Shadow Divers Exposed: the Real Saga of the U-869 [Paperback]

Gary Gentile (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1883056241 | ISBN-13: 978-1883056247 | Publication Date: May 29, 2006

The U-869 was one of more than 1,200 U-boats that were constructed for the Nazi war machine. It was sunk off the American eastern seaboard by a combination hedgehog and depth-charge attack. There were no survivors to tell the tragic tale. Now, for the first time, the real saga of the U-869 can be told in full. Archival documents have established that the U-boat was sunk by two American destroyer escorts. Seven crewmembers of those aggressive warships have supplemented the official record with their personal recollections. Shadow Divers Exposed works on a multitude of levels. It presents the actual circumstances that surrounded the loss of the U-869. It puts the discovery of the U-869 into perspective with other U-boats that have been found in American waters. It provides an overview of the U-boat war through accounts of other U-boat losses. And it corrects some of the gross errors, wild exaggerations, and deliberate distortions that filled the pages of Shadow Divers. The author interviewed a number of witnesses whose testimony contradicted the theatrical plot and boastful embellishments that formed the essential ingredients of Shadow Divers. Some of these witnesses actually performed the deeds for which the chosen protagonists of Shadow Divers were given credit. These witnesses disputed many of the fictitious elements that ran rampant through the pages of Shadow Divers. By means of forensic analyses of shipwreck collapse, torpedo mechanics, and U-boat survivors' accounts, the present volume explains why the U-869 could not have been sunk by a circular run of its own torpedo - as Shadow Divers had its uninformed readers believe.

Product Details

• Paperback: 380 pages
• Publisher: Bellerophon Bookworks (May 29, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1883056241
• ISBN-13: 978-1883056247
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #230,849 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

168 of 174 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your money, January 7, 2007

By 

Blondie59 (EGV IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shadow Divers Exposed: the Real Saga of the U-869 (Paperback)

For days, as I've been struggling through Gentile's book, I've been turning over in my mind what to write in a review. However, I just read the previous reviewer's comments, and he took the words right out of my mouth. This book was juvenile and unprofessional. It could have been done in a magazine article, as the diver who brought the topic to Gentile's attention suggested. I think if Gentile had actually had an editor look at the text and clean up all of his "emotionally-charged" verbage, it might have been worth reading and considering his points. However, he so loaded it with invective toward Chatterton and Kohler that it was indeed more like a first-grader's tattling than a professional writer who boasts about having written "over 30 books on wreck-diving". Got news for ya Gary, just because you've published 30 books, doesn't mean you know how to write.

Kurson's book Shadow Diver's was much better written and a more enjoyable read that actually developed and told a story, whether the two protagonists exaggerated their exploits or not. The fact was, I read Shadow Divers to hear the story of the history and discovery of the U-869, what she's like now, what the diver's saw, etc. I don't give a rip about who performed CPR on who or who performed the primary research at the Naval Archives or who created the gate idea on the Andrea Doria.

Gentile's book was choppy (skipped around a lot and you had no idea where some of the stuff came from or why it was being brought up, except to discredit Chatterton and Kohler in every way that Gentile could imagine), not pleasant to read, and actually insulting to the reader in it's tone and reference.

Although the first half of the book is a waste, the appendicies are pretty interesting. They present current information on the condition of the sub, observations from other wreck-diving that Gentile has done, and info on other U-boats. That material was interesting reading, but it still continues the diatribe against Chatterton and Kohler wherever possible. I do not recommend wasting your TIME on this book, even if you can purchase it for 50c.

99 of 102 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Nit-picking and unreadable, November 8, 2006

By 

Cameron Williams (Mesa, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shadow Divers Exposed: the Real Saga of the U-869 (Paperback)

I want my $25 and 5 hours of my life back. If you read Shadow Divers, then just assume that other people played a big role in the diving and research and accept as an alternative theory that the boat was sunk by depth charges. You can now skip this book.

The pace is tedious. His style of addressing his "faithful readers" grows tiresome quickly. The appendix detailing "niggling inaccuracies" is just embarassing. Does anyone really care if it's grapple or grapnel, or if Kurson uses "man" instead of "diver" or "person"?

You have the impression that something else drove this book, that somehow Gentile was snubbed and is lashing out. I don't doubt his impressive diving and writing creditials. However, this book was better left unwritten.

71 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not worth the money!, February 16, 2007

By 

Ben B (Hummelstown, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shadow Divers Exposed: the Real Saga of the U-869 (Paperback)

I guess basically, someone is lying! This book was written to correct the events that happened in the book Shadow Divers, by Robert Kurson. After reading both, and making the disclaimer that I have no loyalty or affiliation to either author, I will make the statement that I believe the original to be true with the caveat; things get lost in translation.

After reading much of this book, I realized quickly that the author may have a personal issue with the two main divers in Shadow Divers, Richie Kohler, and John Chatterton, because he apparently has an agenda to disprove each and every move they make claiming that certain people who were present for much of the story (as well as him) had a different outlook on each and every situation.

First and foremost, he constantly re-states his opinion of what actually happened to the U-boat , versus what Shadow Divers claimed happened to the U-boat. Since none of the parties involved were present for the actual sinking, I don't doubt either theory could be true, why dwell on something that can't obviously be determined? I am not one to discredit Gary Gentile's wreck diving and historical credentials, but his opinion on how the U-boat sank is just as good as the opinion offered in Shadow Divers. I also don't recall Shadow Divers saying that the U-869 definitely beyond a shadow of a doubt was sunk by a circle running torpedo. That is their `theory', I wasn't the entire basis for the story, and it wasn't dwelled upon. [EDIT: I had the opportunity to ask John Chatterton about this theory, and it IS just that...A THEORY!]

One chapter devotes time and effort to several incidents unrelated to the U-869 case that apparently are only there to provide behavioral patterns or show cause for discrediting the divers in question. My mother always told me that if I didn't have anything nice to say about someone, don't say it at all...my advice to the author is the same. Dragging out skeletons from someone's closet is petty.

The book probably would have been more enjoyable if were another diver's take on the story, as opposed to a "he said-she said" expose`. I think most of the differences of opinion and events are just that, differences in who was looking at the story at the moment. There doesn't seem to be a "smoking gun" item proving that something was so wrong with the original story. It almost seemed like the author stayed to the side while everything happened, and commented to everyone except those that were attempting to find the answers, then came in at the end, and tried to cash in on someone else's good fortune.

In summation, there is really no new information worth mentioning from the original book, possibly a minor correction of an event, or a difference of opinion on a certain item from another standpoint, but nothing compelling enough to garner a new novel. The author should stick to writing historical accounts, and leave the exposes` to The Enquirer. I would have enjoyed this more if it were just a pure account of the events through different eyes.