Hunt and Kill: U-505 and the U-boat War in the Atlantic

Rating:
Summary: An Outstanding History About this "Lucky" Boat!
Review: I buy about every book written about Uboats. There is more to choose from today than ever. In all frankness the best material has been coming out the past few years. This book is a must-have, must-read title.

Hunt & Kill is a collection of scholarly (but readable and easy to understand) chapters on the entire life of this boat. Information is offered on everthing from before its keel was laid up to today (yes, 2004), where she is visited by thousands of tourists every year in Chicago. The chapters read very quickly and are full of fresh and new information (about the crew, Type IX boats like U-505, the capture, German mistakes, and the boat's preservation.) I will agree with the other reviewer on this page that all were great reading, and the last chapter about how the boat got to Chicago and how it was (is) preserved was the sleeper of the bunch. I mean that in the good sense. If you have been following the news, you know U-505 is being transferred below ground into a new wing at the museum. It is about time!

If you really want to know about the long life and many patrols of a combat U-boat, this is a great place to start (or end). This is supposedly considered a jinxed submarine, but that is just baloney. Most of those who served on U-505 lived to be old men (a rarity in the U-boat service that saw 80% losses), and unlike the vast majority of German subs, this one sunk multiple allied ships before it was trapped and captured off Africa in 1944. The writers make all this clear. Put this one in your library and keep it. I recommend it highly.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent and Complete Account of U-505--Long Overdue
Review: I purchased this book at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. I almost did not because I was running late, but am certainly glad I took the time. I own most of the books written by the contributors, who are tops on this subject (Mulligan, Vause, Rust, and others). That was the biggest reason for standing in line.

As an avid student of U-boat history, I found this title well researched, very well written and edited, and handsomely constructed. It is essentially a chronological account of the U-505, from its construction through it war patrols (I was not aware of this boat's numerous early successes), capture, and final transportation to Chicago in the 1950s. It is well balanced given the subject matter (it is, after all, largely about a single U-boat) with perspectives from both sides, which I appreciated.

For example, Mulligan writes about the crewmen aboard the U-boat (very indepth, well written, and endlessly interesting), but Jak Showell and Mark Wise (I am unfamilar with Wise) write just as in-depth on Allied intelligence and the hunt for the U-505. This is the best account of the search and intelligence I have read, and is based upon primary materials.

Two other articles describe the boat's patrols (both written by Lawrence Paterson, an up and coming U-boat author whose books I own but have not yet read). The first details the many patrols before June 1944, and the last describing the final patrol in some detail as the boat becomes trapped by the Allied Task Group.

Vause's chapter on what was going on inside the boat from the German command perspective during the final minutes was also exceptional. It altered my limited "understanding" of the event, and I enjoyed the way he brought in other U-boat commanders for commentary and expertise. I also recommend Vaus's book "Wolf" highly.

The first chapter by Eric Rust (whose book on Crew 34 is must reading for everyone) details the operational history of Type IX boats like the U-505 during WWII. It is finely written.

The last and longest contribution is by Keith Gill, who is the curator of the U-505 at the museum. I was the least interested in this chapter until I read it. It sets forth just how difficult it was to get the boat there, and all the behind the scenes stupidity that nearly sunk the project. It fleshes out the full story of the U-505 and discusses her final place in history.

Erich Topp of the Red Devil boat (u-552) provides a short but interesting Foreword, and Rust a very nicely sketched Introduction.

There is not a single weak contribution here. All are well written, well researched, and well edited (and endless interesting). They dovetail nicely together with very little overlap in coverage, and unlike so many books on this subject, add something lasting to the discussion. The editor, Theodore Savas, who wrote a very nice Editor's Preface that set the tone for the entire book, must be congratulated for his work with these fine writers and historians, many of whom collaborated with him on another book called "Silent Hunters: German U-boat Commanders of World War II" (which I also own but have not yet read). Bravo to all of you.

Rating:
Summary: exciting and informative
Review: I'm not usually reading "documentary" type books. however, this work certainly changes my views of what is possible. the material was presented in a coherent manner with one chapter building on the previous ones. the experience and knowledge of the various contributors along with the excellent editing developed an exciting storyline. the photo's were excellent as were the various appendices, which served to restate, in a differing format, what the previous chapters had touched upon.
i feel very knowledgeable about u-505 and much of the german submarine program. thanks for making this fine book available.

Rating:
Summary: exciting and informative
Review: I'm not usually reading "documentary" type books. however, this work certainly changes my views of what is possible. the material was presented in a coherent manner with one chapter building on the previous ones. the experience and knowledge of the various contributors along with the excellent editing developed an exciting storyline. the photo's were excellent as were the various appendices, which served to restate, in a differing format, what the previous chapters had touched upon.
i feel very knowledgeable about u-505 and much of the german submarine program. thanks for making this fine book available.

Rating:
Summary: Great writers, first rate book
Review: There has been great interest in the Museum of Science and Industry's current restoration of U-505. With perfect timing, this newly released book will help fill a gap in people's knowledge of the U-boat war in general, and U-505's remarkable history in particular.

Most people know U-505 was captured intact, and eventually became the chief exhibit at the MSI in Chicago. The fact that it was the first warship captured by the US Navy since the War of 1812, and the only warship captured during WWII, makes U-505 of great historic value. Stopping there, however, would sell the story short. Before and after its capture, the boat enjoyed an extremely interesting career. Most U-boats ended their war as final resting places for their crews or, if they were lucky, survived the war without any successes to speak of. Neither was true for U-505.

Hunt and Kill: U-505 and the U-boat War in the Atlantic, edited by Theodore P. Savas, is not just another "How U-505 was captured" story. Instead, it is a collection of chapters by some of the best U-boat historians writing today. Gathering them all together to write on this subject was a risky proposition, for many similar compendiums produce a disjointed and unfocused book of uneven quality. Theodore Savas, as an experienced editor and writer, has avoided these pitfalls by gathering the finest talent available and getting the best possible from each contributor. The various chapters fit seamlessly together and add substantially to the final product.

The greatest U-boat man alive today, Erich Topp (U-552), opens the book with a Foreword that is typically reflective of what the subject means for mankind. The other contributors are mostly well known to aficionados of U-boat books. Timothy Mulligan and Eric Rust in particular make welcome and long overdue returns (with Rust contributing a moving Introduction). Other familiar names are Lawrence Paterson, Jak Mallmann Showell and Jordan Vause. These veteran writers are joined by Mark Wise, a naval intelligence officer, and Keith Gill, U-505's curator in Chicago at the MSI.

The story of U-505 is shaped by two complex components: the type of U-boat it was, and the men that gave it life. The Type IX was a weapons system and thus the limitations and strengths of this system's design imparted a template for the successes and failures experienced by its crew. With great clarity and insight, Eric Rust writes of the corresponding strategic successes and failures of the larger picture of Type IX deployments in "No Target too Far: The Genesis, Concept, and Operations of Type IX U-boats in World War II."

While in some part mirroring the whole U-boat war, Type IXs in many respects enjoyed a separate experience apart from the war fought by the Type VIIs. Rust presents compelling arguments for what made Type IX operations unique in their repeated successes as the long reaching arm of the Kriegsmarine. Often misunderstood and underrated, the Type IX was a design that repaid astute deployment, even rating statistically better in some ways than the more famous Type VII. Well read U-boat fans and newcomers alike will find much of interest here, as Rust paves the way for the balance of the chapters that follow.

Like all warships, the organic component making up each individual u-boat was critical to its success. The close working relationships aboard these boats form a large part of the 'mystique' that intrigues so many of us. Timothy Mulligan shows why U-505 personified Karl Döntz's famous statement that a U-boat crew was a "community bound by fate." In a chapter of the same name, and in his customarily meticulous but easy style, Mulligan covers in depth the men who made up U-505's crew, their positions, and their changing makeup due to crew turnover during the boat's career. He cuts through the numbers and details to paint a clear picture of what was really going on in U-505 and the larger U-bootwaffe at different times as fortunes waxed and waned.

For readers who enjoyed Mulligan's masterful examination of the men of the U-bootwaffe in his book Neither Sharks Nor Wolves, this is a welcome repeat demonstration of his talent for seeing through numbers, names and dates and finding an underlying trend, a human side to the procession of more than 100 different men who served aboard U-505. Where Mulligan's book turns a scholar's eye to the whole community of submariners, this chapter focuses on the story of a single boat. As he concludes, the background and character of the men who crewed U-boats are not easily defined, and thus defy stereotyping.

Mulligan offers relevant insights into the background and personal stories of many who served on U-505. One hundred and fifteen officers and men were assigned to U-505. Unfortunately, there was not room to give them all mention, but the examples we see are representative in their variety. This section is a pivotal element to the book, for the events that follow are indeed those of a shared community, who like any other combat unit, had its fair share of ordinary men, enigmatic men, men who rose to the occasion, men who did their best, and some men who failed when put to the test. Mulligan also disproves the notion that U-505 was an unlucky boat, for most of the men who served on U-505 survived the war. For a service that suffered losses like no other before or since, that alone is a noteworthy observation.

Lawrence Paterson offers the next chapter, telling the story of U-505 from an operational point of view. "From Lion's Roar to Blunted Axe: The Combat Patrols of U-505" carries the readers along as the boat is launched, commissioned, worked up, and sent to the front to hunt allied shipping. Few people realize U-505 made several successful patrols before her last effort off the west coast of Africa. This is Paterson's expertise: bringing to life operational histories. Those who have read his First U-Boat Flotilla and Second U-boat Flotilla books will know what to expect: detailed, accurate narrative woven around anecdotes, facts, and official records from primary sources. Paterson is a prolific writer with three published books and a fourth on the way.

Paterson fans get a bonus chapter later in the book called "Collision Course: Task Group 22.3 and the Hunt for U-505," which tells about the final fateful encounter between the Allied hunters and the Axis U-boat. Savas made a good choice here, as Paterson always breathes life into operational details and "tells history" with ease.

Many readers are familiar with Ultra and the project to break the ciphers used by BdU to communicate with and control U-boat operations. Mark Wise and Jak Showell shed light on the lesser known story of the American side of the intelligence war. Wise is a signals intelligence specialist and much of what is offered in their joint chapter entitled "Deciphering the U-boat War: The Role of Intelligence in the Capture of U-505" was new to me.

Another overdue return to U-boat writing is Jordan Vause's contribution, a much needed analysis of the moments leading up to the capture of U-505 from the perspective of the Germans. "Desperate Decisions: The German Loss of U-505" offers an in depth examination of not just what happened at the time of the boat's capture, but why it happened. Vause shows us that actions and decisions have consequences, and some decisions lead irrevocably down a path that can't be altered. It is written in the typical Vause style.

The story of U-505 does not end with the boat's capture. I admit that initially I was a little dubious about the final section, but soon realized how wrong I was. Keith Gill, the boat's curator, tells a fascinating story of how U-505 escaped scrapping to become the MSI's star exhibit in "Project 356: U-505 and the Journey to Chicago." It was not, as many think, just simple matter of towing U-505 to Chicago and putting her on exhibit. Getting the boat there was nearly impossible, and Gill offers a gripping account of the constant on-the-edge failure, politics, bickering, money, egos, legal hassles, and behind-the-scenes maneuvering. Now you can find out the whole story. Gill makes it clear that we really are lucky the boat survived all the bureaucratic bungling to be preserved as a memorial for us all to see and ponder. Gill also casts aside the "unlucky boat" label often attached to U-505. After reading Hunt and Kill you will agree with him.

There are 3 maps of U-505's operational patrols and over 60 photos in Hunt and Kill. Comprehensive explanatory (and very interesting) notes and informative appendixes round off this well executed book. The writers are all perfectly suited for their topics, the subject is deeply interesting, and with current restoration and re-housing of U-505, the timing is perfect. Savas has once more assembled a star team of writers and together they have produced a winner. He also makes it clear that the book could not have been accomplished without their expertise.

If you are interested in U-boats or Naval History, Hunt and Kill: U-505 and the U-boat War in the Atlantic is a must have.

Rating:
Summary: Hunt and Kill:U-505and the u-boote war in the Atlantic
Review: This group of authors have hit the mark on the subject of the life and capture of U-505.It gives the reader a feeling of being there,on the long and sometimes successful patrols.The battering U-505 took on earlier patrols,until it was finally captured.The book gives both sides of events during the search and boarding.Luck and a lot of hard work went into capturing U-505,this book gives the best account from both sides.And does it well.

Rating:
Summary: Richly Satisfying U-boat Account
Review: U-505 is one of the best-known submarines from any era, largely because it survived the war and is today toured by large numbers of people at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. Its rather remarkable history, together with how it ended up in Illinois, is told well and deeply in this collection of essays by leading scholars in the U-boat field. U-505 was captured in a daring display of seamanship by Guadalcanal Task Group 22.3 on June 4, 1944. Up until that time, the boat had experienced incredible events, including successes in sinking the enemy, the suicide of a commander while on patrol, sabotage that nearly sank the boat, and much more. Especially impressive in the scholarly examination of the German crew; how intelligence was utilized to capture the boat; and the complicated story of how it ended up in Chicago. Contributors include: Erich Topp (U-552, Odyssey of a U-boat Commander); Eric Rust (Naval Officers Under Hitler); Timothy Mulligan (Neither Sharks Nor Wolves); Jak Mallmann 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 R. Gill (Curator, U-505, Museum of Science and Industry), and editor Theodore P. Savas (editor, Silent Hunters: German U-boat Commanders of World War II; author, Nazi Millionaries). ISBN: 1-932714-01-4; 62 photos, maps, appendices, extensive notes, index, cloth. 320 pp. $32.95. Highly Recommended.