U-boat 977
by Heinz Schaeffer
Category: Submarine captains

This is the story of U-977, the German submarine that escaped to Argentina at the end of World War II. Before surfacing near the west coast of Africa, the vessel had spent a remarkable sixty-six days submerged. When it was first published in 1953, opinions were sharply divided between those who deplored the apparent extolling of a vicious form of warfare, and those who found Heinz Schaeffer's account a revealing picture of the German navy's training and methods. The author depicts the grueling aspects of a submariner's life. In the final months of the war, Schaeffer and his crew came under constant attacks from Allied aircraft and surface ships.