Teddy Suhren: Ace of Aces: Memoirs of a U-boat Rebel | Teddy Suhren, Fritz Brustat-naval

Teddy Suhren: Ace of Aces: Memoirs of a U-boat Rebel | Teddy Suhren, Fritz Brustat-naval | Teddy Suhren - U-Boat "Rebel"

books:

Teddy Suhren: Ace ...

	Teddy Suhren: Ace of Aces: Memoirs of a U-boat Rebel Teddy Suhren, Fritz Brustat-naval US Naval Institute Press, 2006 - 248 pages average customer review:based on 5 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Teddy Suhren, the commander of U-564, was one of the most successful U-boat skippers of World War II. He is said to have fired more successful torpedo shots than any other submariner during the war and was the first junior officer to be awarded the Knight?s Cross for his achievements. By war?s end he had earned a Knight?s Cross with Oak Sword and is credited with sinking eighteen ships plus a British corvette and damaging four other ships. One of the lucky few to survive the war, Suhren wrote his memoirs in German with the help of a journalist friend under the title Nasses Eichenlaub. This English translation of the popular work is the first to be available.

Suhren remains a legend within the U-boat world mostly for his good humor and irreverent and rebellious nature, which frequently got him into trouble with higher authorities. Despite his refusal to conform, however, he had access to the highest circles of power in Nazi Germany. Suhren?s reminiscences of those times make for some fascinating reading and include descriptions of social events few were privileged to attend.

for more information click here

Ace of Aces

Excellent account of an interesting WW2 U-Boat Commander,not your typical German stereotype, Teddy Suhren's autobiography is a must read for anyone interested in the Battle of the Atlantic and the U-Boat Campaign of the East Coast of Florida. Suhren is a fun loving, professional who works hard and plays hard.

Highly recommend the book.

Teddy Suhren - U-Boat "Rebel"

This autobiography by Reinhard "Teddy" Suhren is yet another fine book by a surviving German Naval Officer of the U-Boat conflict during World War Two. He was certainly no Nazi, and suffered tremendous personal loss - his parents and sister died toward the end of the war, when Soviet forces entered the German-speaking Sudetenland region (now in the Czech Republic). His brother Gerd Suhren was also a highly-decorated U-Boat Commander. Teddy was something of a "non-conformist," who harbored anti-Hitler sympathies, who was no racist and who was very fair toward his men. After the war, he returned to a country (Germany) which now saw all veterans as something of criminals - something grossly unfair to those who were mere victims of their generation. After he passed away in 1984, his ashes were left in the exact position in the North Atlantic where his last submarine command (U-564) went down with all her men. This was done at his specific request. Like many U-Boat aces, he was withdrawn from the front in order to train new recruits at home - thus did he survive the carnage of World War 2.

for more information click here

An important addition to the history of the U-Boat war.

Whenever I review a book about U-Boats, I automatically think of (and usually mention) Gunther Prien and Otto Kretschmer. After having read this book, however, I think my first choice of name should have been Teddy Suhren.

Suhren was a legend within the U-Boat service during WW2 and this is his story. The detail comes from his own papers and photographs revealing a U-Boat commander who was incredibly successful. His own personal patrol range included the eastern coast of the United States as well as the Indian Ocean. What endears any reader to Suhren as a person, however, is not only his success, and outstanding leadership skills, but also his sense of humour and the fact that he was a rebel and often in trouble with his superiors.

In a book which is clearly thoroughly researched, this author has put together an important work which will fill many gaps for those with an interest in the exciting and dangerous art of U-Boat warfare during WW2. I particularly liked the way in which the carefully selected photographs are used - appearing on each relevant page and not found in a small glossy collection in the middle of the book. In this way, each picture is relevant to the adjacent text and does much to support one's reading of the work as opposed to creating an interruption as the reader searches to find something located elsewhere.

Altogether, this is an excellent work - exactly what I have come to expect from these particular publishers.

NM

for more information click here

One of the more interesting U-boat books

This is an excellent account of one man's war as a submarine officer in World War Two and significant work within this area of study.

I found this book to be a bit of a pleasant surprise. Not only does the book have dozens of great photographs documenting Suhren's experience. The book reminds me extensively of the movie Das Boot and gives the reader good perspective of submarine operations.

Things I enjoyed about this book are the stories of working among the sailors as a team and how Suhren made a special effort to take care of his sailors. I also enjoyed his description of action off the Florida coast. Since I'm familiar with the area he writes of it's particularly fascinating reading. In fact a person can almost imagine what it was like years ago when the attacks took place.

My only criticism of the book centers on the old fashioned writing style of the book. In some place entire pages are devoted to one large paragraph. And while this may not be daunting to some. It certainly doesn't make things easier from an esthetic standpoint for the reader. The other thing to consider is this is a specialty book, and a good solid foundation in the general history of the war would help a new reader understand the significant place U-boats have in the history of the war.

If you're interested in the U-boat war I would suggest you read U-boat Commander by Peter Cremer and The Shooting War by Otto Giese. Both are excellent easy to read books on the topic.

for more information click here

Very Good and Very Honest

Good book easy to follow about one the most successful Uboat Captains who also managed to survive the war - starts with early years, naval training, patrols, transfer from active duty to training and the Command of the Uboat Fleet while based in Norway.

products you might be interested in

recommendations

U-Boat Reference Books