OTTO KRETSCHMER: ACE OF THE U-BOATS
Embark for the North Atlantic with the ace of the U-Boats, and hunt down Allied convoys!
With 47 ships sunk for a total of 274,333 tons and five steamers damaged in barely twenty months, Otto Kretschmer established himself as the "tonnage king" of German submariners, the ace of aces of the U-Bootwaffe — a title he would hold until the end of the war.
This book is the fruit of meticulous research by Lawrence Paterson, one of the most brilliant British military historians of the moment, a specialist in submarine warfare and a member of the research group at the Royal Navy Museum in Gosport.
Secure Payment
Delivery
(+33) 01.79.75.05.50
This biography (at last available in French) establishes itself as a definitive work on the life and career of the Kaleunt of U99. Setting out to unravel the mysteries and enigmas of the taciturn character of Otto Kretschmer, the author presents his childhood and youth, his stay in Great Britain (formative for his career as a submariner) and his first steps as a naval officer.
The narrative then gives pride of place to the Battle of the Atlantic: all the war patrols aboard the U23 (Typ II) and then the celebrated U99 (Typ VII) are described in detail, illustrated by numerous anecdotes and testimonies drawn from German and Allied sources, as well as from epistolary exchanges with Otto "the Silent" himself, some of his subordinates and comrades, and his adversaries.
A member of the highly exclusive club of the "aces of Lorient" alongside Günther Prien and Joachim Schepke, Kretschmer was not merely a diligent, perfectionist U-Boot commander with a fearsome talent for hunting down his enemies — he was also an innovative tactician who developed audacious methods for infiltrating convoys, outwitting the vigilance of escort vessels, attacking at night and on the surface!
Lawrence Paterson's research naturally dwells at length on the Prussian's relations with his superiors, the Nazi regime and wartime propaganda, as well as his years of captivity — in particular his controversial activities in British and Canadian prisoner-of-war camps, where Kretschmer never truly capitulated before the enemy!
This book far surpasses Terence Robertson's celebrated biography "The Golden Horseshoe" (published in English in 1955), succeeding in bringing readers new details and new information, thus offering a "living portrait" of life aboard the U-Boote through the brilliant career of Otto Kretschmer!
- Illustrations
- Hugo Rousselle
- Cover
- Paperback
- Language
- French
- EAN
- Graphic designer: Dugudus
You might also like