Steel Boat, Iron Hearts by Hans Goebeler
This is a short book, 258 pages, one of those you can't put down. Goebeler was a crewman who did four war patrols on U-505. The book details life under Nazi ideology and gives you an idea of how their mindset led them to believe they faced a desperate situation that warranted the commitment of every "loyal German" to bring victory.
Prospective u-boat men underwent grueling training, even infantry training was demanded. A lot of his stories are sort of universal sailor stories. Girl in every port type stuff except a lot if his girls worked for a living. He had three skippers, two good ones and one idiot. The idiot wound up cracking under pressure during a depth charge attack and wound up shooting himself in the head.
I did not realize the subs needed as much overhaul as they did. As the war progressed substandard maintenance and even sabotage became commonplace.
Goebeler, who eventually moved to Chicago, often acted as a docent on the 505, but died in 1995 of cancer. He has had his detractors and in kind he takes exception to a lot of detractors of the U-505 and its crew.
At the end you wind up wanting more details about the characters lives and wish the book would go on. Isn't that the very definition of s good book?
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