Wolf Pack: The Story of the U-Boat in World War II (General Military) [Hardcover]

Gordon Williamson (Author)

Book Description

Series: General Military | Publication Date: February 5, 2005

Germany's World War II U-Boat fleet represented the elite of their naval personnel. In terms of technology, training, tactics and combat successes, the U-Boat Waffe was far superior to that of any other combatant nation. In this comprehensive book, the wartime development of the U-Boat is traced along with the experiences of typical U-Boat crewmen, from recruitment to combat. The author examines the operational tactics of the U-Boat fleet, as well as describing the massive bunkers that housed them. 'Wolf Pack' contains material taken from Fortress 3: 'U-Boat Bases and Bunkers 1941-45', Warrior 36: 'Grey Wolf: U-Boat Crewman of World War II' and New Vanguards 51 and 55: 'Kriegsmarine U-Boat 1939-45 (1) and (2)', with the addition of a new section on wartime tactics.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gordon Williamson was born in 1951 and currently works for the Scottish Land Register. He spent seven years with the Military Police TA and has published a number of books and articles on the decorations of the Third Reich and their recipients. He is the author of a number of World War II titles for Osprey. He lives in Edinburgh.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing; First Edition edition (February 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841768723
• ISBN-13: 978-1841768724
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,938,801 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars uboat reference, August 18, 2005

By 

jim "Jim" (ottawa canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wolf Pack: The Story of the U-Boat in World War II (General Military) (Hardcover)

since there is no review for this great book.. here goes.
this is only about uboats and deals with all uboat types
technically and their support structure and personel.
it does not deal much with individual boats but some time is spent on history and operations.
It is an excellent reference on uboat bases and bunkers.
the uboat crew and ranks are covered and weapons and tactics are detailed.
There are many photos and some illustrations that I would like to get prints of.
the pc uboat game silent hunter 3 is as good as its top ratings
indicate and it ties in well to this book.
the book is a great value for the serious military reader.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A decent introductory primer (3.5 stars), April 22, 2011

By 

Yoda (Hadera, Israel) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wolf Pack: The Story of the U-Boat in World War II (General Military) (Paperback)

This book, like many of the larger in the Osprey series, is an anthology of previously published Osprey titles. In this particular case, as another reviewer has noted, the publications include: Fortress 3: 'U-Boat Bases and Bunkers 1941-45', Warrior 36: 'Grey Wolf: U-Boat Crewman of World War II' and New Vanguards 51 and 55: 'Kriegsmarine U-Boat 1939-45 (1) and (2)'.

The sections on the development of the U-boats and their tactics between and during the war and quite rudimentary for anyone with more knowledge than that of a novice. Hence these would only be of value of someone new to the field. These chapters provide a very good and succinct overview albeit contain nothing new or anything said before. For those looking for more detail on tactics this reviewer would recommend another book in the Osprey series, "U-Boat Tactics in World War 2" as well as "The U-boat Commander's Handbook" (an English translation of an official Kriegsmarine handbook). For those seeking an overview of life on u-boats from the perspective of u-boat crews this reviewer recommends "U-BOAT Combat Missions" by Lawrence Patterson (one of the world's leading authors on u-boats).


The section on the U-Boat crews is a little more illuminating in that the original publication it was based on "Warrior 36: 'Grey Wolf: U-Boat Crewman of World War II", provided quite a bit of detail (especially photos and illustrations) regarding medals, dress, kit, etc. Hence for those interested in figurine building this would be a very good cost-effective resource. In addition, there is discussion on training, background of crews (especially how the Kriegmarine preferred to recruit those with mechanical skills) and how the caliber of personnel deteriorated over time as the war progressed (although no explicit discussion is given on how this affected U-Boat performance).

The section on fortified U-boat bunkers was probably the best. Very well illustrated. Really showed how these were constructed, how they looked when completed (complete with detailed cut-outs and photos), what functions they performed and how they survived allied attack (quite well, despite the enormous resources the allies spent on trying to destroy them via air raids). The only real weakness of this section of the book is that it puts forward that false impression that the bases were invincible when the fact was the allies, at least starting in mid-1944, were starting to make progress in their tactics. By using precision high-attitude bombing with giants bombs (in the 10 ton range and above) they were actually starting to penetrate these bunkers. Unfortunately, no discussion of this or its implications is even made (or of German counter measures that may have been able to render these tactics ineffective such as smoke screens).

In summary, the book provides a good succinct introduction to the beginner. For those with more knowledge, little would be gained through the 3 or 4 hours required to complete the books.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wolfpack, February 13, 2007

By 

F. Emmett Evans (British Virgin Islands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wolf Pack: The Story of the U-Boat in World War II (General Military) (Hardcover)

The author put in a lot of research to produce this book and much of it is valid. However, when he says that Admiral Donitz tactic of staying on the surface and fighting attacking aircraft was ineffective I take issue with him. VP 205, my old squadron, lost three aircraft and crews in two weeks off Trinidad in the summer of 1943.