quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
Werner's "Iron Coffins" is very good. He survived the whole war in U-boats, which was extremely rare.

Yes, I read the highest casualty rate of any service during WWII. Never a shortage of volunteers, either.

Das Boot is a good movie. It became a favorite in the Chief's mess on a Guided Missile Cruiser I was on in the 90s. On deployment we would go a whole week playing that movie every night, then it would get put away for a while. I haven't watched it since then, I need to though!

"The Enemy Below" was on yesterday. Good Sub flick.
Another one I enjoy is "Assault on a Queen" where Frank Sinatra and friends re-float a sunken U-Boat and use it to hijack the Queen Mary. Cheesy but fun.

For those close by there is a us sub also available for tour in Buffalo New York at the naval and servicemans park. Really nice destination with multiple aircraft a pt boat sub destroyer and guided muzzle cruiser all there plus the on shore museum. When I lived there visited multiple times and they have multiple memorials including one dedicated to Iraq/Afghanistan and even one on vets of the polish army in ww2

quote:

Originally posted by captain127:
For those close by there is a us sub also available for tour in Buffalo New York at the naval and servicemans park.

There's also the USS Razorback in Little Rock, AR and the USS Cavalla in Galveston, TX.

Don't forget the USS Cobia, in Manitowoc, WI. She is a Gato-class fleet boat that survived 6 war patrols in the Pacific in WWII. She is moored at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, and avaiable to be toured.

http://www.wisconsinmaritime.o...xperience/uss-cobia/

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by captain127:
For those close by there is a us sub also available for tour in Buffalo New York at the naval and servicemans park.

There's also the USS Razorback in Little Rock, AR and the USS Cavalla in Galveston, TX.

We've got the USS Batfish in Muskogee.

USS Torsk is in the harbor in Baltimore.

Edited to add: It sank the last warship sunk during WW2.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jeff Yarchin, March 12, 2017 03:30 PM

Hardegen wrote "Drumbeat," about the U-boats operating off the US east coast in 1942. It was a slaughter for our ships. It was a very good read. +1 for Iron Coffins.

I saw U-1 in Munich, U-995 (Type VII) north of Kiel, and U-2340 in Bremerhaven (Type XXI). Haven't made it to -505 yet, but it's on my bucket list. I was stationed in Germany, and just hopped on trains to see the German museums.

The Type VII and Type IX boats were way smaller than the typical US fleet boats (700, 1400, and 2200 tons respectively, if memory serves). The Atlantic and Pacific had very different operating environments, hence the differences in designs.

Couple years ago I spent a morning crawling around inside USS Drum in Mobile, Al. I was the only living soul aboard and I was struck with just how cramped it was. I can't imagine just how unpleasant conditions would be with a full crew, submerged, during combat operations.

quote:

Originally posted by copaup:
Couple years ago I spent a morning crawling around inside USS Drum in Mobile, Al. I was the only living soul aboard and I was struck with just how cramped it was. I can't imagine just how unpleasant conditions would be with a full crew, submerged, during combat operations.

Yes, they were cramped.

I visited Drum twice. If memory serves, it was the only sub where I could enter the conning tower (besides the German boats, I also toured HMS Alliance and USS cod, Cavalla, and Marlin).

But the U-boats (not counting Type XXIs) were twice as cramped. Only the skipper had a 'room,' but that was about the size of a phone booth with just a green curtain to give a semblance of privacy. . .

quote:

Originally posted by Jeff Yarchin:
USS Torsk is in the harbor in Baltimore.

Edited to add: It sank the last warship sunk during WW2.

I've been through that one. Limited to what they let you see. Basically walk one end to the other inside on the top level. I really wanted to get down to the engine room we could see through a hatch.

So little room. You walk through it single file and really can't go back to see something if you miss it.

There is a U-Boat sitting on the bottom of the Potomac. U-1105 It sits in about 90' of water. Had to opportunity to dive it about 5-6 years ago.

Fun dive but requires some planning because of the currents in the Potomac.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-1105

Marker buoy is removed ever year before winter and reinstalled in the spring. Do not tie into the marker buoy.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: comet24, March 17, 2017 08:04 PM

There is "Torpedoes in the Gulf" by Melanie Wiggins.

It is about the Uboats and Galveston and the Gulf of Mexico. 56 ships were lost to U Boats during the war. Pretty amazing feat for the distance travelled to get to Texas!

Published by Texas A&M I will add.

HK Ag

I think that the first book about submarines that I read as a kid (12-ish maybe) was " Run Silent, Run Deep " by Commander Edward L Beach, USN.

Great book!

A movie was made about the book starring Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster.
__________

New jersey moors the USS Ling, a Balao class sub. I was on it as a cub scout. I remember the smell. Very industrial. The museum is closed to the public I guess because.of the.lack of interest..Such a shame.
Apparently there is a Balao class sub still on active duty with the Taiwanese.