Submarines at War

Submarine warfare not only took its combatants in World Wars I and II into the oceans' terrifying deeps, but also subjected them to crowded, unhygienic, frequently dispiriting, and incredibly hazardous conditions. Yet fear and despair among submariners were regularly countered by courage and camaraderie, and the dangers these men faced daily were no less real than the triumph they felt in victory, or simple survival. For up to two months at a stretch a submarine might be home to its officers and crew, a home which might also become a tomb. Among the combating nations in World War II, submarine warfare claimed the lives of 40,000 men. Bringing the gripping and often horrifying World War experiences of submariners to the page, this history offers more than well-researched facts and concretely detailed events. It conjures up the emotions of the servicemen and the sensations of combat, drawing extensively upon written firsthand accounts and dozens of interviews with veterans of submarine warfare. With a focus on the experiences of the officers and men—most of them in their early twenties—Submarines at War chronicles the triumphs of Allied submarines, the plights of the German U-boats, and lesser-known maneuvers of the Russians, Italians, and French.