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

Hans Jacob Goebeler (Author), John Vanzo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 20, 2004

Hans Goebeler is known as the man who "pulled the plug" on U-505 in 1944 to keep his beloved U-boat out of Allied hands. Steel Boat, Iron Hearts is his no-holds-barred account of service aboard a combat U-boat. It is the only full-length memoir of its kind, and Goebeler was aboard for every one of U-505's war patrols.

Using his own experiences, log books, and correspondence with other U-boat crewmen, Goebeler offers rich and very personal details about what life was like in the German Navy under Hitler. Because his first and last posting was to U-505, Goebeler's perspective of the crew, commanders, and war patrols paints a vivid and complete portrait unlike any other to come out of the Kriegsmarine. He witnessed it all: from deadly sabotage efforts that almost sunk the boat to the tragic suicide of the only U-boat commander who took his life during WWII; from the terror and exhilaration of hunting the enemy, to the seedy brothels of France. The vivid, honest, and smooth-flowing prose calls it like it was and pulls no punches.

U-505 was captured by Captain Dan Gallery's Guadalcanal Task Group 22.3 on June 4, 1944. Trapped by this "Hunter-Killer" group, U-505 was depth-charged to the surface, strafed by machine gun fire, and boarded. It was the first ship captured at sea since the War of 1812! Today, hundreds of thousands of visitors tour U-505 each year at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.

Included a special Introduction by Keith Gill, Curator of U-505, Museum of Science and Industry.

About the Authors: Hans Jacob Goebeler served as control room mate aboard U-505. He died in 1999. John P. Vanzo is a former defense program analyst. He teaches political science and geography at Bainbridge College in Georgia.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Hans Goebeler is known as the man who “pulled the plug” on U-505 in 1944 to keep his beloved U-boat out of Allied hands. 'Steel Boat, Iron Hearts' is his no-holds-barred account of service aboard a combat U-boat. It is the only full-length memoir of its kind, and Goebeler was aboard for every one of U-505’s war patrols.

Using his own experiences, log books, and correspondence with other U-boat crewmen, Goebeler offers rich and very personal details about what life was like in the German Navy under Hitler. Because his first and last posting was to U-505, Goebeler’s perspective of the crew, commanders, and war patrols paints a vivid and complete portrait unlike any other to come out of the Kriegsmarine. He witnessed it all: from deadly sabotage efforts that almost sunk the boat to the tragic suicide of the only U-boat commander who took his life during WWII; from the terror and exhilaration of hunting the enemy, to the seedy brothels of France. The vivid, honest, and smooth-flowing prose calls it like it was and pulls no punches.

U-505 was captured by Captain Dan Gallery’s Guadalcanal Task Group 22.3 on June 4, 1944. Trapped by this “Hunter-Killer” group, U-505 was depth-charged to the surface, strafed by machine gun fire, and boarded. It was the first ship captured at sea since the War of 1812! Today, hundreds of thousands of visitors tour U-505 each year at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.

Included a special Introduction by Keith Gill, Curator of U-505, Museum of Science and Industry.

Author Hans Jacob Goebeler served as control room mate aboard U-505. He died in 1999, and author John P. Vanzo is a former defense program analyst. He teaches political science and geography at Bainbridge College in Georgia.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Savas Beatie; 1st HC trade ed. edition (December 20, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932714073
• ISBN-13: 978-1932714074
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,805,027 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars U-505 brought to life by a former crewmember, February 11, 2005

By 

Terry Miller "Executive Director, Tin Can Sai... - See all my reviews

This review is from: Steel Boat, Iron Hearts: A U-boat Crewman's Life Aboard U-505 (Hardcover)

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.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An incredible personal journey., June 2, 2007

By 

Ned Middleton (British professional underwater photo-journalist & author) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Steel Boat Iron Hearts: The Wartime Saga of Hans Goebeler and U-505 (Paperback)

During WW2, this author completed every single war patrol aboard the German submarine U-505. Towards the end of the war it was the author himself - as a very junior crewman, who had the final task of trying to sink his U-Boat after it had been forced to the surface by enemy fire. It was a gallant attempt that was thwarted only by an equally gallant American Navy which finally captured the submarine intact - complete with all it's operational codes.

In 1954, Han Goebeler read an article which informed him his beloved U-Boat was now part of an exhibition in Chicago and promptly moved with his wife to be near the machine that once meant so much to him. It wasn't long before he would be found giving personal talks to visitors. Over the years he also brought former adversaries together in reunions.

This book is his story. From those early beginnings in the Kriegsmarine until his death in 1999, he recalls just about everything that ever happened to him. He was not a Nazi, nor was he a demon or monster - just an ordinary man who was called upon to serve his country as did what any of us would do - he served. It is a moving story in which the reader will soon become gripped by the reality of life - and death!, on board a German U-Boat at time of war - although there is much to it than just that.

Rest in Peace Hans Goebeler - you earned it.

NM

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "What does Shakespeare have to say about U-boats?", January 29, 2005

By 

Neal Stevens - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Steel Boat, Iron Hearts: A U-boat Crewman's Life Aboard U-505 (Hardcover)

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. www.subsim.com/books Full Review

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.