U-Boat Commander: A Periscope View of the Battle of the Atlantic (Hardcover)

by Peter Cremer (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes
Text: English, German (translation)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 244 pages
• Publisher: US Naval Institute Press; 7th printing edition (November 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870219693
• ISBN-13: 978-0870219696
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #416,085 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent biography of a successful U-boat Commander., December 23, 1998

By	Dave Rowden (Boynton Beach, Florida) - See all my reviews

This book about the experiences of Peter Cremer and his Unterseeboot (U-boat) U-333, also known as the "Three Little Fishes" because of his conning tower crest of three little fish, reads fairly easily, and will impress the submarine and naval history reader as well as anyone seeking interesting reading of any kind with U-333's amazing exploits. It is testimony to the daring and courage of the U-boats commanders and crews who attempted to make a difference just as our own American sub commanders and crews did in the Pacific against the Japanese Merchant Marine. Definitely worth reading. Some amazing original wartime photographs of U-333's survival of a ramming by an American tanker off Florida as well.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cremer, better than an Insurance Policy., October 31, 2000

By	LeRoy Brady (Cupertino, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This is the way his crew referred to Peter Cremer, and for good reason. When all his contemporary U-boat commander's were going missing in the Atlantic, Cremer kept bringing his boat and his men home. This was no easy feat as the reader will clearly see upon reading this excellent and informative book. In fact many times his U-boat, its crew and himself included often bore the severe scars gained while pulling life out of the seemingly unavoidable clutch that death had on them.

Of 40,000 men serving in the U-boat Arm from 1939-45 30,000 were lost at sea. Higher then any other arm of any participating nation. Yet there morale and conviction never failed. This book gives you a glimpse of the courage it took for those men to go out time and again, after injury, suffering and the eventual realization that despite their efforts and sacrafices they could not prevail. They could merely buy time that in the end ran out like the luck of so many of there comrades.

This is not just a history of the Man and Boat but also reviews the events from both sides to illuminate how the initiative changed and why. You will leave with a better understanding of the Battle of the Atlantic and a respect for a worthy adversary.

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book to read..., July 10, 2007

By	Chem (Charlotte NC, USA) - See all my reviews

I consider this book to be rather better than Bucheim's "Das Boot" (although that movie was excellent)...Cremer's account is very readable, in a more straightforward way, to me. He was a true submariner - Bucheim was not (he was a military journalist). And Cremer remained in the naval industry after the war if I'm not mistaken...I'm not certain which book was written first, but obviously both were written some time after the war so one must wonder how different they would have been had they been written sooner. Perspective changes with time)...Bottom Line: I highly recommend Cremer's book.