IRON COFFINS

by Herbert A. Werner ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 18, 1969

During the bleak months of 1941 when German U-boats had sunk more than 700 ships bringing vital goods to besieged Britain, Churchill spoke grimly of the ""wolf-packs"" that cut down ships faster than they could be built. This is an account of that warfare as experienced by a former U-boat commander who at the end of the war was captain of one of the three U-boats still afloat. Until March, 1943, it was a story of unbroken triumph but a gigantic Allied counteroffensive turned the hunters into the hunted. As Ensign, then Executive Officer and Captain, Werner served during the enforced, long submersions in which the boats became ""mold-ridden, diesel hammering, oxygen-lacking, urine-reeking, excrement-laden cockleshells."" At fast he did not question the war -- but as the Reich crumbled, his disillusionment was complete.... Well written, without bravado or mock modesty, and on occasion stirring.

Pub Date: Sept. 18, 1969

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Holt, Rinehart & Winston

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1969

Categories: NONFICTION