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The Capture of U-505: The US Navy's controversial Enigma raid, Atlantic Ocean 1944

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title The Capture of U-505: The US Navy's controversial Enigma raid, Atlantic Ocean 1944
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Mark Lardas
Illustrated by Irene Cano Rodriguez
SeriesRaid
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:80
Dimensions(mm): Height 248,Width 184
Category/GenreSecond world war
ISBN/Barcode 9781472849366
ClassificationsDewey:940.54293
Audience
General
Illustrations Illustrated throughout with around 50 photos and 9 pages of colour illustrations

Publishing Details

Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint Osprey Publishing
NZ Release Date 14 February 2023
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

U-505 was the first enemy warship the US Navy captured at sea since 1812. This is a new account of how Captain Gallery planned and executed the raid on his own initiative, and how his success almost endangered the war against the U-boats. On June 4, 1944 a US Navy antisubmarine task group in the Atlantic captured an enemy U-boat on the high seas. It was not the first time the Allies had taken a German U-boat as a prize, but the capture of U-505 was different. Captain Gallery and his Task Group 22.3 devised a risky plan to capture scuttled U-boats. This book analyses in detail Gallery's dangerous strategy, using contemporary sources to explore why he thought the reward was worth the risk: instead of attempting to sink the next U-boat that surfaced among them, a destroyer escort would send off its whaleboat. Everyone else was to smother the U-boat with light gunfire to encourage its crew to abandon quickly. Unaware that the Allies had already cracked the German's codes and the capture of a U-boat could endanger that secret, Gallery hoped to capture the vessel's codes and coding equipment to read U-boat message traffic. The plan culminated in the capture of U-505 in early June, which nearly caused the exposure of the Bletchley Park codebreaking secret. Featuring contemporary photographs, specially commissioned artwork and 3D maps, this book is a fascinating exploration of one of the most controversial and dangerous raids, which could have changed the outcome of World War II as we know it.

Author Biography

Mark Lardas holds a degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, but spent his early career at the Johnson Space Center doing Space Shuttle structural analysis, and space navigation. An amateur historian and a long-time ship modeler, Mark currently lives and works in League City, Texas. He has written extensively about modeling as well as naval, maritime, and military history.