Grey Wolves

The U-Boat War 1939–1945

By: Philip Kaplan

Narrated by: A. T. Chandler

In the early years of the Second World War, the elite force of German submariners known as the Ubootwaffe came perilously close to perfecting underwater battle tactics and successfully cutting Britain's transatlantic lifeline. To the Allies, these enemy sailors were embarking on a mission of unequivocal evil.

Each member of the Ubootwaffe understood that he must take pride in being part of a unique brotherhood. He had to do so because he was setting out - in claustrophobic, unsanitary, stench-filled, and ultimately hellish conditions - on a journey that would test his mental and physical endurance to the very limits, and which he had little chance of surviving. Those that did return soon ceased to take comfort in friends or family, dwelling only on the knowledge that another patrol awaited them. By the end of the war, of the 39,000 men who went to sea in the U-boats, 27,491 died in action and a further 5,000 were made prisoners of war. Of the 863 U-boats that sailed on operational patrols, 754 were lost.

Grey Wolves captures life on board a U-boat, in text, letters, diaries, journals, memoirs, prose, and poetry, relaying tales of the mundane and the routine, dramatic and heroic; the fear and resilience of every crew member, from Kapitainleutnant to Mechaniker. It is a vivid, brutally realistic portrait of the men who fought and died beneath the surface of the Atlantic in what was, perhaps, the most critical battle of the war.

©2014 2014 by Philip Kaplan (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Great!!!

Awesome book and very good narrative. Do not requires a complete knowledge about it to understand.

Good book for those who love submarines.

The strategic information is one thing that sets this book apart. where were they and when is so important to understanding the prosecution of the war.

Pretty decent

Definitely a good listen, except for the last 15-20 minutes that was the worst part

Gripping

I learned a lot about things I didn't know that I didn't know. Thanks

Not what I hoped in a U-Boat book

I got to listen to this book on Audible with my membership and glad that I didn’t pay for the actual book. The author skips around on subjects. I was listening to a 1940 convoy battle and the subject then switched to World War 1 with the sinking of the Lusitania and sinking’s during that period. The descriptions range from US bombers attacking to U-Boat pens to French civilians describing the bombing, which was interesting. I expected more of descriptions from U-Boat personnel.