Iron Coffins. A Personal Account of the German U-boat Battles of World War II

466 Pages·1978·87.43 MB·English

by  Herbert A. Werner

5
BYAU-BOATCOMMANDER
WHOFOUGHTFORGERMANYIN
THE BATTLEOFTHEATLANTIC
HERBERTA.WERNER /
FOREWORDBY
CAPTAINEDWARDLBEACH, /
U.S.NAVY(RET.) /
RELIVETHETRIUMPH
ANDTHETRAGEDY OFAWORLD
AFIREWITH BANTAM WAR BOOKS
1940
April7—TheH.M.S. Sealionwatchesthe
German invasionfleetsailtoward Norway
whilerulesofengagementpreventanattack
inSubmarineCommanderbyBen Bryant.
1941
December7—TheJapanesesavagely
attacktheU.S. fleetatPearl Harborandthe
air-seawarinthePacificTheaterbeginsin
AboveandBeyondbyWilburMorrison.
December24—Thegallantdefendersof
Wake Islandprovetheirfightingmettleagainst
anoverwhelmingJapaneselandingforcein
TheStoryofWakeIslandbyBrig. Gen.
JamesRS. Devereaux.
1942
August7—TheU.S. Marinesmakeabrave
and bloodylandingonGuadalcanal in The
>o BattleforGuadalcanalbySamuel B. Griffith II.
1943
July8—HansRudel'scannon-firingStuka
takespartinthebiggesttankbattleofWWII
inStukaPilotbyHansUlrich Rudel.
r\j:
o=
»o
V
THE ICEWATER OF
THE NORTH ATLANTIC
WAS THEIR SHROUD
Few escaped these iron coffins that still con-
tain somany ofHitler's navy. They were brave
men, heroes in a wrong cause. They believed
that they were all that stood between their
country and disaster. Expecting death, most of
them found it. This is their story, a terrifying
tale of Germany's U-boat service as told by a
survivor.
THE BANTAM WAR BOOK SERIES
This series ofbooks is aboutaworldonfire.
The carefully chosen volumes in the Bantam War Book
Seriescovertheftilldramatic sweepofWorldWarII. Manyare
eyewitness accounts by the men whofoughtinaglobal conflict
as the world's future hung in the balance. Fighter pilots, tank
commanders and infantry captains, among many others, re-
count exploits of individual courage. They present vivid por-
traits ofbrave men, true stories ofgallantry, moving sagas of
survivalandstarktragediesofuntimelydeath.
In 1933 Nazi Germany marched to become an empire that
was to last a thousand years. In only twelve years that empire
was destroyed, and ever since, the country has been bisected
by herconquerors. Italy relinquished hercolonial lands, asdid
Japan. Thesewerethelosers. Thewinnersalsolosttheempires
they had so painfully seized over the centuries. And one,
Russia, lostovertwenty milliondead.
Those wartime 1940s were a simple, even a hopeful time.
Hats came in only two colors, white and black, and after an
initial battering the Allied nations started on a long laborious
march toward victory. It was a time when sane men believed
the world would evolve into a decent place, but, as with all
futures, there was no one then who could really forecast the
worldthatweknow now.
There are many ways to think about war. It has always
been hard to understand the motivations and braveries ofAxis
soldiersfightingto enslaveanddominatetheirneighbors. Yetit
is impossible to know the hammer without the anvil, and to
comprehend ourselves we must know the people we once
foughtagainst.
Through these books we can discover what it was like to
take part in the war that was a final experience for nearly fifty
million humanbeings. In sodoingwemaydiscoverthestrength
to make a world as good as the one contained in thosedreams
and aspirations once believed by heroic men. We must under-
stand our past as an honor to those dead who can no longer
choose. They exchanged their lives in a hope for this future
that we now inhabit. Though the fight took place many years
ago, each ofus remains asalivingpartofit.
IRON
COFFINS
A
personal account of
the German U-boat battles
of World War U
HERBERT WERNER
by A.
TM
FQLCOW
<8>
BANTAMBOOKS
NEWYORK • TORONTO • LONDON • SYDNEY • AUCKLAND
Thiseditioncontainsthecompletetext
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NOTONEWORDHASBEENOMITTED.
IRONCOFFINS
ABantamFalconBookIpublishedbyarrangementwith
Holt,RinehartandWinston
PRINTINGHISTORY
Holt,RinehartandWinstoneditionpublishedJune1969
AselectionoftheBook-Gf-The-MonthClubJanuary1970
BantameditionIOctober1978
falconandtheportrayalofaboxed'/"aretrademarksofBantamBooks,
adivisionofBantamDoubledayDellPublishingGroup,Inc.
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MapsbyAlanUcKnight.
Allrightsreserved.
Copyright©1969byHerbertA.Werner.
CoverartcopyrightCbyWilliamS.Phillips.
Illustrationscopyright 1978byBantamBooks.
Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedortransmittedinany
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RAD 11 10
DEDICATION
Totheseamenofallnationswho
diedintheBattle oftheAtlantic
inWorldWarn, andespeciallyto
myU-boatcomradeswholieentombed
intheirIronCoffins
There are no roses on a sailor's grave,
No lilies on an ocean wave,
The only tribute is the seagulls' sweeps,
And the teardrops that a sweetheart weeps.
—
Germansong

Contents
Foreword, byCaptainEdwardL.Beach,
USN
(Ret.) xiii
Introduction xix
Part One: Years of Glory i
Part Two: Above Us, Hell 135
PartThree: Disaster and Defeat 255
Epilogue 387
Appendices 409
I: U-boat Losses 1939-1945 411
II: Balance Sheet of the Battle of the Atlantic 412
Glossary 413
AtlanticU-boat,TypeVIJ,WorldWarII
1. Superstructure
2. Pressure!
3.
45.. Officers*quarters
6. Towercomportment
7.
8. Skyperiscope
9. Directionfinder
10* Attackperiscope
11. Anti-aircraftguns(2cm.)
12. Anti-aircraftaims(3.7cm.)
13.
14. tearhydroplanesandtwinscrews.
IS. Motorroomandafttorpedotube
16, Dieselroom •
17. Galleyandwashroom
18. Pettyofficers9quartersandBatteryIbelowdeck
19. Controlroomandroarbulkhead