Raid The Capture Of U-505 Paperback

Description

U-505 was the first enemy warship the US Navy captured at sea since 1812. This is anew account of how Captain Gallery planned and executed the raid on his owninitiative, 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 enemyU-boat on the high seas. It was not the first time the Allies had taken a German U-boatas a prize, but the capture of U-505 was different. Captain Gallery and his Task Group22.3 devised a risky plan to capture scuttled U-boats.This book analyses in detail Gallery’s dangerous strategy, using contemporary sourcesto explore why he thought the reward was worth the risk: instead of attempting to sinkthe next U-boat that surfaced among them, a destroyer escort would send off itswhaleboat. Everyone else was to smother the U-boat with light gunfire to encourage itscrew to abandon quickly. Unaware that the Allies had already cracked the German’scodes and the capture of a U-boat could endanger that secret, Gallery hoped to capturethe vessel’s codes and coding equipment to read Uboatmessage traffic. The planculminated in the capture of U-505 in early June, which nearly caused the exposure ofthe 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 dangerousraids, which could have changed the outcome of World War II as we know it.Sales and Marketing HighlightsMark Lardas is a well-known Osprey author who has written extensively aboutmodeling as well as naval, maritime, and military history.This book tells the fascinating story of the capture of U-505. While most Uboatcaptures were by chance, this was a carefully planned, but unauthorizedoperation, and one whose success could have ruined the Bletchley Parkcodebreaking operations.US escort carrier stories are a very popular topic among historians andmodellers alike.