'A superb work of history' JAMES HOLLAND 'A thrilling account from a master of Second World War
history' DAN SNOW A landmark history of the U-Boat war told through the experiences and
recollections of the U-Boat crews themselves. Winston Churchill famously remarked that the
threat of the German U-Boats was the only thing that had "really frightened" him during World
War Two. The U-Boats certainly claimed a bitter harvest among Allied shipping: nearly 3 000
ships were sunk for a total tonnage of over 14 million tonnes nearly 70% of Allied shipping
losses in all theatres of the war. With justification then they are an integral part of the
traditional narrative of the Battle of the Atlantic a story of technological brilliance
dramatic sinkings life and death and - of course - the sinister unseen threat of the U-Boats
themselves. For Allied seamen during the war the U-Boat was a hidden menace a faceless killer
lurking beneath the waves and the urgent needs of survival afforded them little time or energy
to consider the challenges and privations of their enemy. History however affords us that
time and energy and any pretence of comprehensiveness demands that we consider what life was
like for the crews of those most claustrophobic vessels packed into a steel hull at the mercy
of the enemy of the elements - and of basic physics. Germany's U-Boat crews posted the highest
per-capita losses of any combat arm during World War Two. Some 30 000 German submariners were
killed - over 75% of the total number deployed - the vast majority of whom have no grave except
the seabed. Using archival sources unpublished diaries and existing memoir literature this
book will give the U-Boatmen back their voice allowing their side of the narrative to be aired
in a comprehensive manner for the first time. With that testimony Wolfpack takes the reader
from the heady early days of the war when U-Boat crews were buoyed with optimism about their
cause through to the challenges of meeting the Allied counterthreat to the final horror of
defeat when their submarines were captured by the enemy or scuttled in ignominy. Using the
U-Boatmen's own voices to punctuate an engaging narrative it tells their story of courage
certainly but also of fear privation and - ultimately - failure.
