Hitler's War Beneath the Waves

Brings dramatically to life the nature of the combat between the hunter and hunted at sea, roles that could switch at the drop of a depth charge or the flick of a button to launch a torpedo.

Includes the history of the unique four-rota Enigma machine used for communication on board German submarines.


U-boat crews considered themselves an elite and they preferred to scuttle their boats at the end of the war rather than surrender. They also suffered the heaviest losses of any branch of the German armed forces: out of 40,000 men, more than 30,000 were killed. By 1945, the average age was 19 and the survival rate was three missions.

The fascinating story of the realities behind naval strategy in World War II.