Hirschfeld: The Story of a U-Boat NCO, 1940-1946

Seaforth Publishing Paperback 9781848326224

There have been many memoirs written by U-boat commanders of the Second World War, a book such as this, based upon the diaries of a senior Petty Officer telegraphist, written in 'real time' is something very special. Wolfgang Hirschfeld, whose diaries Geoffrey Brooks has translated is a born story teller. 

The principal chapters describe his experiences during six war patrols in U-109, in which he served as the senior telegraphist. His is a tale which covers the whole kaleidescope of emotions shared by men at war - a story of immense courage and fortitude, of remarkable comradeship born of the dangers, frustrations and privations shared and of transitory moments of triumph. 

Throughout runs a vein of humour, without which resistance to stress would have been virtually impossible. We get to know one of Germany's great U-boat aces, 'Ajax' Bleichrodt, holder of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and, in a special biographical appendix, learn how he finally cracked under the strain. The role of Admiral Karl Donitz, the dynamic commander of the U-boat service, so fascinatingly described by Hirschfeld, is of special interest - not least because even this dedicated Nazi had clearly realized by September, 1942, that the war was fast being lost. 

In 1944 Hirschfeld was promoted Warrant Officer and found himself on a large, schnorkel-equipped boat (U-234) heading for Japan with a load of high technology equipment and, in addition, a quantity of uranium ore. The possible significance of that uranium has been deeply researched by Geoffrey Brooks and is discussed in a second appendix.

An entertaining read documenting what life was like in the German Navy during the Nazi regime. Wolfgang Hirschfeld had extensive combat experience onboard U-109 and U-234. In 1945, U-234 was transporting two senior Japanese officials as well as a complete ME-262 jet fighter and nuclear materials to Japan at the time of VE Day. Surrendering to USS Sutton, Hirschfeld's war was over.

Illustrated and revamped from original German version, this final effort is a very interesting read indeed.

From Forecastle to Cabin Captain Samuel Samuels

9781848321267 Seaforth Publishing 2012

This is the autobiography of an American who ran away to sea at the age of 11 and charts his rise from the lowliest seaman (berthed under the forecastle) to the command of his own ship and the occupation of the luxurious after cabin. In the course of an action-packed career spanning half a century, he experienced almost all of the vicissitudes of life in the nineteenth-century merchant service: storm and shipwreck, famine and disease, press-gangs and desertion, piracy, violence and mutiny – this last, at different times, as both mutineer and victim. Like many a sailor he was often in more danger ashore than afloat, but many of his adventures make excellent stories – not least his romantic, but foolhardy rescue of a Christian woman from the harem in Constantinople. In this case the story did not quite follow the script, as she married his accomplice in the rescue. Samuels is best known for his later career, as captain of the packet ship Dreadnought, a ship built especially for him and under his direction. Known as ‘The Wild Boat of the Atlantic’ in the 1850s this ship was reckoned the fastest vessel on the New York–Liverpool service, and regularly beat even the steamers on this route. This success was largely down to Samuels’ hard-driving style as master, and much of the latter part of the book is taken up with the resulting crew troubles, culminating in a full-blown mutiny that he put down with characteristic forcefulness.
This work is a revamped and abridged version of a book first published in 1877. The result results in what was apparently a tedious tome in its original guise into something eminently readable. The late 19th century was indeed the ultimate age of the sailing ship as they were rapidly being replaced by steam powered vessels in both mercantile and military service. For fans of sailing ships and life at sea, this book would make a fine addition to their collection.

Black Flag The Surrender of Germany's U-Boat Forces on Land and at Sea

Black Flag The Surrender of Germany's U-Boat Forces on Land and at Sea

Seaforth Publishing
By Lawrence Paterson
Hardback ISBN: 9781848320376 Published: 21 August 2009 £15.00

On the eve of Germany's surrender in May 1945, Grossadmiral Karl Dönitz commanded thousands of loyal and active men of the U-boat service. Still fully armed and unbroken in morale, enclaves of these men occupied bases stretching from Norway to France, where cadres of U-boat men fought on in ports that defied besieging Allied troops to the last. At sea U-boats still operated on a war footing around Britain, the coasts of the United States and as far as Malaya.
Following the agreement to surrender, these large formations needed to be disarmed - often by markedly inferior forces - and the boats at sea located and escorted into the harbours of their erstwhile enemies. Neither side knew entirely what to expect, and many of the encounters were tense; in some cases there were unsavoury incidents, and stories of worse. For many Allied personnel it was their first glimpse of the dreaded U-boat menace and both sides were forced to exercise considerable restraint to avoid compromising the terms of Germany's surrender.
One of the last but most dramatic acts of the naval war, the story of how the surrender was handled has never been treated at length before. This book uncovers much new material about the process itself and the ruthless aftermath for both the crews and their boats.

Donitz's Last Gamble

Donitz's Last Gamble 

The Inshore U-Boat Campaign 1944-45

Lawrence Paterson
Found in: Naval: Iron & Steel
All Seaforth Books
Hardback 192 pages
ISBN: 9781844157143

Published: 20 March 2008

After the June 1944 D-Day landings D'nitz withdrew his U-boat wolf-packs from the Atlantic convoy war and sent them into coastal waters, where they could harass the massive shipping movements necessary to supply the Allied armies advancing across Europe. Caught unawares by this change of strategy, the Allied anti-submarine forces were ill-prepared for the novel challenges of inshore warfare. It proved surprisingly difficult to locate U-boats that could lie silently on the seabed, and the shallow waters meant less than ideal conditions for sonar propagation. Furthermore, because the battle was nearer home, the U-boats wasted less time on transit, so at any one time there were more of them in combat. In the final months of the war there was also the threat of far more advanced and potent submarine types entering German service, but thanks largely to overwhelming numbers of escorts this last gamble by D'nitz was defeated. In fact, the Allied navies had never really established superiority, and this was to have enormous significance later during the Cold War, when the same tactics were planned by the Soviets. Since it had such a major impact on post-war naval thinking, it is a story of the utmost importance told by an accomplished U-boat author.

Most histories of the Battle of the Atlantic pretty much end after Operation Overlord in June of 1944 when the U-Boats were assigned missions to UK and Canadian inshore waters.. Author Lawrence Paterson brings to life in this story of the campaign in UK waters.

This thoroughly researched book is largely written from the German perspective with tremendous insights on bases, personnel and equipment. The German hope was the UK campaign would buy them time until the revolutionary Type XXI and XXIII boats could come into service. Fortunately for the Allies, the RAF/USAAF bombing campaign interrupted the program sufficiently so that the new boats couldn't take part in the battle in a meaningful manner. Postwar trials on captured boats indicated just how advanced they were and the devastation they could have had on the war effort.

Two small quibbles about the book - the photo of page 42 is taken on a Canadian Tribal Class destroyer sometime after 1950 or so and the meager mention in the text about the rapid introduction of wreck charts for UK waters rapidly drafted as part of the UK inshore campaign.

The book is an excellent addition to the historical narrative of this often ignored period of history. We look forward to reviewing Mr Paterson's other book "Black Flag."