Ultra Versus U-Boats

Ultra Versus U-Boats PDF Author: Roy Conyers Nesbit
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1783409274
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 471

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Book Description
Keeping the Atlantic sea-lanes open was a vital factor in the fight against Nazi Germany. In the battle to protect merchant shipping from the menace of surface raiders and U-boats, Allied resolve and resources were tested to the utmost. The story of the extraordinary measures that were taken to combat the threat, at sea and in the air, has often been told. But there is one crucial element in this prolonged campaign that has still not been fully appreciated the role of code-breaking, in particular the decryption of secret signals transmitted by German Enigma machines. And this is the focus of Roy Nesbits fascinating new account of the Battle of the Atlantic. Using previously unpublished decrypts of U-boat signals, selected from the National Archives, along with historic wartime photographs, he tells the stories of the individual U-boats and describes their fate. Their terse signals reveal, perhaps move vividly than conventional communications could do, the desperate plight of the U-boatmen as they struggled against increasingly effective Allied countermeasures that eventually overwhelmed them.

Ultra Versus U-Boats

Ultra Versus U-Boats PDF Author: Roy Conyers Nesbit
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1783409274
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 471

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Book Description
Keeping the Atlantic sea-lanes open was a vital factor in the fight against Nazi Germany. In the battle to protect merchant shipping from the menace of surface raiders and U-boats, Allied resolve and resources were tested to the utmost. The story of the extraordinary measures that were taken to combat the threat, at sea and in the air, has often been told. But there is one crucial element in this prolonged campaign that has still not been fully appreciated the role of code-breaking, in particular the decryption of secret signals transmitted by German Enigma machines. And this is the focus of Roy Nesbits fascinating new account of the Battle of the Atlantic. Using previously unpublished decrypts of U-boat signals, selected from the National Archives, along with historic wartime photographs, he tells the stories of the individual U-boats and describes their fate. Their terse signals reveal, perhaps move vividly than conventional communications could do, the desperate plight of the U-boatmen as they struggled against increasingly effective Allied countermeasures that eventually overwhelmed them.

Hunt and Kill

Hunt and Kill PDF Author: Theodore P. Savas
Publisher: Savas Beatie
ISBN: 1611210011
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 345

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Book Description
One of WWII's pivotal events was the capture of U-505 on June 4, 1944. The top secret seizure of this massive Type IX submarine provided the Allies with priceless information on German technology and innovation. After the war U-505 was transported to Chicago, where today 1,000,000 visitors a year pass through her at the Museum of Science and Industry. Hunt and Kill offers the first definitive study of U-505. The chapters cover her construction, crew and commanders, combat history, general Type IX operations, naval intelligence, the eight fatal German mistakes that doomed the boat, and her capture, transportation, and restoration for posterity. The contributors to this fascinating volume--a Who's Who of U-boat historians--include: Erich Topp (U-Boat Ace, commander of U-552); Eric Rust (Naval Officers Under Hitler); Timothy Mulligan (Neither Sharks Nor Wolves); Jak Mallman Showell (Hitler's U-boat Bases); Jordan Vause (Wolf); Lawrence Patterson (First U-boat Flotilla); Mark Wise (Enigma and the Battle of the Atlantic); Keith Gill (Curator, Museum of Science and Industry), and Theodore Savas (Silent Hunters; Nazi Millionaries).

Black May

Black May PDF Author: Michael Gannon
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062039466
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 540

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Book Description
In May 1943, Allied sea and air forces won a stunning, dramatic, and vital victory over the largest and most powerful submarine force ever sent to sea, sinking forty-one German U-boats and damaging thirty-seven others. It was the forty-fifth month of World War II, and by the end of May the Germans were forced to acknowledge defeat and recall almost all of their remaining U-boats from the major traffic lanes of the North Atlantic. At U-Boat Headquarters in Berlin, despondent naval officers spoke of "Black May." It was a defeat from which the German U-boat fleet never recovered. Black May is a triumph of scholarship and narrative, an important work of history, and a great sea story. Acclaimed historian Michael Gannon, author of Operation Drumbeat, has done enormous research and produced the most thoroughly documented study ever done of these battles. In his compelling historical saga, the people are as significant as the technical information. Given the strategic importance of the events of May 1943, it is natural to ask, How did Black May happen and why? Who or what was responsible? Were new Allied tactics adopted or new weapons employed? This book answers those questions and many others. Drawing on original documents in German, British, U.S., and Canadian archives, as well as interviews with surviving participants, Gannon describes the exciting sea and air battles, frequently taking the reader inside the U-boats themselves, aboard British warships, onto the decks of torpedoed merchant ships, and into the cockpits of British and U.S. aircraft. Throughout, Gannon tells the Black May story from both the German and Allied perspectives, often using the actual words of captains and crews. Finally, he allows the reader to "listen in" on secretly recorded conversations of captured U-boat men in POW quarters during that same incredible month, giving intimate and moving access to the thoughts and emotions of seamen that is unparalleled in naval literature. Rarely, if ever, has the U-boat war been presented so accurately, so graphically, and so personally as in Black May.

Hitler's Grey Wolves

Hitler's Grey Wolves PDF Author: Lawrence Paterson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : World War, 1939-1945
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description


Lone Wolf

Lone Wolf PDF Author: Timothy Mulligan
Publisher: Praeger
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
Who constituted an elite in Hitler's Wehrmacht. The story of U-515 is also closely correlated to the overall conduct of the U-Boat war, including assessments of Karl Donitz's strategy, the influence of technological innovations, and the contributions of Allied signal intelligence. Henke's confrontation with the Gestapo and a detailed account of the sinking of the passenger liner Ceramic further add to the story, revealing the complex reality behind an image too long.

Studies in Intelligence

Studies in Intelligence PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Intelligence service
Languages : en
Pages : 840

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Book Description


U-boat Commander

U-boat Commander PDF Author: Peter Erich Cremer
Publisher: US Naval Institute Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
A true-life war thriller by the famed U-boat ace who presents an authentic view of the notorious wolf packs and their encounters with the Allies.

Teddy Suhren, Ace of Aces

Teddy Suhren, Ace of Aces PDF Author: Teddy Shuren
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473818877
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 261

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Book Description
Reinhard ‘Teddy’ Suhren fired more successful torpedo shots than any other man during the war, many before he even became a U-boat commander. He was also the U-boat service’s most irreverent and rebellious commander; his lack of a military bearing was a constant source of friction with higher authority. Valued for his good humour and ability to lead, his nickname was acquired because he marched like a teddy-bear. Despite his refusal to conform to the rigid thought-patterns of National Socialism, his operational successes protected him, and he found himself accepted in the highest circles of power in Germany. He was one of the lucky third of all U-boat crewmen who survived the war, largely because his abilities led to a senior land-based command. He was also one of the first to publish his reminiscences, his account being typically forthright – its German title, Nasses Eichenlaub, suggesting that although he was decorated with the Oak Leaves, he was always in hot water. He died in 1984 but interest in his career was revitalized by the discovery of photographs documenting one of his operations in U 564, published with great success in 2004 as U-Boat War Patrol by Lawrence Patterson.

Type VII U-boats

Type VII U-boats PDF Author: Robert Cecil Stern
Publisher: Caxton Editions
ISBN: 9781860198557
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description
The Type VII U-boat was the quintessential U-boat, the one that comes to mind whenever the subject of the Battle of the Atlantic in World War Two is raised. This book describes in detail the technological war fought by and against the Type VII U-boat and is illustrated with a marvellous selection of photographs and line drawings. Interviews with U-boat veterans and access to plentiful naval records have given the author the means to provide a fascinating insight into both life aboard a cramped vessel and the practical methods used both to track and destroy the enemy and to avoid his often fatal searches. As the war turned against Germany, this led to experimentation with technical systems that were often years ahead of their time. With its appendixes on paint schemes, boats built and a profile of Donitz, this is a valuable contribution to the study of the U-boat arm, which will be warmly welcomed by naval enthusiasts.

Hunter-Killer

Hunter-Killer PDF Author: Carolyn C Y'Blood
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
ISBN: 1612512461
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
The pursuit of German U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic has long been considered one of the most exciting stories of World War II. This definitive study takes readers into the cockpits and onto the flight decks of the versatile and hardy U.S. escort carriers (CVEs) to tell of their vital, yet little-known contribution to the anti-U-boat campaign. Sailing apart from the Allied convoys, the CVE captains had complete freedom of action and frequently took their ships on "hunt and kill" missions against the enemy. The German submarines were allowed no respite and no place to relax without the fear of discovery. World War II historian William Y'Blood explains that in the eighteen months between the spring of 1943, when the escort carriers began to prowl the Atlantic, to November 1944, the average number of U-boats in daily operation was reduced from 108 to a mere 31. Though land-based aircraft, various support groups, and the convoy system itself helped win the Battle of the Atlantic, the escort carrier groups' influence was profound. In addition to documenting the escort carriers' exciting operational history, the author also traces the CVE's development and construction and examines its tactical and strategic uses.