Steel Boat, Iron Hearts: A U-boat Crewman's Life Aboard U-505

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Summary: U-505 brought to life by a former crewmember
Review: German vessels like the U-505 were not true submarines but were what the author calls, "submersibles" because they were designed more as surface ships capable of submerging for several hours when necessary. That fact figures prominently in Hans Goebeler's fascinating account of what life aboard a German U-Boat was like. Throughout the book you never forget that he was an enemy sailor doing his duty to try to sink Allied ships but he is a sympathetic character in that the reader will be able to readily identify with him and will consider what he would have done had he been born in Germany at that time.

U-505 experienced a lot prior to her capture by then-Captain Dan Gallery's task force of destroyer escorts and we learn of it all through the eyes of a nineteen-year old sailor whose affection for his boat nearly all of us can understand. He does not try to paint himself as a better man than he really was, and relates his life as he lived it, warts and all.

After he retired, Goebeler moved with his wife to Chicago to be near the U-505, now a museum ship at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. He conducted many reunions, both of German submarine veterans and of the ships that participated in the capture and many where the former enemies attended together. Goebeler died in 1999 before his book was published but his collaborator, John Vanzo, a professor of political science and geography at Bainbridge College in Bainbridge, Georgia has done an excellent job of bringing it to life for the reader. This is a very good book and I recommend it highly.




Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and Valuable Historical Memoir
Review: Hans Goebeler's "Steel Boat, Iron Hearts: A U-boat Crewman's Life aboard U-505" was originally self-published in a paper edition in 1999. This new revised hardcover edition includes additional text and photos and provides "Steel Boat" with the national exposure it deserves. The author made every patrol about U-505, which was captured in June 1944 and is today preserved and can be visited at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. In addition to being a fast-paced and compelling account of the terrifying life experienced aboard WWI submarines, Goebeler's book is the only full-length memoir published by an enlisted man from the Kriegsmarine, which makes it doubly valuable as a historical source. Goebeler was a keen observer, and he worked in the control room, where the key decisions were made about U-boats. While on duty there he witnessed the suicide of the boat's second skipper during a depth-charge bombardment. Goebeler makes no apologies for the war, and writes candidly about his service, including his time in France drinking, carousing with prostitutes, and fighting. His memoir is well written, entertaining, and useful. Includes a Foreword by Keith Gill, U-505's curator. ISBN: 1-932714-07-3; 22 photos, 3 maps, index, HC. d.j. 288 pages. $32.95. Highly Recommended.

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Summary: "What does Shakespeare have to say about U-boats?"
Review: Machinist Second Class Hans Goebeler often heard this and other teasing remarks from his crewmates aboard the U-505 because he read English literature to improve his mastery of the language. You could venture a guess that Shakespeare and Robert Louis Stevenson had nothing to say about U-boats but to history's benefit Goebeler certainly does. Part memoir and part operational log, Goebeler's Steel Boat, Iron Hearts: A U-boat Crewman's Life Aboard U-505 conveys the glories, struggles, and capture of the only museum-exhibited Type IXC U-boat in existence today.

By February 1942 the Battle of the Atlantic was turning against the U-boats. Goebeler was fresh out of the enlisted sailor's U-bootschule. He was assigned to U-505, which had just arrived in Lorient, France from the yards in Germany and was being readied for service. It was the beginning of a strong bond between the patriotic young German and his submarine, a remarkable life-long association that would see him as the U-505's crewmember, failed executioner, and ultimately her defender.

Written with the capable assistance of writer JohnVanzo, this book is notable because it is provides a non-officer's perspective. Goebeler was assigned to the diving manifold station, which made him a fixture in the control room. On a U-boat, anyone not stationed in the control room or bridge could only find out about combat events second hand. Being stationed within sight and sound of the U-boat's nerve center allowed Goebeler to witness the captain's decisions and actions. Goebeler dutifully kept diaries, notes, mementos, and reminders of his service aboard U-505, which, along with subsequent research and a copy of the ship's log, served as the core for this book. <a href="http://www.subsim.com/books/">Full Review</A>

Accurate, highly detailed, and well-written, Steel Boat, Iron Hearts is worthy to fill that space on your bookshelf between Raiders of the Deep and Iron Coffins.