by Homer Hickam

Hardbound edition first published by Naval Institute, Annapolis in 1989, containing 392 pages, 45 photographs. Available as of July 1989 from the publisher.

This is a highly detailed account of the U-Boat activities off the US coastal waters, focusing primarily on early 1942. While it was written primarily from the Allied point of view, research was conducted to identify the German U-Boats involved. However, no German participants were interviewed, which would have added significantly to the book. Many of the photographs are of U-Boats.

EDITOR NOTE – HOMER HICKAM was former Member #1235-1989. We learned that RADM JOHN ALGER (1233-+-1989), US Coast Guard ASW Skipper during the war, had sent a blistering letter to HICKAM, objecting to a passage in the book that indicated that U-552 under Konter Admiral ERICH TOPP (118-LIFE-1985) had machine gunned survivors of a sunken ship off the American coast. This simply was not true and apparently our editorial concerning this item didn’t sit well with HICKAM, as he did not renew his Membership.

An unfortunate situation, but we demand accurate history here – and to claim a submarine Skipper murdered helpless men in the water when it is not true, is considered most serious – it is unacceptable.