BOOK REVIEWS

Nicholas Lambert, (ed.). The SubmarineService, 1900-1918.(Navy Records Society Vol.142) Aldershot, Hants: Ashgate Publishing forthe Navy Records Society, 2001. xliv + 397 pp.,tables, bibliography, index, €75.00, cloth; ISBN0-7546-0294-X.

The 166 documents in this collection provide afascinating insight into the origins anddevelopment of the Royal Navy's submarineservice until the end of the First World War. Theeditor, whose recently published Sir JohnFisher's Naval Revolution examines much thesame period, argues in his in troduction that theearly history of submarines in the Royal Navyhas been misunderstood by most historiansbecause of an impression that the Admiralty wastechnologically conservative with respect to theirpossibilities, and that pre-war planners failed toanticipate the awful effectiveness of submarinesas a commerce des troyer. The selecteddocuments demonstrate convincingly that theactual history of the subject is more complex,and far more interesting, than this.

The editor notes, and then providesdocuments to demonstrate, that the Royal Navyfollowed developments in submarine technologyvery carefully indeed. Though understandablycautious about a new technology that threatenedto undermine an approach to naval warfare theyunderstood, senior officers were more interestedin whether the technology available allowedpractical operational employment. As soon asdesigns demonstrated sufficient maturity towarrant attention, the Admiralty invested serioussums into developing an RN capability. Fromthis point, which occurred at the chronologicallyconvenient date of 1900, the issue rapidlybecame not whether, but what type ofsubmarines to develop.

The debates in these documents reflectthe same issues that contemporary readers willfind in professional military journals debatingtoday's `Revolution in Military Affairs.' RNofficers and senior policy makers were alive to

most of the uses submarines have beenultimately adapted to from a very early date. Theoverarching problem was at what point could awarfare concept be translated into a practicalweapon of war. This question continually aroseas submarines evolved, and most of the debatesin the documents reflect either optimists orpessimists regarding some particular aspect ofsubmarine development.

One example, well documented in thiscollection, is salutary. Before and, to a lesserextent during, the First World War a significantlobby in the RN and the Admiralty advocated theuse of submarines in suppo rt of the GrandFleet's battleships. Submarines of this type,known as `Fleet submarines', would give theGrand Fleet an enormous advantage in anengagement with an enemy fleet because of thepotential devastation that torpedoes could wreak.This concept, reasonable enough in its premise,was undermined by technological challenges thatwere simply not surmountable at the time. Theprimary requirement for a Fleet submarine wassufficient speed to operate in coordination withthe Grand Fleet. Unfortunately for proponents ofFleet submarines, engine technology of the daywas inadequate to the task. The only possibleway to provide the power required was tointroduce steam engines into submarines.Opponents of this move argued that steam-driven submarines, which took at least 15minutes to dive, would be highly vulnerable.Ultimately, the pessimists would be provencorrect, but the debate consumed years andsidetracked the development of other types. Thesiren call of Fleet submarines was so powerfulthat the RN did invest considerable resourcesinto developing and launching a small fleet ofsteam submarines, the ` K' class.

The collection is broken into 7 parts.The first two deal with early submarinedevelopments, then the impact of the submarineon strategic thought, followed by Fleetsubmarines, and the reappraisal of submarinepolicy by the Admiralty in 1913-1914. The last

53

54 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord

two parts briefly review some wartimeexperiences. Each section provides a wealth ofevidence that the Admiralty was not so muchtechnologically conservative as pragmatic. Thedynamic tension between naval officers andbusinessmen – a condition which appears tohave been as tangible in the early days ofsubmarines as it is today – is well documented,with some very pointed criticism of businesspractices outlined in several of the selections.The effort of the Admiralty and policy makers toanticipate the impact of the submarine is alsowell illustrated, with the prescient (Lord Fisher)and the less clairvoyant (Winston Churchill!) setout side by side debating the potential of thesubmarine as a commerce des troyer. The sectionon the war is relatively short – about 100 pages– but filled with interesting material. The realityof wartime service proved substantially differentin many details, although the overall impact ofsubmarines followed the general outline of manyaspects of pre-war planning.

The editor has provided a shortbiographical appendix, a very useful resourcegiven the wide variety of characters encounteredin the collection. There is also a list of the firstofficers in the submarine service and a tablecomparing the strength of the RN submarineservice in 1914 with that of 1918. There are nodiagrams or line drawings of submarines, whichis perhaps unfortunate as during the earlyevolution of the submarines many designchanges occurred rapidly, and illustrationswould have assisted in understanding these.Fortunately, there have been a number of recentpublications that have illustrations thatdemonstrate the design points under discussionin this collection. Finally, the editing of the textin the collection is quite good, with only onesignificant typo noted – document 101 is dated1914, but context strongly suggests this shouldbe 1913.

Document collections of this nature arenot for casual readers, and the nature of some ofthe documents in this volume will challengethose unused to naval technology andbureaucracy. For those interested, however, this

book is fascinating reading, both for the perioditself, and for an insight into the challenge oftranslating warfare concepts into practicalweapons of war.

Doug McLeanOttawa, Ontario

David C. Powell A Fascination for Fish:Adventures of an Underwater Pioneer. LosAngeles: University of California Press, 2001.352 pp., index,$29.95, cloth: ISBN 0520223667.

At first glance at the title and jacket covershowing the author in diving gear, one wouldthink this book is about an underwater explorerlike Jacques Cousteau. However, thisautobiography of David Powell recounts thecareer of the aquarist who created the worldfamous "forest of kelp" display at the MontereyBay Aquarium. David Powell tells the story ofhis life's work, and thereby a history of thedevelopment of public aquariums in Californiaduring the last half century.

Unlike Jacques Cousteau who broughtmarine biology to the layman through films andtelevision, David Powell brought people intoeye-to-eye contact with real, living marineorganisms. Both underwater pioneers sought topromote a sense of caring about the ocean, apublic stewardship of the sea. But they differedin their methods. Cousteau believed it wasunethical to hold fish captive in tanks, callingthem "fish prisons". Powell recognized thehuman need for direct contact with nature andespecially animals, noting the popularity of pets.His boyhood fascination with fish led to a careerin collecting exotic specimens and buildingaquaria for their display. A curate is oneresponsible for the care of souls, and DavidPowell saw this as his purpose as curator ofexhibits at Marineland of the Pacific, Sea World,the Steinhart Aquarium and finally the MontereyBay Aquarium.

The author describes the enormouseffort it takes to collect a marine fish from its

Book Reviews 55

native habitat, where the survival of the catch isparamount. Methods vary from handnettingsmall, tropical fish while diving to handliningdangerous sharks from a speedboat. Oncecaught, the next task is transporting the animalback to a tank on land without harming it. Thereis great adventure in collection expeditions to farregions of the world's ocean. Much of the bookis devoted to recounting the excitement of fishingfor a trophy catch, not for mounting but rather forpublic display.

Successfully collecting the fish is onlythe first step. Each specimen to be held in anaquarium requires an artificial habitat verysimilar to its natural environment, or that animalwill quickly die in captivity. Powell tells thestory of how he eventually learned to keep large,open-ocean sharks in tanks. The usual cruisingbehaviour of blue sharks is disrupted when theyencounter tank walls, forcing the fish to turnconstantly. Powell's talent for discovering theunique requirements of each species, and thendesigning a suitable aqua rium led to many "first-in-captivity" accomplishments.

The aquarium must be built not only tosupport life, but also to display the animal to aninterested public. The aquarist must understandthe natural behaviour of the animal, and create atank which allows the animal to display thiscomplex behaviour in captivity. Animals whichare not provided with social interaction maysuffer. And unhappy fish make poor displays. Inthis respect aquariums play dual roles in bothpublic education and science. It took the authoryears of trial and error to finally createfunctioning "realities" of the sea, i.e.microcosms of the big sea itself. The crownjewel was the Kelp Forest exhibit at theMonterey Bay Aquarium opened in 1984. Howwas it possible to recreate this lush marineecosystem in an enormous, glass-walled tank?Powell recounts the philanthropy of David andLucile Packard, the creative engineering of theaquarist team, and new construction materialsrequired to make this marvel a reality.

The book includes black and whilephotographs taken by the author of many fishes

(from Cortez angelfish to the great white shark)he collected in the field and displayed inaquariums. Common names and scientific namesof the species are provided, and the book has auseful subject index. I recommend this book foranyone curious about the behind-the-scenesworld of public aquariums. The chronology ofDavid Powell's career as he learned by doing isfun reading for anyone with an interest inaquariums, both large and small.

Joe WroblewskiSt. John's, Newfoundland

Ian B. Hart, Pesca: A History of the PioneerModern Whaling Company in the Antarctic.Salcombe, Devon, UK: Aidan Ellis, 2001. xi +548 pp., maps, tables, charts, photographs,plates, diagrams, notes, appendices, biblio-graphy, index. $45.00, cloth; ISBN 0-85628-299-5

The business of whaling entered the twentiethcentury facing diminishing whale stocks andreceding markets for whale oil. To stay inbusiness whalers had to hunt farther afield tobring in fewer whales that fetched a lower return.The industry was kept afloat for the better part ofthe century by Svend Foyn's revolution inwhaling technology and later refinements, bybold penetration of the Antarctic's marinelargesse, and by the development ofhydrogenation, a processing method that madewhale oil valuable as the prime ingredient inmargarine and soap. Two wars aided in whaleoil sales.

Ironically, it had been a last-gasp questfor right whales that opened up the Antarctic tothe excessive exploitation of blue, fin, humpbackand sei whales. Carl Anton Larsen, a Norwegiansealer and whaler, led the way. The story of hisexploits in Antarctic exploration, his pioneeringin shore whaling from the Island of SouthGeorgia, and the operation's survival for morethan fifty years is told by Ian Hart in aremarkably detailed chronology titled Pesca.

56 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord

"The story of Pesca," Hart writes, "exemplifiedmodem whaling in the Antarctic; the initialsuccess, high hopes and vast profits founded onthe slaughter of the whalebone whales, whichculminated in its decline in the 1960's and finalcollapse."

The author, who joined a three-manteam sent to South Georgia in 1992 for thepurpose of establishing a whaling museum,served as curator and archivist there for fouryears. His passion for tracing the history ofPesca, whose station was manned year-round onthat frigid, storm-lashed island, is reflected in hisattention to the myriad of details of thecompany's and the station's history.

Compana Argentina de Pesca SociedadAnonima of Buenos Aires (Pesca, for sho rt) waslaunched in 1904 at C. A. Larsen's urgingfollowing his harrowing experiences as captainof the Swedish Nordenskj old expedition's shipAntarctic. The Argentine government had sent arescue ship to the stranded expedition whichcarried with it an Argentine naval officer. At thetumultuous reception when the ship arrived backin Buenos Aires, Larsen urged Argentina toinvest in southern whaling. He had not been ableto inspire his fellow Norwegians to pioneer sofar from home.

The result was an Argentine whalingcompany' s founding a whaling station on Sou thGeorgia, a dependency of the British-heldFalkland Islands. It was named Grytviken (PotCove) for the many seal-oil rendering pots leftthere by 19th-century sealers.

The British and Argentine dispute overclaims to the islands would dog the company'soperations. In 1982, long after shore whalinghad ended there, the Argentine navy landed onSouth Georgia prior to the invasion of theFalklands. Argentine Rear-Admiral Destefaniclaimed Argentina's rights in part because of herbeing the first occupant of the islands when, on16 November 1904, the Argentine whalingcompany had started operations there.

The Argentine whaling companymaintained its station on the island of SouthGeorgia continuously for almost 60 years while

Britain, through the Falkland Islandsgovernment, imposed leases and whalingregulations and collected duties and taxes.Norway benefited financially by supplying mostof the materiel, most of the managers, and menwho numbered at times 300 station workers andships' crews.

The economic considerations inmaintaining a shore-based whaling station in ahostile environment so far from sources ofmanpower, supplies, fuel, and markets wereworrisome. Even so, four more shore whalingstations were established on Sou th Georgia byBritish and Norwegian interests followingLarsen's lead. None of these would matchPesca's ability to survive.

Although conservation measures wereembodied in the South Georgia leases, increasedhunting reduced the catch. As the few rightwhales and large numbers of humpback whalesbegan to disappear near shore, the older, smallerand less powerful steam whalers were hard-pressed to chase and tow in the faster blue andaback whales that teemed in the SouthernOcean. The arrival of floating factories withmodem catchers ushered in an era of exploitationthat, despite efforts at regulation, decimated thewhale stocks while at the same time the marketfor oil fell. Shore-based Pesca survived partlythrough the supplementary exploitation ofelephant seals for oil.

Ian Hart has chronicled the Argentinewhaling company's history in great detail, anddocumented it with the instincts of an archivist.Researchers will no doubt value this book'sdetailed information embodied in the Appendix'twenty-eight tables: lists, for instance, of themany jobs performed on the whaling station andat sea, of the gunners employed between 1904-1962, a fleet list, catch and production figures,company financial statements, right whalecatches and the value of right whale baleen, toname only some.

The book could have benefited fromcloser attention to editing, particularly for thequality of the six maps which are very difficult toread, and are not listed in the front with other

Book Reviews 57

illustrative material. Of the 207 photographsused, the quality of many is reduced by theirnecessarily small size. To correct what appearsto be an inadvertant slip, the InternationalWhaling Commission's 1986 ban on whalingwas the moratorium. More recently, in 1994, theIWC approved a sanctuary banning the killing ofwhales within the Southern Ocean.

Few could have this author's personalappreciation of the living and workingconditions at a whaling station at the edge of theAntarctic. Hart's understanding of Captain C. A.Larsen's concerns for the well-being of the menwho worked for him is evident in his reportingon the station's food, medical care, pastoralcounselling and church services, sporting events,plays, movies, and a library.

Photos convey the impact that SouthernOcean whaling had on whales and men. Oneshows a shoreline white with whale bones.Another is a contemporary scene of Grytviken'scollapsing cinema next to the still-standingchurch. A man walks almost headlong into thewind. A third taken during whaling shows afuneral at the whalers' cemetery where a total ofsixty-three workers, mostly Norwegian,ultimately were buried.

Joan GoddardVictoria, BC

Leif M. Bjørkelund og E. H. Kongshavn. Våregamle Skip. Skipshistorisk billedbok forHaugesund, KopervikogSkudeneshavn. SecondEdition. Stavanger: Lokalhistorisk Stiftelse1996. 544 pp., photographs, notes, sources,bibliography, glossary indices. ISBN 82-91559-02-3

This is one of those books with little scholarlymerit that will, however, be gladly used byacademics as well as ship lovers for reference.Two historians with a professional maritimebackground have collected all relevant dataabout the fleets of three towns – Haugesund,Kopervik and Skudeneshavn – in North

Rogaland on the Norwegian west coast. Theyhave confined themselves to sailing vessels andsteamships. A further book will covermotorships. Most ship biographies include aphotograph of the vessel.

A short overview (9 pages) by E. H.Kongshavn covers the development of the high-seas fleet of North-Rogaland up to 1971 whenthe last steamship was sent to a scrapyard. InHaugesund, the most important of the threetowns, about 700 merchant steamers wereregistered over a 99 year's period. These vesselsbelonged to about 140 shipping companies. It iseasy to imagine the impact of shipping on acommunity as big as Haugesund with two majorports (Bergen and Stavanger) near by. But thisstory will be told in another book.

Because this publication is intended tolay the groundwork for a lengthy maritimehistory of the region, which is planned for thenear future, we will have to wait for the meat tobe added to this skeleton.

Lars U. SchollBremen, Germany

Julian Thompson, The RoyalMarines. From SeaSoldiers to a Special Force. London: Pan Books,2001. xv + 701 pp., photographs, appendices,glossary, maps, bibliography, index. UK £ 10ISBN 0-330-37702-7.

In his short prologue for this book JulianThompson describes his approach as `historywith attitude'. He explains that rather thanproviding a complete history of the B ritish RoyalMarines he has attempted to identify the keyevents and defining moments that havedetermined the nature of the Corps today. This isrealistic as it would be difficult to provide in onevolume a comprehensive history of anorganisation that claims its origins back to 1664and has been involved in every major B ritishconflict since that time. As a former RoyalMarine, retiring at the rank of Major General,Thompson has a wealth of experience that both

58 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord

informs his work and self-consciously influencesthe conclusions that he draws.

The ancestry of the Royal Mannes canbe traced back to a meeting of the Privy Councilin October 1664 when King Charles II directedthat 1200 soldiers should be raised and preparedfor sea service with His Majesty's Fleets. In PartOne of this book Thompson briefly charts thehistory of the Royal Marines prior to thetwentieth century. The trials, tribulations andtriumphs of the Corps are addressed in a highlyaccessible manner. Inevitably militaryencounters figure prominently in this accountalthough social issues are also addressed.Indeed, the poor social standing of the averagemarine officer compared to his naval and armycounterparts underlies a central theme of thisbook. With poor pay and conditions and limitedpromotion prospects service in the marines wasoften limited to those officers who could notafford to purchase a commission in the army.Initially various `marine' regiments had beenraised on an ad hoc basis usually under theauspices of the army. From 1755 they benefitedfrom a permanent establishment underAdmiralty control however the marines, knownfrom 1802 as the Royal Marines, were not anelite fighting organisation. Despite distinguishedservice in a range of conflicts the marinesprimary duties were enforcing discipline onboardships, acting as snipers in the close range navalbattles of the day and forming ad hoc landingparties when required. Later in the nineteenthcentury they added the role of manning guns onmajor warships.

Thompson charts the development ofthe Royal Marines from their role as seasoldiers' onboard ship to their current status aselite troops specifically trained and organised foramphibious operations. As such the majority ofthe book is devoted to the twentieth century.Thompson provides an eminently readableaccount of the various actions in both world warsand a variety of lesser conflicts. In addition to themore obvious actions such as the 1918 raid onZeebrugge and amphibious operations in WorldWar Two, he also investigates lesser know

activities such as the military intervention inRussia at the end of World War One. Thisincludes an examination of the eventssurrounding the mutiny by men of the RoyalMarines at Murmansk. Throughout Thompsonseeks to demonstrate the faltering evolution ofthe marines from `sea soldiers' without anobvious role to a special force' devotedprimarily to amphibious operations, but capableof operating in all environments. Thompson'sapproval of this end result, if not always of theprogress achieved towards it, provides hishistory with the `attitude' that we werepromised.

The book is supported by acombination of historical evidence and thepersonal recollections of those involved in theevents that are described. As such Thompsonachieves a delicate balance between serioushistory and general interest that should endearthis book to a wide variety of readers. The authoris able to bring the topic alive providing insightat both the highest strategic level and also fromthe perspective of the individual marine on theground. The book is particularly effective whenit examines the role of the Royal Marines since1945 and it details their role in a variety ofconflicts including amphibious raiding duringthe Korean War, a major opposed landing duringthe 1956 Suez Crisis and imperial policing `eastof Suez'. Inevitably, Thompson's account of the1982 Falklands conflict is of particular interest,given his key role during that conflict as thebrigadier commanding 3 Commando Brigade. Inhis final chapter Thompson examines the futureof the Royal Marines, noting with satisfactionthat at last the expeditionary role that they nowsupport has become a top priority for Britishdefence policy.

Despite his disclaimer in the prologue,Julian Thompson provides an excellent singlevolume history of the Royal Marines. Supportedby good collection of photographic plates andsome very useful campaign maps this book is amust for any serious student of British militaryor maritime strategy and history. It should alsoappeal to any general reader with an interest in

Book Reviews 59

the history of what is now one of the world'selite fighting organizations.

Ian SpellerLondon, England

Richard Hill. Lewin of Greenwich: TheAuthorised Biography of Admiral of the FleetLord Lewin. London: Cassell & Co, 2000, 443pp., photographs, notes, index, £ 25, US $ 39.95;cloth, ISBN 0-304-35329-9.

Admiral of the Fleet Lord Lewin, Chief of theDefence Staff during the Falklands War, died ofcancer at age 78 in 1999. During his terminalillness he commissioned Richard Hill to writethis "authorised biography"and taped extensivenotes for him. Rear-Admiral Hill was a fortunatechoice. A particularly lucid writer, he is theeditor of The Naval Review, and was already theauthor of several books on naval topics. Moreimportantly, he could draw on long experienceon the naval staff and first-hand knowledge ofthe workings of the UK's Ministry of Defence.This detailed understanding of many of thepolicy issues described give him a realadvantage since official records will not beavailable for study for several decades.Moreover, Hill is well known both to AdmiralLewin's naval contemporaries and the generationwho served under him. A list of some 50individuals who gave interviews and a further100 who corresponded with Hill and/or providedmaterial reads like a catalogue of the "great andgood" of Britain's defence establishment.

Your reviewer had several fleetingencounters with Admiral Lewin. He hadenormous presence, tremendous recall aboutpeople he had met previously and an ability toproject genuine interest in whomever he wastalking to. I saw this warm interest andmagnetism communicated to Canadian sailors.Small wonder that this extraordinary leader wasso well liked and respected in the Royal Navy.The author traces the development of the "Lewinstyle" and shows how it was based on building

trust. But the engaging personality belonged toan ambitious and driving person. His style wassuited to his time and belied steelydetermination. As a Vice-Admiral Lewin toldan officer joining his staff "don't forget, it's alldone by goodwill". Hill points out that Lewinwas a consummate networker whose secret ofsuccess was reaching out to the right people. Ashe rose in the defence hierarchy he worked hardat establishing strong working relationships andtrust with his counterparts in the other services.Like Prime Minister Thatcher, with whom heestablished that relationship during the Falk-lands War, Lewin came from a lower middleclass background. He entered the Navy in 1939,had a very active war and stood out early in hiscareer as particularly bright and effective. As asenior officer he was able to argue his case withunusual clarity and persuasiveness

"In history, context is everything" andHill chose to set Lord Lewin's story very firmlyin the context of events. A particular strength ofthis book is the author's skill in reducingcomplex policy and weapons development issuesto essential details and presenting themcoherently without losing the readers. Much ofLewin's career after 1953 was a progressionthrough seven successively more responsibleappointments in Whitehall punctuated by sea(and, as he neared the top, senior shore)appointments. These years occupy three-quartersof the book and the result is as much a lucid andauthoritative description of the majordevelopments which shaped the evolution of theRoyal Navy over three decades as a chronicle ofLewin's life. Although the fact is notemphasized this was a period of steadyretrenchment and readjustment. The narrativedemonstrates that the Royal Navy was flexibleand adept at adjusting and that Lewin and othersfought hard to preserve a balance of capabilities.Hill also shows how the Navy adapted to achanging strategic environment by making themost of its NATO maritime role and bypreserving and renewing its ballistic missilesubmarine force. During his successiveWhitehall appointments Terence Lewin was

60 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord

involved in many key issues. These includedchanges to the officer structure, the developmentof the successful Leander class frigates, thedecision to press ahead with the Sea Harriervertical take-off and landing aircraft, British airdefence missiles, and winning governmentapproval to move in step with the USN inupgrading to the D-5 Trident deterrent missile.

Lewin was Chief of the Defence Stafffor three years and had taken advantage of thepainful "Nott Review" of defence policy tostrengthen his position as the principal militaryadvisor to the government. It was in this just-enhanced role that he was to carry out his keypart in the Falklands War in 1982. Lewin was inNew Zealand when the Argentineans occupiedthe Falklands. The early decisions to re-take theislands were taken without him. During the longflight back Lewin reflected on how the lack ofclear government objectives had contributed tothe Suez fiasco in 1956. He was determined topress for clear thinking about the British aim andsucceeded. The chapter on the Falklandsepisode, based on interviews with Lewin andother senior players, provides a fascinating lookat politco-military relations at the top and howissues like declaring an "Exclusion Zone"around the Falklands evolved. Richard Hill dealsfully with the decision to attack the Argentinecruiser General Belgrano.

The author has included a lot in his 400pages. He sketches in Lewin's happy marriageand as a naval officer he writes knowingly abouthow naval wives face the "grey mistresssyndrome, the priority that the service takes inthe mind of the dedicated spouse". As is to beexpected in an "authorised biography" RichardHill's tone is up-beat throughout. At times thereader wonders whether some problems have notbeen glossed over. A positive glow comesthrough the input Admiral Hill received from hiscontemporaries. At the same time the chapter onLewin's command of an aircraft carrier dealsfrankly with operational problems and how theywere faced. Lewin built his reputation onwinning support and was not known for causticcomments. Having said this, the author did

include, without supporting, muted criticism ofLewin by one of his correspondents. Hespeculates whether Lewin as Chief of theDefence staff fought hard enough for the Navyduring the difficult Defence Review of 1981.Richard Hill describes the span of AdmiralLewin's career as "revolutionary years in thehistory of the Royal Navy". (p. 9). Thisauthoritative and well-organised study isrecommended as a study of that era and the storyof an outstanding leader.

Jan DrentVictoria, BC

Jak P. Mailman Showell, U-Boats at War:Landings on Hostile Shores, Naval InstitutePress: Annapolis, Md., 2000. 160 pp., maps,photographs, appendices, notes, US$36.95 cloth:ISBN 1-55750-864-X.

Few myths of the Second World War are morecompelling – and durable – than that of U-boatslanding personnel on enemy shores. Along thelittoral of the Atlantic Ocean, from Wales in agreat arc across the northern and western shoresdown to the Carribean and beyond, storiesabound of German crews and spies comingashore. In most cases the Germans were content(so it seems) to dance with the local girls and seea film. Others came ashore for more nefariousreasons, as spies and saboteurs. These storieswould all be simple urban legends if it were notfor the fact that there is more than a basis of truthin the rumours, and Showell's latest book oughtto lay to rest the persistent myths of landings forpurely social reasons.

U-Boats at War: Landings on HostileShores is the sum total of Showell's knowledgeof the subject, based on his through familiaritywith logs and interviews at the U-boot-Archiv inCuxhaven. Showell, as many will know, haswritten several solid books on the U-boat war.And so although his books fit into the genre ofpopular history and lack proper documentation,we can be reasonably certain that he has a good

Book Reviews 61

handle on the subject. Perhaps not surprisingly,all of the landings he recounts seem to have hadserious military purposes, typically landingagents but also the frequenting of neutral orisolated stretches of shoreline for operationalpurposes. No social calls in the book, exceptperhaps for the last chapter.

What the book reveals is a curiousmixture of skilled seamanship and astonishingincompetence. In virtually all instances, thelandings of agents were – as the title of chapterone on landings in Ireland indicates – fiascos.Only two agents got ashore in Ireland early inthe war: one was promptly arrested and the otherlived well for a while and accomplished nothinguntil he too was captured. Two other attemptsfailed: one when the agent about to be landeddropped dead in the U-boat as it waited offshore.Landings in Iceland, Canada and the US faredno better. The eight agents (mostly nativeIcelanders) put ashore in Iceland were all quicklycaptured, as was the bungling agent Janowski,landed on the Gaspe Peninsula of Canada inNovember 1942. The Janowski story, familiar toCanadians, speaks to the bungling incompetenceof the Abwehr and its agents. Janowski arrivedon a remote beach, stubbled into a small localhotel in the wee hours of morning reeking ofdiesel fuel and personal filth from weeks at sea,smoking Belgian cigarettes, paid for his room inout of date Canadian currency and enquiredabout the next train for Montreal. The otheragent landed on a lonely stretch of NewBrunswick coastline fared better: he got toMontreal and lived – so legend has it – in awhorehouse until his money ran out beforesurrendering. The eleven agents landed in the USdid not fare so well: most of them were executed.Showell tells the story of these clandestineoperations almost entirely from the German side,recounting the details of the passage, theproblems of inshore navigation and getting themen ashore.

The balance of the book – about twothirds of it – covers landings along the barrencoast of the Sahara, in the Canary islands, andthe Arctic, the role of Spain in providing

refuelling and repair facilities, and theestablishment of weather stations across theArctic, including the station on the tip ofLabrador. The book ends with the use ofsubmarines – specifically in this example U-722– to ferry relief supplies to garrisons trapped inthe west of France after August 1944, and thescuttling of some 50 U-boats in Geltringer Bayat the end of the war: an account which seems tobe included because it deals with U-boats andtheir crews working off a beach and becausethere was good photographic coverage of theevent. The evident fraternizing of the U-boatcrews with the local German population istherefore the only evidence of the social side oflandings on "hostile" shores: not quite what thelegends in Allied countries have in mind.

The inclusion of the Geltringer Baystory points to the curious and at times eclecticnature of this work of popular history. While thetext and most photographs are interesting anduseful, one has to wonder at times at the choicesmade. Most of the photos in the "Introduction"– eleven of twelve – illustrate the area where twoagents landed on the English Channel coast froma fishing boat! Perhaps they would have comefrom a U-boat had one been available. Curious.And the author clearly spent some timeexploring possible landing sites in the CanaryIsland, and who would not given the chance! Butthe resulting photos, as good as they are, addlittle to the book. Strangely, there are nocomparable shots of the rugged and heavilyforested north coast of the Bay of Fundy, or evenof the rather most accessible - if perhaps equallyremote - southern coastline of the Gaspe, orIceland for that matter. And then there is theextensive, and really quite interesting,photographic record of the scuttling at GeltringerBay: operations on a shore made hostile, onesupposes, because Germany had capitulated(although the occupying forces had not yetarrived, so this incident took place on the `soonto be' hostile shores).

In fairness, Showell did include manygenuine documentary photos. Canadians will beinterested in the photographic record of the

62 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord

landing of the weather station in Labrador,complete with the U-boat lying placidly inshoreand sentries with machine guns posted on rockypromontories. The other Arctic expeditionsseemed to have left a photographic record, andwhere there was none specific to use Showellfills in with relevant generic shots of the types ofdinghy used, bathing on deck in the warm watersof the souther climes and the like.

In short, apart from licence to include`other neat stuff', this is an interesting and usefuladdition to any library on the Second WorldWar, or any that still gets pestered by thoseenduring legends about German sailors comingashore to flirt with the local girls. Clearly,Germany's U-boats were busy probing the baysand coves of the North Atlantic and Showell hasproduced a useful reference.

Marc MilnerFredericton, New Brunswick

Bernard Edwards. Beware Raiders! GermanSurface Raiders in the Second World War.Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2001. 216 pp.,photographs, 2 maps, bibliography, index. Cloth ;ISBN: 1- 55750-210-2. Canadian distributorVanwell, St. Catharines, ON.

Despite its sub-title, this is a straight forwardhistory of only two Kriegsmarine surface shipraiders, in the years 1940 to 1943, the heavycruiser Admiral Hipper and the disguisedmerchant ship raider Pinguin. By far the largestand best armed, Hipper with her eight 8" gunsand twelve 4.1" was only modestly successful insix war forays, although she did succeed inmauling some ships of three convoys in theAtlantic and Arctic. Pinguin, the fast ex-cargoliner Kandlefels, also known as Hilfskreuzer 33,was spectacularly more successful. She made butone almost year-long cruise and with the raiderAtlantis was the most successful of these elusivedisguised raiders, with 28 ships sunk for136,600 tons to Atlantis's 22 ships of some146,000 tons.

Perhaps because Edwards was himselfan ex-Merchant Marine Master, he is obviouslymore sympathetic with quiet, more affable, easygoing Kapitän-sur-Zee Ernst Krüder of Pinguin.He had been in the German Navies since 1915and the author notes that Kruder usually huntedfor survivors of his sunken ships and wasconcerned for them. He is quite disparaging ofthe colder, more hard-hearted (toward hisprisoners at least) Kapitän Wilhelm Meisel ofHipper who often steamed off with no concernfor survivors. This assessment of the captainsshows in his narration and gives the reader animpression of bias, although he does allow thatthe German heavy units were deplorablyrestricted in their use by political pressures fromBerlin and less than aggressive captains,probably attributable thereto.

Pinguin departed Germany in June,1940, roamed the Atlantic and Indian Oceans,catching and sinking merchantmen, laid minesoff Australia (which claimed 5 more vessels),and in the Antarctic seized a whole Norwegianwhaling fleet including two factory ships, asupply ship and 12 whalers, similar to those thatentered the RCN as Star XVI and the Süderoys .Of the ships she caught, 5 were captured andsent successfully back to Germany, including thetwo factory ships, plus 11 of the whalers.Pinguin was eventually to be sunk in thenorthern Indian Ocean when intercepted byHMS Cornwall. She went down fighting withthe loss of 341 crew, including Krüder .

Hipper's role, like that of otherGerman surface warships, was to create havocand concern on convoy routes - hence thefrequent allocation of the R Class battleships tothem in the early days. The Germans were notprepared to become engaged in any battles withenemy warships of anything like their size. Inher first foray, m December, 1940, she was heldoff a convoy by an aggressive co rvette that madesmoke and charged Hipper, saved fortunately bythe timely arrival of two RN cruisers. TheGerman warship's next foray was exactly whatwas intended. She intercepted two convoys offWest Africa and sank eight ships and damaged

Book Reviews 63

two more. She retired to Kiel, then to northNorway, had a not very edifying battle againstRussian convoy JW-51A on 1 January 1943,where she sank the destroyer Achates and sharedin the destruction of the minesweeper Brambleand retired from the war.

Edwards tells his tales of both shipswithout serious attempt to place words in themouths of his characters as was the case in J.H.Brennecke's 1954 book on Pinguin, GhostCruiser HK33 (Wm. Kimber). However, as thetwo ships had no connection with each other, hisinterweaving of chapters is a bit distracting,although it does follow the chronologicalprogress of the war. He sets the scenes for eachinvolvement with a few useful paragraphs, andone can follow the purposes of each ship'svoyaging. It is a useful book to fill in the historyshelf of these two German commerce war shipsin great detail. There are innumerable otherbooks on the German surface warships'employment in total; two others on the merchantraiders of broader scope, covering all these ships,are A.K. Muggenthaler's German Raiders ofWorld War II (Robert Hale, London, 1978), andPaul Schmalenbach' s German Raiders (PatrickStephens, Cambridge, 1977).

F.M. McKeeMarkdale, Ontario

William W. Taylor and C. Paola Ferreri, (eds.),Great Lakes Fisheries Policy and Management:A Binational Perspective. East Lansing:Michigan State Universi ty Press, 1999. xi + 551pp., maps, tables, charts, figures, bibliography.US$49.95, cloth; ISBN 0-87-01348-33.

For years, the study of Great Lakes fisheries bymaritime historians seriously lagged behindscholarship on North America's East and WestCoast fisheries. This trend was partlyattributable to the manner in which variousdisciplines looked to the continent's oceaniccoasts as crucibles of American and Canadian

national development; obviously, as the scholarlyrecord indicates, there was much to be culledfrom these venues. But the revisionistperspectives of environmental history have givennew emphasis to the vastly overlooked maritimehistory of the Great Lakes region.

The early twentieth century travelwriter Webb Waldron saw the region's maritimeactivity as part of a "devouring"temperament,and the Great Lakes were, in many ways,America's most industrial seas. At the heart ofthis consumptive enterprise were extractiveindustries and natural bounty that flowedthrough, and out of, this ma ritime milieu-ironore, grain, timber, and, of course, fish. GreatLakes Fisheries Policy and Management hasmuch to contribute to this new trend, but it is nota collection of essays written by historians. Itscontributors are fisheries scientists, fisheriesmanagers, and policy makers. However,historians will find much of interest in this book.Historical issues and materials receive extensivetreatment and show that fisheries managementand policy is, or ought to be, closely wedded tofisheries history. Such a paradigm was recentlyput forward in Diane Newell's and RosemaryOmmer's, Fishing Places, Fishing People, andTaylor and Ferreri's collection similarly showswhat each of these individual and collectivepursuits stand to gain-to the benefit of fisheriesresources-through interdisciplinary dialogue.Taylor and Ferreri organize this collection in fiveparts: 1) "Historical Perspectives;" 2) "CurrentIssues Facing Fishery Management;" 3)"Allocation of Fishery Resources;" 4) "CaseStudies,"and 5) "Outlook for the Future." Somehistorical themes are broadly shared among thesesections and the book's eighteen chapters, whileothers are more singularly contained.

Not surprisingly, the Boundary WatersTreaty of 1909 (creating the International JointCommission), the Convention on Great LakesFisheries in 1954 (creating the Great LakesFishery Commission) and the Great Lakes WaterQuality Agreement of 1972are conspicuouslyreferenced and interpreted in numerous areas ofthis volume. A number of essays, particularly

64 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord

Margaret Ross Dochoda's on managementauthority, delineate the complex history that hasafflicted this large freshwater system governedby eight states, one province, and two federalgovernments.

Historians will be aided by the mannerin which the essays correlate issues such asnon-indigenous species, habitat, stock depletionand restoration, and resource allocation with theinter jurisdictional management systems thatpainstakingly and, sometimes tenuously, evolvedover the course of the late nineteenth andtwentieth centuries. The most sustainedhistorical narrative of Great Lakes FisheriesPolicy and Management actually occurs in theessays comprising the section entitled"Allocation of Fishery Resources." Thefragmented legacy of managing Great Lakesfisheries has not only been a dilemma simply ofnegotiating ter ritorial lines in the tight confinesof the "Inland Seas," but is also a series ofhistorically contested relations among variousfisheries stakeholder groups and their claims tothe resource. Since the mid-twentieth century,when non-indigenous species such as alewivesand smelt began dominating the biomass of theGreat Lakes and sea lamprey practicallyeradicated the most important commercialspecies, the politics of fishing has onlyintensified. Within this historic context, twolandmark policy/management actions unfolded:Great Lakes jurisdictions began favoringrecreational fisheries over commercial fisheriesand Native Americans began re-asserting theirtreaty fishing rights.

James Bence and Kelley Smith providean historical overview of the recreational fisheryand Russel Brown, Mark Ebener, and TomGorenflo do the same for the commercial fishery.In limited space, the later authors clearly presentthe vessels, harvesting technologies, and policiesof the Great Lakes commercial fishing industryfrom the late nineteenth century to the present.Concerted sport fishing on the open waters of theGreat Lakes began in the 1960s and precipitatedthe introduction of new boat types to the region,new fishing methods, the transformation of this

regional maritime landscape, and profoundeconomic re-configuration. Although a shorterhistory, this account has been sorely lacking andBence and Kelley remark on the need for morecareful accumulation of historical documentationfor future interpretation. Both of these essaysstand alongside the chapter on forage baseallocation, an important juxtaposition sincecommercial fishers turned to these species(bloater, alewife, smelt) when others declined inthe 1960s and sport fishers relied on these tosustain stocked lake trout and introduced Pacificsalmon.

As a resource for historical research,this collection is best used by starting with thesethree essays and the volume's introductory essayon the Great Lakes ecosystem. Chapters on laketrout, lake sturgeon, Pacific salmon, alewife,walleye, and yellow perch may strike certainreaders as being overly specific and burdensomedue to their scientific orientation. But comparedto much of fisheries science and managementresearch, these essays are quite accessible and aprerequisite for fully understanding theimplications of biological invasions caused byhuman activity over the past two centuries.Furthermore, these essays provide backgroundon the dynamics of fish communities, anecessary consideration for fisheries history andits human factors focus. Maritime researcherswho approach Great Lakes fisheries from ahumanistic and social scientific perspective willfind the extensive bibliographies that areattached to these essays to be very useful.Overall, this volume comprehensively orients itsreadership to fundamental issues of fisheriesenvironment and human decision-making. It,along with Margaret Beattie Bogue's recentlycompleted history of Great Lakes commercialfishing, provides along over-due foundationupon which the region's future fisheries historycan be written.

Michael J. ChiarappaKalamazoo, Michigan

Book Reviews 65

Paul R. Schratz, Submarine Commander: AStory of World War II and Korea, Lexington:The University Press of Kentucky, 2000. xii +322 pp., maps, illus trations, photographs, index.US$18.00, paper; ISBN 0-8131-0988-4.

Paul Schratz's opinionated memoirs covering hisyears as a U.S. Navy submarine officer duringthe Second World and Korean Wars combine thebest and worst of military reminiscences. Theyare a valuable source of information about U.S.submarine operations but they are also frequentlyself-serving and aggrandizing.

A 1939 graduate of the U.S. NavalAcademy, Schratz was posted to the submarinebranch at New London, Connecticut inDecember 1941. He qualified for service in amere six months and the book provides manyfascinating glimpses of early submarine trainingschedules and routines.

Following a brief stint in the Atlantic,the author saw action in the Pacific starting in1943 as either the third officer or the executiveofficer aboard several Fleet-class submarines.Schratz served in four boats during the war andthree in the postwar period, finally commandingBurrfish in 1948 and Pickerel, a new Guppy-class boat in 1950. Schratz provides lucidexplanations of the equipment and difficulty oflife aboard a submarine as well as of the tacticsof stealth, attack, and survival. But in so doinghe reveals little not already covered in theexisting historiography.

His narrative also serves as a movingtestimonial to the many brave men with whomhe served. The death of one close friend, an eventSchratz witnessed, severely shook him. Thiskeenly felt loss and his long separation from hiswife and small children prompted his ownprivate, and ultimately successful, war againstmelancholy and psychological exhaustion. Inrecalling the actions in which he participated,Schratz's prose is understated yet conveys theterror of undersea warfare. "For those withoutexperience", he writes, "a good depth chargeattack offers a unique form of punishment...Oneis prey to every dark possibility...It can be

emotionally shattering" [71-2].Schratz comments on many features of

the U. S. submarine war. He credits the Americanboats' devastating night surface attacks onJapanese shipping to the submarines being fittedwith outstanding surface search radar. Hisdescription of the dangers of floating mines inthe Yellow Sea and of the effectiveness ofJapanese patrol aircraft radar detectors areinteresting but not especially illuminating. Likemany other American submarine officers in thefirst 18 months of the Pacific War, Schratzprovides a biting eye-witness indictment of theBureau of Naval Ordnance for its shockingfailure to address the deficiencies with itstorpedo magnetic exploders. One wishes,however, that he had spent more time discussingJapanese ASW tactics.

A self-confessed "nonconformist,"Schratz saves most of his venom for, O.C.Robbins, his hated captain aboard Sterlet, whosename he actually uses only once. The apparentlydelinquent Robbins remains voiceless andfaceless and Schratz might have been moreintrospective about this difficult relationship.After all, he baldly admits that, as executiveofficer, he considered relieving Robbins andassuming command himself! This might havebeen in keeping with his robust personality,though it is far from certain it would have beenin the best interests of the crew.

Schratz also exaggerates his role in theUltra food-chain. Having used his connections toparticipate on a B-29 raid over Japan, he claimsthat "as a recipient of highly classified Ul traintelligence information I was forbidden tooverfly enemy territory. Given the gravity of evenusing the word at the time, this was a seriousoffense" [ 173]. While Ultra-derived informationwas distributed widely to US submarines whileon war patrols, the source of the information wasnot revealed. It is not for nothing Ultra remainedthe greatest secret of the war! All Schratz, a mereXO, would have known was that the intelligencewas extremely accurate, not that Japanesemerchant shipping (MARU) codes had beenbroken.

66 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord

The book is also overlong - a reflectionof the inflated ego of the writer. There are simplytoo many tales of macho hijinks which give thememoirs an adolescent flavour. Also of note arehis frequent descriptions of shore leaves andpostings across the Pacific and in postwar Japan,though often these are expressed in languagecondescending towards non-Americans.

Nearly half the book, perhaps the mostuseful part, is devoted to the period 1945-1950.After the outbreak of the Korean War, Schratz'sPickerel patrolled the Formosa Straits to warn ofany Communist moves against Formosa and, inAugust, carried out photo-reconnaissance dutiesin mine-filled Korean waters. Schratz describesthe latter operation as "the first venture of anAmerican submarine into the waters of an armedenemy since the conclusion of World War II"[298].

Desolate upon leaving the submarineservice in 1950, he states "nothing equals theunforgettable romance of independentcommand" [313]. Schratz loved his submarinesand his calling and this is obvious on every page;but he also seems to have craved attention, asmuch of this book attests.

Serge DurflingerGatineau, Quebec

C. Snelling Robinson, 200, 000Miles Aboard theDestroyer Cotten. Kent, Ohio: The Kent StateUniversity Press, 1999. xiii+328 pp., maps,photographs, appendices, glossary, index,bibliography, US $35.00, cloth; ISBN 0-87338-645-0.

After a long career in Chicago realestate, C. Snelling Robinson retired to NorthCarolina. In common with so many other retiredveterans, Robinson wrote his memoirs. It tookhim eight years to complete his task, but theresult, 200,000 Miles Aboard the DestroyerCotten, was worth it.

Many books have been written about"Big Ships" such as battleships and aircraft

carriers; many books have been written aboutsubmarines and PT Boats. But Cotton was oneof the "little ships," a Fletcher-class destroyerthat was commonly-encountered but oftenunsung in the US Navy of World War Two.Robinson served aboard Cotten during all of itsWorld War Two service. He was part of the pre-commissioning crew in 1943 and was still partof Cotten's crew at the final surrender of theJapanese in Tokyo Bay in 1945. Thus, Robinsonwas uniquely positioned to write a narrative ofthat combines his own World War Two se rvicewith Cotten 's own service record.

This book fills an important niche.Cotton was one of the ships so essential to afleet, but the type of ship often overlooked inbattle histories. Without the destroyers and lightcruisers, and all the auxiliary ships of a fleet,nothing would be accomplished. And, as anewly-minted Ensign in the U. S. Naval Reservefresh from Harvard Universi ty, Robinson was ina fine spot to observe the business of the ship.Often Robinson was the immediate connectionbetween the ship's enlisted crew and more seniorofficers.

The book is frequently written in thetone of a successful businessman looking back ata long-ago period of his life. As such, it lacks abit of the freshness and vitality of a youthfulcontemporary memoir. That, however, isbalanced by the perspective of maturity fromwhich Robinson penned his words. Hefrequently sounds a bit pedagogical in hisapproach; he explains his duties in almost aprofessional-manner. However, for the readerunfamiliar with the concepts of which he speaks(astral navigation, for example) this approachyields rewards in clarity of explanation.

Robinson relates his career aboardCotton in a chronological manner. He relatesALL of Cotten 's World War Two service. It isall here: Tarawa, narrations of combat in thePhilippine Sea; the Battle of Leyte Gulf; Saipan;operations in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands;kamikaze attacks-both aircraft and midgetsubmarines; the great South China Sea typhoonof December, 1944, the struggle for Iwo Jima; a

Book Reviews 67

brief return stateside; and the final surrender inTokyo Bay. Interspersed throughout are incidentsof the human side of war - the drinking,encounters with the opposite gender, and manydetails of life aboard ship and its berthingstations. The narrative reads easily and will beenjoyed by a range of readers-those unfamiliarwith the Pacific War to those expert in same.

Robinson includes several helpfulfactors in his narrative: the cover has awonderfully-clear photograph of Cotton, thusobviating the need for a cutaway or sideviewdrawing; several maps, good photographs of lifeaboard ship and combat scenes; and in aappendix, a very good set of Cotten'sspecifications, which should satisfy the detail-oriented reader. A list of awards won by the crewis also included.

After his discharge from the Navy in1946, Robinson joined some many other SecondWorld War veterans in civilian life and enjoyeda long and (presumably) happy life. Cotton,however, was temporarily retired. When theKorean War broke out, the ship was brought outof retirement and placed back in service. Cottensaw an additional ten years of U. S. Navy servicebefore it was decommissioned and placed inreserve in 1960. While it was annuallyinspected, its 1975 inspection revealed that ithad deteriorated beyond economic repair. It wasscrapped later that year-the fate of so manyWorld War Two naval vessels of all nations. Asmall Cotton alumni association meets regularlyto keep the memory of this little ship still alive.And, it must be added, so does C. SnellingRobinson's book. With so many of the real itemsgone for good, and the World War Two-eraveterans passing on at an increased rate, thememory of one unsung-but nonetheless valuableship is worth keeping. This book isrecommended.

Robert L. ShoopColorado Springs, Colorado

Daniel V. Gallery. Twenty Million Tons Under

the Sea. Reprinted Annapolis, Maryland: NavalInstitute Press, 2001. 344 pp., photographs,appendices, bibliography. US$18.95, paper,ISBN 1-55750-806-2.

Daniel Gallery's book, originally published in1956 and considered by many to be a classicmemoir on the war at sea, has been reprinted byBluejacket Books with updated information andstatistics on the Battle of the Atlantic. This bookprovides an overview of the Battle of the Atlanticin order to place the operational history of bothU-505 and US S Guadalcanal - the subject of theauthor's narrative - in their proper historicalcontext.

In June of 1944, U. S. Navy Task Group22.3, a hunter-killer force commanded by thenCaptain Daniel Gallery to track down GermanU-boats, boarded and captured U-505 off thecoast of Africa. This was the first time since1815 that the United States Navy boarded andcaptured a foreign warship at sea. Thisextraordinary feat is described in gripping detailby Gallery himself, who chronicles the long andarduous battle against the German U-boat underdifficult conditions. Based on interviews withsurvivors of U-505, war diaries, and personalcorrespondence with her two survivingcommanders, Gallery provides a detailedoperational history of the German submarinefrom the laying of her keel to her capture fouryears later on 4 June 1944. The operations ofUSS Guadalcanal from her commissioningonward, including the revolutionary use of night-flying and the sinking of U-68, are also coveredin detail. The author has also chronicled thetrials and tribulations of those who dedicatedtheir lives to restoring U-505 as a permanentmemorial to those American sailors who losttheir lives at sea.

The story begins with a brief overviewof the war to lay the groundwork for the battle ofthe Atlantic and the eventual capture of U-505.Gallery recounts his time as Commander of theU.S. Navy Fleet Air Base at Reykjavik, Iceland,in early 1942, where, according to the author, theidea was first hatched for the capture of a

68 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord

German submarine following the surrender of U-570 to the British.

The real strength of the book are thosechapters devoted to an examination of U-boatdesign and technology. Similarly, Galle ryprovides an excellent description of the ebb andflow of the war at sea and furnishes a first-rateaccount for the layman of what it was like forboth hunter and hunted alike. That said, theauthor has taken poetic license when recountingconversations between crew members aboard U-505, incidents aboard the submarine and, inparticular, the chapter that deals with CaptainCszhech's suicide in 1943.

Gallery's account of the final days ofU-505 are somewhat troubling. According to theauthor "by May 31, Lange was in trouble. Allthose Naxos warnings the night before hadprevented him from getting any charge in hisbattery during darkness. It was about to poop outon him - in broad daylight" [241]. While thatmay be the case, this was a full four days beforethe capture of U-505 and, as Galle ry himselfshows, the U-boat surfaced on several occasionsduring the next four days in order to recharge itsbatteries and re-circulate the air. The state of theU-boat's batteries had nothing to do with theoutcome of the battle. As Gallery notes, "we bothblundered along practically within hailingdistance all night and stumbled over each otherat noon the next day. When he submerged just inthe nick of time at four bells of the mid-watch,Lange had a well charged battery, a good belly offresh air, and had apparently shaken off theaircraft carrier which had been right on top ofhim a few days before" [ 244]. The outcome ofthe battle had more to do with luck and the factthat the Tenth Fleet had been plotting themovements of the submarine for some time.Nevertheless, shortly after the attack began USSChatelain succeeded in forcing U-505 to thesurface where she was boarded and eventuallybrought under tow back to the United States.

Gallery suggests that the mostsignificant thing to come from the capture of U-505 was that it saved Allied sailor's livesbecause it provided crucial technical information

on German submarines, acoustical torpedoes,and gave the Allies the ability to read Germannaval codes because the boarding party securedthe current code books, cipher machine, anddispatches. What Gallery could not know wasthat the Allies already had the ability to readGerman signals and had been doing so, albeitwith temporary blackouts, since 1941. Thecapture of U-505 came too late in the war toeffect the outcome of the Battle of the Atlantic.

Following the war U-505 was to bescuttled. However, a determined effort on thepart of a number of volunteers, including Galle ryhimself, ensured that the U-boat was restoredand placed on display at Chicago's Museum ofScience of Industry, where she serves as a navalmuseum and maritime memorial to thoseAmerican sailors who lost their lives at sea.

Daniel Gallery's book should appeal tothe lay reader. The real strength of the book liesin those chapters which outline the inner-workings of a German submarine. That said, itwill be a difficult read for some. There arefrequent and lengthy digressions throughout thebook on a range of topics from the use of theatomic bomb, religion, and the morality ofsubmarine warfare. More disturbing perhaps arethe overdrawn cliches and colloquialismsthrough the manuscript which are anachronisticfor today's reader. Despite these criticisms thebook is not without merit - it is an interestingand informative first-hand account of the war atsea.

Shawn CafferkyVictoria, BC