Commanders - 'All attempts to rescue members of ships sunk, therefore also fishing out swimmers and putting them into lifeboats, righting capsized lifeboats, handing out provisions and water, have to cease. Rescue contradicts the most fundamental demands of war for the annihilation of enemy ships and crews'.This order ended what had hitherto been a war in which the opposing factions treated each other with a certain respect, seaman to seaman, showing mercy where mercy was due. It also marked the point at which the Battle of the Atlantic became a dirty war of attrition, with the U-boats hunting in packs snarling and snapping at the heels of the hard-pressed convoys. Ships began to go down like corn before the reaper, men were dying in their hundreds in the cold grey waters of the great ocean. This was a battle without quarter. A battle the U-boats would have won had it not been for the grit and determination of the convoy escorts and the unflagging resilience of the men who manned the vulnerable merchant ships.This book faithfully records the progress of the Battle of the Atlantic, which began within hours of the declaration of war on 3 September 1939 and continued without let-up until the last torpedo was fired on the night of 7 May 1945, just one hour before Germany surrendered. The story is told from both sides of the periscope.

Wolf Pack

Wolf Pack PDF Author: Steven Trent Smith
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 398

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Book Description
"Bristling with undersea action, compelling human drama, and nerve-jangling suspense, this powerful account of the war beneath the Pacific includes unforgettable portraits of the commanders, officers, and crewmen who carried out these extremely hazardous and complex operations. You'll meet Blair's Blasters, Parks' Pirates, Whitaker's Wolves, and many others as they stalk the "Convoy College" in search of prey, sink hundreds of enemy vessels, and test new tactics and technologies in the constant drive to perfect their deadly skills."

Grey Wolves

Grey Wolves PDF Author: Philip Kaplan
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 178159242X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
In the early years of the Second World War, the elite force of German submariners known as the Ubootwaffe came perilously close to perfecting the underwater tactics of the First World War and successfully cutting Britain's transatlantic lifeline. To the Allies, these enemy sailors were embarking on a mission that was unequivocally evil.??It was popularly believed that the U-boat men were all volunteers; this was not the case. However, once committed to the Ubootwaffe, each man soon understood that he must take pride in being part of a unique brotherhood. He had to do so because he was setting out, in claustrophobic, unsanitary, stench-filled and ultimately hellish conditions, on a journey that would test his mental and physical endurance to the very limits, and one that he had little chance of surviving. Those that did return soon ceased to take comfort in friends or family, dwelling only on the knowledge that another patrol awaited them. The men of the Ubootwaffe were bound together by an intense camaraderie forged in an environment of ever-present danger, and a unity of purpose more powerful than any known to other sailors.??As the U-boat memorial near Kiel records, by the end of the war, of the 39,000 men who went to sea in the U-boats, 27,491 died in action and a further 5,000 were made prisoners of war. Of the 863 U-boats that sailed on operational patrols, 754 were lost.??Grey Wolves captures life on board a U-boat, in text, letters, diaries, journals, memoirs, prose and poetry, relaying tales of the mundane and the routine, dramatic and heroic; the fear and resilience of every crew member, from Kapitainleutnant to Mechaniker. It is a vivid, brutally realistic portrait of the men who fought and died beneath the surface of the Atlantic in what was, perhaps, the most critical battle of the war.

Dönitz, U-boats, Convoys

Dönitz, U-boats, Convoys PDF Author: Jak P. Mallmann Showell
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473829704
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 245

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Book Description
This unique WWII history combines the memoirs of a Nazi Admiral with secret British naval reports for a comprehensive view of the U-Boat war. The memoirs of Admiral Karl Dönitz, Ten Years and Twenty Days, are a fascinating first-hand account of the Battle of the Atlantic as seen from the headquarters of the U-boat fleet. Now, noted naval historian Jak P. Mallmann Showell has combined Dönitz's memoirs in a parallel text with the British Admiralty's secret Monthly Anti-Submarine Reports to produce a unique view of the U-boat war as it was perceived at the time by both sides. The British Monthly Anti-Submarine Reports were classified documents issued only to senior officers hunting U-boats. They were supposed to have been returned to the Admiralty and destroyed at the end of the War, but by chance a set survived in the archives of the Royal Navy's Submarine Museum in Gosport. They offer significant and hitherto unavailable insight into the British view of the Battle of the Atlantic as it was being fought. With expert analysis of these firsthand sources from opposing sides of the conflict, Jak P. Mallmann Showell presents what may be the most complete contemporary account of the desperate struggle in the North Atlantic during the Second World War.

Hitler's Navy

Hitler's Navy PDF Author: Jak Mallmann Showell
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 1848320205
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
The German Navy, both before the War and throughout the years of fighting, was heavily outnumbered by the navies of Great Britain and the United States; nonetheless, it proved to be serious thorn in the sides of its adversaries. The U-boat war in the North Atlantic threatened the very liberation of Europe, while the major warships posed a constant threat to the Allied shipping lanes. This important reference book is an indispensable guide to the ships, organisation, command and rank structure, and leaders of the Kriegsmarine, and helps explain why it was such a potent force. A detailed text, augmented by photos, maps and diagrams, studies the German Navy from the Treaty of Versailles to the collapse of the U-boat offensive and the demise of the Third Reich. After covering the background organisation and naval bases, the author gives detailed descriptions of all the classes of ship from the battleships to motor torpedo boats and minesweepers. The officers and sailors are covered along with their uniforms and awards and insignia. Biographies of notable personalities and a chronology of the main naval events are included, as well as appendices and a select bibliography. Based on the author's 1979 title The German Navy in World War Two, this is a classic work of reference for a new generation of readers.

Battle of the Atlantic 1939–41

Battle of the Atlantic 1939–41 PDF Author: Mark Lardas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472836014
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 97

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Book Description
At the start of World War II, few thought the U-boat would be as devastating as it proved to be. But convoys and sonar-equipped escorts proved inadequate to defend the Allies' merchantmen, and the RAF's only offensive weapon was the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft. For RAF Coastal Command, the first two years of the war were the hardest. Although starved of resources, operating with outdated aircraft and often useless weaponry, they were still the only force that could take the fight to the U-boats. But in these two years, the RAF learned what it needed to win the Battle of the Atlantic. Gradually developing new tactics and technology, such as airborne radar, signals intelligence, and effective weaponry, the Allies ended 1941 in a position to defeat Dönitz's growing fleet of U-boats. This book, the first of two volumes, explains the fascinating history of how the RAF kept the convoys alive against the odds, and developed the force that would prevail in the climactic battles of 1942 and 1943.

Warship 2016

Warship 2016 PDF Author: Stephen Dent
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1844864375
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
Warship 2016 is devoted to the design, development and service history of the world's combat ships. Featuring a broad range of articles from a select panel of distinguished international contributors, this latest volume combines original research, new book reviews, warship notes, an image gallery and much more to maintain the impressive standards of scholarship and research from the field of warship history. This 38th edition features the usual range of diverse articles spanning the subject by an international array of expert authors.

Hitler, Donitz, and the Baltic Sea

Hitler, Donitz, and the Baltic Sea PDF Author: David Grier
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
ISBN: 1612514138
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
The popular conception of Hitler in the final years of World War II is that of a deranged Fuhrer stubbornly demanding the defense of every foot of ground on all fronts and ordering hopeless attacks with nonexistent divisions. To imply that Hitler had a rational plan to win the war flies in the face of widely accepted interpretations, but historian Howard D. Grier persuasively argues here that Hitler did possess a strategy to regain the initiative in 1944-45 and that the Baltic theater played the key role in his plan. In examining that strategy, Grier answers lingering questions about the Third Reich's final months and also provides evidence of its emphasis upon naval affairs and of Admiral Karl Donitz's influence in shaping Hitler's grand strategy. Donitz intended to starve Britain into submission and halt the shipment of American troops and supplies to Europe with a fleet of new Type XXI U-boats. But to test the new submarines and train their crews the Nazis needed control of the Baltic Sea and possession of its ports, and to launch their U-boat offensive they needed Norway, the only suitable location that remained after the loss of France in the summer of 1944. This work analyzes German naval strategy from 1944 to 1945 and its role in shaping the war on land in the Baltic. The first six chapters provide an operational history of warfare on the northern sector of the eastern front and give evidence of the navy s demands that the Baltic coast be protected in order to preserve U-boat training areas. The next three chapters look at possible reasons for Hitler's defense of the Baltic coast, concluding that the most likely reason was Hitler's belief in Donitz's ability to turn the tide of war with his new submarines. A final chapter discusses Donitz's personal and ideological relationship with Hitler, his influence in shaping overall strategy, and the reason Hitler selected the admiral as his successor rather than a general or Nazi Party official. With Grier's thorough examination of Hitler's strategic motives and the reasons behind his decision to defend coastal sectors in the Baltic late in the war, readers are offered an important new interpretation of events for their consideration.

Germany at War [4 volumes]

Germany at War [4 volumes] PDF Author: David T. Zabecki
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 3312

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Book Description
Written by experts for use by nonexperts, this monumental work probes Germany's "Genius for War" and the unmistakable pattern of tactical and operational innovation and excellence evident throughout the nation's military history. Despite having the best military forces in the world, some of the most advanced weapons available, and unparalleled tactical proficiency, Germany still lost both World Wars. This landmark, four-volume encyclopedia explores how and why that happened, at the same time examining Germany as a military power from the start of the Thirty Years' War in 1618 to the present day. Coverage includes the Federal Republic of Germany, its predecessor states, and the kingdoms and principalities that combined to form Imperial Germany in 1871. The Seven Years' War is discussed, as are the Napoleonic Wars, the Wars of German Unification (including the Franco-Prussian War), World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. In all, more than 1,000 entries illuminate battles, organizations, leaders, armies, weapons, and other aspects of war and military life. The most comprehensive overview of German military history ever to appear in English, this work will enable students and others interested in military history to better understand the sociopolitical history of Germany, the complex role conflict has played in the nation throughout its history, and why Germany continues to be an important player on the European continent.

World War II [5 volumes]

World War II [5 volumes] PDF Author: Spencer C. Tucker
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 4723

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Book Description
With more than 1,700 cross-referenced entries covering every aspect of World War II, the events and developments of the era, and myriad related subjects as well as a documents volume, this is the most comprehensive reference work available on the war. This encyclopedia represents a single source of authoritative information on World War II that provides accessible coverage of the causes, course, and consequences of the war. Its introductory overview essays and cross-referenced A–Z entries explain how various sources of friction culminated in a second worldwide conflict, document the events of the war and why individual battles were won and lost, and identify numerous ways the war has permanently changed the world. The coverage addresses the individuals, campaigns, battles, key weapons systems, strategic decisions, and technological developments of the conflict, as well as the diplomatic, economic, and cultural aspects of World War II. The five-volume set provides comprehensive information that gives readers insight into the reasons for the war's direction and outcome. Readers will understand the motivations behind Japan's decision to attack the United States, appreciate how the concentration of German military resources on the Eastern Front affected the war's outcome, understand the major strategic decisions of the war and the factors behind them, grasp how the Second Sino-Japanese War contributed to the start of World War II, and see the direct impact of new military technology on the outcomes of the battles during the conflict. The lengthy documents volume represents a valuable repository of additional information for student research.