Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.

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.

As mentioned in the summary above, this book is, for the most part, a compilation of 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 a bit of new material about tactics. I say "for the most part" because some of the information and many of the photos from the 'U-Boat Bases and Bunkers' book is noticeably absent from this one. The major problem with this book, however, is the author's repeated attempts to paint the U-Boat's war as MORE chivalrous than that of their Allied counterparts. I've no problem with someone stating that they behaved no better or worse than the Allies. Indeed, part of the appeal for me of U-Boats is that they don't suffer from the moral stain that the SS and Heer do. The problem is that Williamson bends over backwards to paint U-Boat men as much more well-behaved and morally upstanding than their British and American colleagues. If the author wishes to claim that Heinz Eck is no worse than Mush Morton, I'm all for it, but for Williamson to claim that Eck's behavior was the one solitary blot on the wartime record of the U-Bootwaffe is either ignorant or dishonest. Williamson also takes great pains to mention cases where U-Boats would come under attack while trying to rescue survivors of Allied ships, yet he neglects to mention that there were also times when Allied vessels tried to rescue survivors from stricken U-Boats only to come under attack from other U-Boats. In short, this book has much to offer in terms of basic information and has a good selection of photos and drawings. The downside is an obvious bias on the part of the author (obvious to anyone who's readings on the subject go beyond the outright apologetics of Jak Mallmann-Showell, anyway).

GREAT BOOK BY A GREAT MAN, VERY INTERESTING ON HOW THESE SAILORS SUFFERED IN THE BOATS