So close to home
Subtitle: a true story of an American family's fight for survival during World War II
By: Michael J. Tougias and Alison O'Leary
Contributors: O'Leary, Alison, author
Edition: First Pegasus Books cloth edition.
Publisher: Pegasus Books
Published: 2016
Language: eng
Number of pages: 238
ISBN-13: 9781681771304
Subjects: Submarine; Naval operations; Survival at sea; Shipwreck survival; World War, 1939-1945
Other titles: True story of an American family's fight for survival during World War II
Description: "On May 19, 1942, a U-boat in the Gulf of Mexico stalked its prey fifty miles from New Orleans. Captained by twenty nine-year-old Iron Cross and King's Cross recipient Erich Wurdemann, the submarine set its sights on the freighter Heredia with sixty-two souls on board. Most aboard were merchant seamen, but there were also a handful of civilians, including the Downs family: Ray and Ina, and their two children, eight-year-old Sonny and eleven-year-old Lucille. Fast asleep in their berths, the Downs family had no idea that two torpedoes were heading their way. When the ship exploded, chaos ensued--and each family member had to find their own path to survival." --
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 223-228).
Table of contents: title: A tired old workhorse; title: Ina and the South American venture; title: Admiral Dönitz and his Grey Wolves; title: Harro Schacht and U-507; title: The Grey Wolves and the Mississippi; title: Moving ever closer; title: Denied a safe port; title: An uneasy feeling; title: Torpedoes in the night; title: The raft; title: A most hopeless night; title: Dawn; title: Desperation; title: Running out of time; title: The shrimp boat and a surprise; title: Ina; title: Lucille; title: Triumphant return to Lorient; title: Morgan City and the hospital; title: The Laconia: a sinking and a rescue; title: Spies, duty, and the turning of the battle tide; title: Passages so far from home; title: Sonny.