Mark LardasThe Capture of U-505: The US Navy's controversial Enigma raid, Atlantic Ocean 1944: 58

This edition holds the attention and is a gripping read.For those who don’t have encyclopaedic knowledge of u boats there is useful background information on how long one could remain underwater before having to surface to recharge the batteries,number and location of entry/exit hatches etc.The successful seizure of the boat involved an incredible amount of good fortune which,in a detailed pre planning scenario,may well be considered unrealistic expectations.There are good illustrations (apart from one)and within the confines of the space you get a reasonable idea of the u boat crew dynamics and the personality of the US commander.Ironically all this very good luck went partly un rewarded as some of the Kriegsmarine codes had already been broken(which,at the time,was a closely guarded secret)As a result the capture of the boat was not made public until the European war ended and therefore not even the propaganda element could be. exploited

I liked the Raid story on how to capture the U-505 by the American Navy in the Atlantic Ocean near the African coast. Yes, I visited the authentic U-505 in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry with awe because I was so impressed by how the American engineers searched for the small German battery function secret with the submarine for their analysis. With interest, Admiral Ernest King did not forgive and forget Captain Daniel Gallery's participation in the Revolt of the Admirals. Very interesting book!

This Osprey Raid series book provides a fascinating account of the capture of U-505, a German submarine taken off the coast of Africa during the Second World War. The operation was the brainchild of a naval task group commander, who basically dreamed it up and did it. Little did he know he was putting the Allies' enigma secrets at risk...Author Mark Lardas' brisk, no-nonsense narrative is a pleasure to read. The account of the raid is nicely supported with period photographs and modern illustrations, maps, and diagrams. Well recommended to students of the naval war of the Second World War.

What an amazing true story from WWII! The first and only enemy ship captured by the US Navy since the war of 1812! Really an amazing tale.

This book relates the capture on the high seas of the German submarine U-505 by U.S. Navy forces during WWII. Without doubt, this was a daring enterprise, and the resulting text is certainly interesting, but does have a few weakness offsetting its plusses.The weaknesses first: In this case the "raid" was more like a single action, where the actual seizure of the submarine took place over less than one hour. Thus even in the brief Osprey format there is not a lot to fill the covers, and text devoted to the overall Battle of the Atlantic, various other types of U-boats, and so forth feels a bit like some padding. The original artwork (an Osprey hallmark) depicting the boarding of the submarine is also fairly underwhelming. Plus, there is at least one small factual error in that during WWII the Duke of Windsor was the Governor of the Bahamas, not, as stated here, of Bermuda.On the other hand, the book has some notable plusses. Foremost is a clear and the detailed explanation (often lacking in accounts of this action) of the creative pre-planning by the on-site American commander (Captain Daniel Gallery) who had anticipated the possibility of some day seizing a U-boat intact. Having boarding parties designated and trained in advance, among other things, was key, since it was the ability to deploy very quickly which allowed the capture. Also, the cutaway diagram of the U-boat (a Type IX) will be helpful to anyone not already familiar with the internal layout of these craft. And of course there is a certain ready-made audience among those who have ever visited (or who who plan to visit) the U-505 herself, which sits today in the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. No photos of her on display, though.Ultimately, this raid was less "controversial" (as the book's sub-title claims) than "unexpected" by the supreme naval commands on either side. For the Allies, a dilemma was created since if the Germans learned that a submarine had been captured intact they would know that an Enigma coding machine had likely also been seized (as was, in fact, the case), and would take appropriate countermeasures, thus perhaps offsetting the fact that Enigma had already been secretly broken. The resulting machinations to preserve the secret are well covered here.Overall, a good account of a notable incident.

Read it in anticipation of a Chicago trip (where the submarine is in a museum) and learned a lot