Then conquer we must, when our cause is just, And this be out motto: “In God we Trust!” And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave, O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Even before the Declaration of Independence the Navy raised its flag on the first American warship, the Alfred, on December 3, 1775 and conducted its first Marine raids on New Providence, Bahamas on March 3, 1776. Since that time it has been the single greatest guarantor of American sovereignty and Edward L. Beach has been one of its greatest chroniclers.

In this story of disaster and heroism his father was the captain of the ship attacked, not by a declared enemy but, by an overwhelming force of nature. There had been such attacks before and others have followed and the threats from our enemies may diminish long before those from the sea. What matters in each case is how the adversary is met. The men of the USS Memphis, including Commander Beach, stood by their stations and acquitted themselves well. The next generation, also a Commander Beach, has related the story with an eloquence worthy of their service.

The wreck of the Memphis  Edward L. Beach ; with a new introduction by the author  Annapolis, Md. : Naval Institute Press, c 1998  Hardcover. Originally published: New York : Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1966. xiii, 312 p. ; 22 cm. Clean, tight and strong binding with clean dust jacket. No highlighting, underlining or marginalia in text. VG

USS Wateree (1864-1868)Beached at Arica, Chile, 430 yards above the usual high water mark, after she was deposited there by a tidal wave on 13 August 1868. Her iron hull was reasonably intact, but salvage was not economical, and she was sold where she lay. Courtesy of Murray Greene Day.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

USS Wateree, a 1173-ton Sassacus class “double-ender” steam gunboat, was built at Chester, Pennsylvania and was constructed with an iron hull. Commissioned in January 1864, Wateree was sent around Cape Horn to the Pacific, arriving at San Francisco, California, for post-voyage repairs in November 1864. From early 1865 until mid-1868, the gunboat patrolled along the west coasts of Central and South America as a unit of the South Atlantic Squadron.

America (Peruvian Warship)Beached and partially dismasted at Arica, Chile, following the 13 August 1868 tidal wave that washed her and other vessels ashore. Photographed from the seaward side. Ship in the distance, beyond America’s bow, is USS Wateree. This photograph was received from Captain Dudley W. Knox in 1934. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

On August 13, 1868, while she was at the Port of Arica, Peru (later part of Chile), a huge tidal wave struck the anchorage, breaking several ships loose from their anchors and casting them ashore. Wateree was carried nearly five-hundred yards inland, where she was deposited relatively intact. However, refloating and repairing her would have been impossibly expensive, so she was sold where she lay in November 1868. Reportedly, her hulk was subsequently employed as an inn.

USS Tennessee (Armored Cruiser # 10)At anchor, circa 1907. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

USS Tennessee, first of a class of four 14,500 ton armored cruisers, was built at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was commissioned in July 1906 and in November of that year escorted President Theodore Roosevelt when he voyaged to Panama to visit the great canal then under construction. She went to the Pacific later in 1907, remaining for two and a half years as a unit of the powerful armored cruiser squadron then serving in that region.

USS Tennessee (Armored Cruiser # 10)Coaling ship at Honolulu, Hawaii, circa 1909-1910. Three other armored cruisers are visible in the offshore distance. Collection of Harry Gilfillan. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

On her next assignment, Tennessee carried President William Howard Taft on an inspection of Panama Canal progress. She operated in the western Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico areas during the rest of 1910 and the first months of 1911. The big cruiser steamed to the eastern Mediterranean, where she protected American interests and transported refugees during the Middle Eastern turmoil that accompanied the First Balkan War. Upon returning home in May 1913, Tennessee served with the Atlantic Fleet.

USS Tennessee (Armored Cruiser # 10)Crew members carrying stores onto the ship’s boat deck, probably at Alexandria, Egypt, circa late 1914 or early 1915. Ship alongside (at right) may be USS Vulcan (Collier # 5). Collection of Earl P. Crandall. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

In August 1914 Tennessee returned to the Mediterranean, where she conducted humanitarian missions and otherwise “showed the flag” as the First World War spread through Europe and into the Turkish empire. Back in the U.S. by August 1915, she carried Marines to Haiti, and from then until February 1916 was actively involved the effort to establish order in that strife-torn nation.

Late in the May 1916 she was renamed Memphis, allowing reassignment of her original name to a planned new battleship. During the early summer the cruiser took Marine reinforcements to the Dominican Republic, also suffering from revolutionary violence.

USS Castine (Gunboat # 6) Photograph autographed by Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, USN, circa the later 1950s or early 1960s. He served in Castine while commanding the Atlantic Fleet Submarine Flotilla between 20 May 1912 and 30 March 1913. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

At three in the afternoon of 29 August 1916, the 14,500-ton armored cruiser Memphis and the 1177-ton gunboat Castine were riding gently, anchored in the open roadstead off Santo Domingo, capital city of the Dominican Republic.  Far away somewhere in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean or Caribbean Sea, a seismic event had already generated a powerful tidal wave. Castine would barely escape its effects, while the other would be driven ashore a complete wreck. More than forty men would lose their lives.

USS Memphis (Armored Cruiser # 10)Wrecked at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where she was thrown ashore by tidal waves on the afternoon of 29 August 1916. This view probably was taken early on 30 August, as the ship appears to be abandoned. Note the anchor chain running seaward from her starboard bow. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Perhaps twenty minutes later, Memphis’ Executive Officer was troubled by the “looks of the sea” and at about half past three Captain Edward L. Beach, the cruiser’s Commanding Officer, ordered steam power increased enough to allow his ship to leave the anchorage. Previous experience had demonstrated that this could be done in about forty minutes. Waves began breaking ashore and, since Memphis was now rolling too much to recover boats in the water, two of hers were sent out to sea, soon to be followed by one of Castine’s. Shortly afterwards, when a large wave was seen on the horizon, both ships began to prepare for heavy weather. This laborious work was greatly hindered by violent rolling and pitching as waves rapidly became larger and then immense.

USS Memphis (Armored Cruiser # 10)Wrecked at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where she was thrown ashore by tidal waves on the afternoon of 29 August 1916. This view probably was taken early on 30 August, as the ship appears to be abandoned. Note the lines running between the ship’s superstructure and the shore. Photographed by the local U.S. Consul, Carl M.J. von Zeilinski. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

The effort to get steam up on Memphis suffered even more, with the problem becoming worse as water began to flow over her decks and enter through ventilators, incompletely closed gunports, and even her four tall smokestacks. As a result, when the main waves reached the anchorage about half-past four, Memphis did not have enough steam available to run her engines properly. She dragged her anchor, all the while battering her hull against the bottom, normally some twenty-five feet below her keel. At about five PM she went hard aground near Santo Domingo’s rocky coastal cliffs.

Castine, meanwhile, had gotten clear of the anchorage, following a heroic effort that left her badly battered and barely seaworthy. A motor launch, erroneously sent out of port with much of Memphis’ recreation party embarked, had foundered in the tremendous breakers, leaving twenty-five men dead. Another eight Sailors were lost when the three boats sent to sea sank or were wrecked attempting to reach shore after dark. Ten more were fatally injured on board Memphis, either by being washed overboard or from burns and steam inhalation as the ship’s powerplant broke apart during her ordeal.

USS Memphis (Armored Cruiser # 10) Wrecked at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where she was thrown ashore by tidal waves on the afternoon of 29 August 1916. This view probably was taken early on 30 August, as the ship appears to be abandoned. Note the U.S. Ensign hanging from the ship’s stern where the flagstaff had broken away. The top of her rudder and propeller is also visible. Photographed by the local U.S. Consul, Carl M.J. von Zeilinski.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

The big cruiser’s remaining officers and men, many of them badly injured, were brought ashore by ship to shore lines, hastily rigged by U.S. Marines, Navy personnel and local residents. USS Memphis, so thoroughly damaged as to be not worth refloating, remained just off Santo Domingo’s shoreline for many years, a monument to a sudden tsunami, one of nature’s most unforeseeable and powerful forces.

Claud Ashton Jones was born on 7 October 1885 was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1903 and graduated with the Class of 1906. He served in the battleships Indiana and New Jersey during the next three years and received his commission as an Ensign in 1908. Between 1909 and 1915, Jones was assigned to the training ship Severn and the armored cruiser North Carolina, received post-graduate engineering education at the Naval Academy and Harvard University, and served in the battleships Ohio, New York and North Dakota. He was promoted to Lieutenant (Junior Grade) in 1911 and Lieutenant in 1914.

Commander Claud A. Jones, USN Receives the Medal of Honor from President Herbert Hoover, in ceremonies at the White House, 1 August 1932.
Cdr. Jones’ wife and son are partially visible behind him and the President.
Captain Walter N. Vernou, Presidential Naval Aide, is at right. In the left center is Secretary of the Navy Charles Francis Adams. At the extreme left are Rear Admiral Samuel M. Robinson, Chief of the Bureau of Engineering; Captain Harold G. Bowen, Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Engineering (partially visible); and Captain Harold Stark, Aide to the Secretary of the Navy (partially visible). Commander Jones received the Medal for heroism on board USS Memphis (Armored Cruiser # 10) when she was wrecked on 29 August 1916. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Late in 1915 Lieutenant Jones reported for duty as Engineer Officer of the armored cruiser Tennessee. He was severely injured when she was wrecked by a tsunami on 29 August 1916. Many years later, in recognition of his heroic conduct in rescuing crewmen from the dying ship’s steam-filled engineering spaces, then-Commander Jones was awarded the Medal of Honor. After recovering from his ordeal, he served ashore until after the end of World War I.

Lieutenant Commander Jones was designated as a specialist engineering duty officer in 1918 and in 1920-1921, in the rank of Commander, was Engineer Officer of the new battleship Tennessee. During the 1920s and into the early 1930s he had two Navy Department tours with the Bureau of Engineering, served in Europe as an Assistant Naval attaché and was senior engineering officer with the Battle Fleet. He was promoted to Captain in 1933, while again on duty with the Bureau of Engineering, and was Assistant Chief of that Bureau in 1935-1936. Captain Jones had machinery and materiel inspection assignments for the rest of the decade, then returned to Washington, D.C., to serve as Head of the Shipbuilding Division of the Bureau of Ships. As a Rear Admiral, he was the Bureau’s Assistant Chief and, for much of World War II, Assistant Chief of Procurement and Material. He became Director of the Naval Experiment Station at Annapolis, Maryland, from September 1944 until nearly the end of 1945. Retired in June 1946, Rear Admiral Claud A. Jones died at Charleston, West Virginia, on 8 August 1948.

Medal of Honor citation of Commander Claud A. Jones (as printed in the official publication “Medal of Honor, 1861-1949, The Navy”, pages 106 & 107):
“For extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession as a senior engineer officer on board the U.S.S. Memphis, at a time when the vessel was suffering total destruction from a hurricane while anchored off Santo Domingo City, 29 August 1916. Lieutenant Jones did everything possible to get the engines and boilers ready, and if the elements that burst upon the vessel had delayed for a few minutes, the engines would have saved the vessel. With boilers and steam pipes bursting about him in clouds of scalding steam, with thousands of tons of water coming down upon him and in almost total darkness, Lieutenant Jones nobly remained at his post as long as the engines would turn over, exhibiting the most supreme unselfish heroism which inspired the officers and men who were with him. When the boilers exploded, Lieutenant Jones, accompanied by two of his shipmates, rushed into the firerooms and drove the men there out, dragging some, carrying others to the engine room, where there was air to be breathed instead of steam. Lieutenant Jones’ action on this occasion was above and beyond the call of duty.”

No good fish goes anywhere without a porpoise… Lewis Carroll

Christopher Columbus lived in a time when his society held values that most people today would not recognize nor appreciate either the reasons or the practises that they engendered if they did. Many within living memory know of the fish on Friday rule that was once obeyed with the stricture of a commandment by the faithful. It has passed into disuse thanks to the unwillingness of the formerly faithful and the ambivalence of those who were formerly responsible for the promulgation of the rules that the faithful submitted themselves to as a discipline of faith. In order that the reader may understand what the world of Columbus was like we have excerpted the following explanation of fasting and abstinence that was pretty well in effect from 62 AD until 1962 AD.

Abstinence signifies abstaining from food and the Bible narrative points to the first instance wherein such a course of conduct was imposed by law (Genesis 2:16-17). The obvious purpose of this mandate was to lead the human race to recognize the necessary dependence of creature upon Creator. The transgression of this law marked an increase in the debt which the creature owed the Creator so Adam’s disobedience rendered all men  liable to the necessity of appeasing God’s justice. To meet this new exigency positive legislation determined the ways and means whereby this natural obligation would best be satisfied and the results are positive statutes concerning fasting and abstinence. Laws relating to fasting are principally intended to define what pertains to the quantity of food allowed on days of fasting, while those regulating abstinence refer to the types of food allowed. In some instances both obligations coincide; thus, the Fridays of Lent are days of fasting and abstinence while in other instances the law of abstinence alone binds the faithful; thus ordinary Fridays are simply days of abstinence.

From the dawn of Christianity, Friday has been signalized as an abstinence day, in order to do homage to the memory of Christ suffering and dying on that day of the week. Clement of Alexandria (Stromata VI.75), and Tertullian (On Fasting 14) make explicit mention of this practice. Pope Nicholas I (858-867) declares that abstinence from flesh meat is enjoined on Fridays. There is every reason to conjecture that Innocent III (1198-1216) had the existence of this law in mind when he said that this obligation is suppressed as often as Christmas Day falls on Friday (De observ. jejunii, ult. cap. Ap. Layman, Theologia Moralis, I, iv, tract. viii, ii). Moreover, the way in which the custom of abstaining on Saturday originated in the Roman Church is a striking evidence of the early institution of Friday as an abstinence day.

As early as the time of Tertullian, some churches occasionally prolonged the Friday abstinence and fast so as to embrace Saturday. Such prolongations were quite common at the end of the third century. The Council of Elvira (can. xxvi, ap. Hefele, op. cit., I, 147) enjoins the observance of one such fast and abstinence every month, except during July and August. Moreover, Gregory VII (1073-85) speaks in no uncertain terms of the obligation to abstain on Saturdays, when he declares that all Christians are bound to abstain from flesh meat on Saturday as often as no major solemnity (e.g. Christmas) occurs on Saturday, or no infirmity serves to cancel the obligation.

Fish on Friday : feasting, fasting, and the discovery of the New World  Brian Fagan  New York : Basic Books, c 2005  Hardcover. 1st ed. and printing. 338 p. ill. 24 cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. Clean, tight and strong binding with clean dust jacket. No highlighting, underlining or marginalia in text. VG/VG

What gave Christopher Columbus the confidence in 1492 to set out across the Atlantic Ocean? What persuaded the king and queen of Spain to commission the voyage? It would be convenient to believe that Columbus and his men were uniquely courageous. A more reasonable explanation, however, is that Columbus was heir to a body of knowledge about seas and ships acquired at great cost over many centuries.

Fish on Friday tells a new story of the discovery of America. In Brian Fagan’s view, that discovery is the product of the long sweep of history: the spread of Christianity and the cultural changes it brought to Europe, the interaction of economic necessity with a changing climate, and generations of unknown fishermen who explored the North Atlantic in the centuries before Columbus.

The Church’s tradition of not eating meats on holy days created a vast market for fish that could not be fully satisfied by fish farms, better boats, or new preservation techniques. Then, when climate change in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries diminished fish stocks off Norway and Iceland, fishermen were forced to range ever farther to the west-eventually discovering incredibly rich shoals within sight of the Nova Scotia coast. In Ireland in 1490, Columbus could well have heard about this unknown land. The rest is history.

I am opposed to the laying down of rules or conditions to be observed in the construction of ships lest the progress of improvement tomorrow might be embarrassed or shackled by recording or registering as law the prejudices or errors of today…Isambard K. Brunel

The GREAT WESTERN was built by William Patterson, Bristol (engines by Maudslay, Sons & Field, London) in 1837 for the Great Western Steamship Co. She was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and was a 1,340 ton ship, length 212 ft x beam 35.3 ft, clipper stem, one funnel, four masts (rigged for sail), wooden construction, paddle wheel propulsion and a speed of 9 knots. There was accommodation for 128 passengers aft and 20 passengers forward. Launched on July 19th 1837, she was the first steamer built specifically for the North Atlantic.

Both men were geniuses. Brunel was the engineering genius whose  theory that the amount a ship could carry increased as the cube of its dimensions, whereas the amount of resistance a ship experienced from the water as it travelled only increased by a square of its dimensions made transatlantic steam navigation possible since it was previously believed that a ship would not be able to carry enough fuel for the trip and have room for a commercial cargo. As early as the 1830’s he helped create the conditions that would lead to the end of the age of sail and usher in the economies of scale and predictability of service that would result in today’s container ships and global economy.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the Launching Chains of the Great Eastern

Although he and Cunard were both heavily involved in the railways of their day – Brunel saw the transatlantic steamers as a way of “extending” England’s railroads to North America – both owe their lasting glory to their shipping accomplishments.  Cunard was the shipping magnate  with a reputation for speed and safety and whose ocean liners were a success in the face of many potential rivals who could not keep up. The prosperous company eventually absorbed others including the Canadian Northern Steamships, and even their principal competition, the White Star Line.

The GREAT EASTERN was a 18,915 gross ton ship, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and built by Scott Russell & Co.Ltd, London (screw engines by James Watt & Co.Ltd, Birmingham). Her dimensions were length 679.6 ft x beam 82.8 ft, five funnels, six masts, iron construction, paddle and screw propulsion and a speed of 12 knots. She was originally laid down on May 1st 1854 as the LEVIATHAN and there was an unsuccessful attempt at launching her on November 3rd 1857 when she refused to move and eventually launched herself during a spring tide and strong winds on January 31st 1858. She was then named GREAT EASTERN. On June 16th 1860 she left Southampton on her maiden voyage to New York which took her 11 days 13 hours 15 minutes. In 1864 she was sold to Daniel Gooch & colleagues and in July of that year proceeded from Liverpool to Sheerness where 10 boilers and one funnel were removed to make way for cable tanks. Between 1865-66 she was employed laying transatlantic cable. In 1869 she laid cable from Brest to St Pierre-Miquelon, Newfoundland and in 1870 laid cable from Bombay to Aden.

Transatlantic : Samuel Cunard, Isambard Brunel, and the great Atlantic steamships  New York, NY : HarperCollins, c 2003 Stephen  Fox Steamboat lines North Atlantic Ocean History,  Ocean liners North Atlantic Ocean History, North  Atlantic Ocean Hardcover. 1st ed. and printing.  xviii, 493 p., [32] p. of plates : ill. ; 24 cm.  Includes bibliographical references and index. Clean, tight and strong binding with clean dust  jacket. No highlighting, underlining or marginalia  in text. VG/VG   

The MAURETANIA was built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend-on-Tyne (engines by Wallsend Slipway Co) in 1906 for the Cunard Line. She was a 31,938 gross ton ship, overall length 790 ft x beam 88 ft, four funnels, two masts, four screws and a service speed of 25 knots. There was accommodation for 563-1st, 464-2nd and 1,138-3rd class passengers. Launched on the 20th of September 1906, she left Liverpool on her maiden voyage to Queenstown (Cobh) and New York. Between 1907 and 1924 she broke several transatlantic records, her shortest crossing being 4 days,10 hrs,51 mins from Queenstown to Ambrose Light in Sep.1909 at a speed of 26.06 knots.

During the nineteenth century, the roughest but most important ocean passage in the world lay between Britain and the United States. Bridging the Atlantic Ocean by steamship was a defining, remarkable feat of the era. Over time, Atlantic steamships became the largest, most complex machines yet devised. They created a new transatlantic world of commerce and travel, reconciling former Anglo-American enemies and bringing millions of emigrants to transform the United States.

The MAURETANIA II was a 35,738 gross ton ship, length overall 771.8 ft x beam 89.4 ft, two funnels, two masts, twin screw and a speed of 23 knots. There was accommodation for 486-cabin, 390-tourist and 502-3rd class passengers. Built by Cammell Laird & Co, Birkenhead, she was launched for Cunard-White Star Line on the 28th of July 1938. In August 1939 she was the largest liner ever to visit London. She left New York on the 20th of March 1940, in company with the QUEEN MARY for Panama and Sydney where she was converted into a troopship and transported ANZAC troops to Britain. She made trooping voyages to Suez after which she returned to the Australia – Suez transport run. Later used to transport American troops to Europe.

In Transatlantic, the experience of crossing the Atlantic is re-created in stunning detail from the varied perspectives of first class, steerage, officers, and crew. The dynamic evolution of the Atlantic steamer is traced from Brunel’s Great Western of 1838 to Cunard‘s Mauretania of 1907, the greatest steamship ever built. Set against the classic tension of modern technology contending with a formidable natural environment, the story is rife with disasters. The key element is steam power: the universal, magical, transforming microchip of the nineteenth century.

The SS United States is the largest ocean liner constructed entirely in the US, the fastest ocean liner to cross the Atlantic in either direction, and even in her retirement retains the Blue Riband given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest speed.

 

 

All he said was that he had had a jolly good breakfast, and that he never thought I would make it… Mrs W.Carter, in divorce proceedings against her husband. She claimed that his greeting to her on her arrival at Carpathia was evidence of his lack of affection for her.

Titanic’s last secrets : the further adventures of shadow divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler    New York : Twelve, c 2008 Brad Matsen Underwater archaeology North Atlantic Ocean, Titanic (Steamship) Hardcover. 1st. ed. and printing.     viii, 325 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.     Includes bibliographical references (p. 283-313) and index. Clean, tight and strong binding with clean dust jacket. No highlighting, underlining or marginalia in text. VG/VG  

After rewriting history with their discovery of a Nazi U-boat off the coast of New Jersey, legendary divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler decided to investigate the great enduring mystery of history’s most notorious shipwreck: Why did Titanic sink as quickly as it did?

To answer the question, Chatterton and Kohler assemble a team of experts to explore Titanic, study its engineering, and dive to the wreck of its sister ship, Brittanic, where Titanic’s last secrets may be revealed.

Titanic’s Last Secrets is a rollercoaster ride through the shipbuilding history, the transatlantic luxury liner business, and shipwreck forensics. Chatterton and Kohler weave their way through a labyrinth of clues to discover that Titanic was not the strong, heroic ship the world thought she was and that the men who built her covered up her flaws when disaster struck. If Titanic had remained afloat for just two hours longer than she did, more than two thousand people would have lived instead of died, and the myth of the great ship would be one of rescue instead of tragedy.

Titanic’s Last Secrets is the never-before-told story of the Ship of Dreams, a contemporary adventure that solves a historical mystery.

Fioghting “tough wolves, stubby, 761 tons of driven, overcharged Nazi attack power”.

Bitter ocean : the Battle of the Atlantic, 1939-1945    New York : Simon & Schuster, c 2006  David Fairbank White World War, 1939-1945 , Campaigns , Atlantic Ocean Hardcover. First edition and printing. 350 p., [16] p. of plates : ill., ports, maps ; 25 cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. 319-327) and index. Clean, tight and strong binding with clean dust jacket. No highlighting, underlining or margina lia in text. VG/VG

Bitter Ocean is a masterful, authoritative account of perhaps the least-known major battle of World War II, the Battle of the Atlantic. British, Canadian, and American air and sea forces fought the German U-boats in this desperate battle, and prevailed — at a terrible cost.

Between 1939 and 1945, over 36,000 Allied sailors and navy airmen and 36,000 merchant seamen lost their lives in the Atlantic Ocean. They were attempting to deliver the weapons, food, and supplies essential to keeping Britain alive, as well as the supplies vital to the armies fighting in Europe. In addition to the troops themselves, every tank, plane, and bomb crossed the Atlantic aboard ship. As dreadful as the loss of life was for the Allies, the Germans fared even worse. More than 80 percent of German U-boat crewmen never made it home, the highest casualty rate of any branch of the military on either side. Bitterly contested and nearly lost, the Allies’ battle for control of the Atlantic shipping lanes remains perhaps the least understood chapter of World War II — until now.

Drawing on a wealth of archival research as well as interviews with veterans on both sides of the ocean campaign, author and maritime journalist David Fairbank White takes us aboard ship and beneath the waves as he reconstructs this epic clash from both sides. With captivating immediacy, Bitter Ocean evokes the grim years 1940-42 when Admiral Karl Donitz’s U-boats — “tough wolves, stubby, 761 tons of driven, overcharged Nazi attack power” — succeeded in sinking more tonnage than Allied shipyards could replace. He shows us the technological breakthroughs that reversed the course of the battle in 1943, including improved radar, machines that cracked the German naval code, and very long-range bombers. As the hunters became the hunted, the tide turned, but the German fleet continued to fight despite the increasingly terrible odds.

As he tells the powerful, wrenching stories of individual convoys that suffered from the German submarine attacks, White displays a novelist’s flair. Vividly written, Bitter Ocean is scrupulously factual, a triumph of scholarship that will enthrall every student of history.