On the night of 13/14 October 1939, the Type VIIB U-boat U-47, on its second war patrol, penetrated the main Royal Navy base at Scapa Flow and sank the British battleship HMS Royal Oak. This legendary attack is remembered as one of the most audacious raids in the history of submarine warfare. Over the months that followed, U-47 went on to complete a total of ten war patrols. During these, Kapitänleutnant Günther Prien and his crew sank a total of 31 Allied ships and damaged eight more, making it one of the most successful U-boats of the Second World War. This book charts the full story of U-47, its commander and crew.

In August 1939, U-48, commanded by 'Vaddi' Schultze, took up a waiting position around England. Schultze showed himself to be a notable humanitarian: he addressed signals to Churchill giving positions of ship sinkings so that crews could be saved. By 1 August 1941 this most successful boat of World War II, had sunk 56 merchant ships one corvette.

The story of the German submarine U-505 and its dramatic capture by the US Navy during WWII—told by one of its crewmen. 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. Using his own experiences, log books, and correspondence with other U-boat crewmen, Goebeler offers rich and very personal details about what life was like in the German Navy under Hitler. Because his first and last posting was to U-505, Goebeler’s perspective of the crew, commanders, and war patrols paints a vivid and complete portrait unlike any other to come out of the Kriegsmarine. He witnessed it all: from deadly sabotage efforts that almost sunk the boat to the tragic suicide of the only U-boat commander who took his life during WWII; from the terror and exhilaration of hunting the enemy to the seedy brothels of France. The vivid, honest, and smooth-flowing prose calls it like it was and pulls no punches. U-505 was captured by Captain Dan Gallery’s Guadalcanal Task Group 22.3 on June 4, 1944. Trapped by this “Hunter-Killer” group, U-505 was depth-charged to the surface, strafed by machine gun fire, and boarded. It was the first enemy ship captured at sea since the War of 1812. Today, hundreds of thousands of visitors tour U-505 each year at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. Includes photos and a special Introduction by Keith Gill, Curator of U-505, Museum of Science and Industry

Jeremy Dixon's highly illustrated book is the ideal guide to the Knight's Cross holders and their wartime service.

Otto Kretschmer was only in combat from September 1939 until March 1941 but was Germany's highest-scoring U-boat commander sinking 47 ships totaling 274,333 tons. This definitive work details his personal story and the political backdrop from his earliest days. Aged 17 he spent 8 months studying literature at Exeter University where he learned to speak English fluently. The following year, on 1 April 1930, he enlisted as an officer candidate in the Weimar Republic's small navy. After completing his officer training and time on the training ship Niobe he served aboard the light cruiser Emden. In December 1934 he was transferred to the light cruiser Köln, then in January 1936 made the move to the fledgling U-boat service. His first operational posting was to the 2nd U-Flotilla’s Type VII U35 where he almost being drowned during training in the Baltic Sea! During the Spanish Civil War, he was involved in several patrols as part of the international nonintervention force. He was finally given command of U23, a post which he held until April 1940. He had already sunk 8 ships including the destroyer HMS Daring east of Pentland Firth on 18 February 1940. He demonstrated a cool approach to combat: his mantra ‘one torpedo for one ship’ proved that the best way for his boat to succeed against a convoy was to remain surfaced as much as possible, penetrating the convoy and using the boat’s high speed and small silhouette to avoid retaliation. His nickname ‘Silent Otto’ referred to his ability to remain undetected and his reluctance to provide the regular radio reports required by Dönitz: he had guessed that the Allies had broken German codes. Alongside his military skill was a character that remained rooted in the traditions of the Prussian military. While other U-boat commanders and crew returned from patrol with beards and a relaxed demeanor, U99 always returned with all men clean-shaven and paraded on deck. In the Bowmanville POW camp he organized a 2-way radio link to the German Naval High Command and planned a mass breakout with a U-boat rendezvous arranged. He was also instrumental in the ‘Battle of Bowmanville’ that lasted for 3 days in October 1942. His antics behind the wire became the inspiration for the 1970 film ‘The McKenzie Break’. Postwar he answered the call for volunteers upon the establishment of the Bundesmarine. He retired from the rank of Flotillenadmiral in 1970. He suffered a fall celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary aboard a boat and died two days later at the age of 86.

The Royal Oak was one of the mightiest battleships of the British Navy although, prior to the start of the Second World War, it had been scheduled for retirement. Nonetheless, when it was sent to the bottom of the sea on 14 October 1939 the shock was felt thoughout Britain. How could it be vulnerable to attack when it lay inside the great naval base of Skapa Flow, ringed by defences that were believed, by the Royal navy, to be impregnable? U-47, commanded by Gunther Prien, had found a way though the maze to the heart of the anchorage where the Royal Oak lay. Suddenly two torpedoes blew the mighty battleship apart and it capsized with the loss of over 800 men. In the mayhem that followed, Prien and his crew escaped unnoticed. Gunther Prien went on to become, until his death in May 1941, the leading U-boat commander and was awarded Germany's highest decoration, the Knight's Cross - with the Oakleaves being awarded posthumously. U-Boat Commander is Prien's own account of his early life, his training for U-boat command in the early years of Hitler's Third Reich up to the sinking of the Royal Oak.

With dozens of historical documents and over 400 photographs, the author not only presents a comprehensive history of U-boat crews and the undersea war, but also shows how those with an interest in the U-boat war can find U-boat-related artifacts and how they can trace many to specific boats - and then research what those boats and crews accomplished.