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U-Boat War Patrol: The Hidden Photographic Diary of U-564 Hardcover – January 1, 2004

by Lawrence Paterson (Author)

4.5 63 ratings

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This book is unique in that it charts a complete history of a single patrol and provides a new insight into life aboard through the successes and trials of U-564. Photographed during the summer of 1942 by an onboard war correspondent they show a U-Boat in action in the Atlantic and Caribbean, as the Kriegsmarine teetered on the verge of what turned out to be its ultimate downfall. The crew is shown in virtually every station and several other U-Boats and their commanders feature as they gather to re-supply or to attack. The Three Black Cat motif of Reinhard 'Teddy' Suhren's U-564 is among the most famous in the illustrious history of Germany's U-Boats of World War II. Suhren himself ranks in the top tier of U-Boat commanders along with the likes of Prien and Kretschmer and his name still raises a smile among veterans of the service for his infamously anti-establishment attitude that saw a meteoric rise to U-Boat command and the receipt of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves. The photographs were 'liberated' from U-564's concrete pen in Brest in 1945. They have been kept in a shoebox under a bed for the best part of sixty years and now, through the painstaking research of Lawrence Patterson and the Royal Navy Submarine Museum, are to be published for the first time. Patterson has pieced together the stories of Teddy Suhren and U-564 and provides detailed accompanying captions explaining many of the photos and a history of the boat, her crew and their illustrious and much-loved commander.

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About the Author

Lawrence Paterson is the author of First U-Boat Flotilla (1557502951) and Second U-Boat Flotilla (0850529174).

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Greenhill Books/Lionel Leventhal; First Edition (January 1, 2004)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 206 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 185367575X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1853675751
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.9 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8 x 0.75 x 9.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #4,405,629 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #36,502 in World War II History (Books)

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4.5 63 ratings

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Lawrence Paterson
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Lawrence Paterson
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I have been writing non-fiction Second World War Kriegsmarine history books since 2000; my first book published by Pen & Sword in 2002.
It’s a subject that has always interested me – not just military history but the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in particular. This probably stems from both my Grandfathers; one of whom fought in the Australian Army during World War One at Gallipoli, the Somme and Paschendale to name but three, the other in the Royal Navy and Royal New Zealand Navy during World War Two in the Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Growing up in New Zealand there were many veterans of that conflict that lived nearby and the war still seemed very raw to most New Zealanders even 30 years after its end. However, rather than be part of the ‘black hat/white hat’ approach to Germans and other former enemies, both of my Grandfathers taught me that war is a very complex and personal experience and that most events were ‘shades of grey’. It is rarely a simple ‘good guy versus bad guy’ thing – regardless of whether the cause that soldiers serve is a just one or not. That lesson stays with me today.
The desire to write about the U-boat service first began when I was living near Brest in Brittany, France. I am a scuba diving instructor and spent a great deal of time diving on wrecks left behind by the Kriegsmarine, all in the shadow of the huge U-boat bunkers created in Brest’s military harbour. Encouraged by authors Jon Gawne and Robert Strauss I submitted the proposal for the ‘First U-Boat Flotilla’…and it went from there.
It has since been my privilege to write about many aspects of the Wehrmacht and also finish my first book on Allied forces about the remarkable men of Operation Colossus and the birth of the British Airborne service.
Some of my books have been translated into French, German, Finnish, Spanish, Dutch, Czech, Latvian, Japanese and Polish.
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Robert N. Jamieson jr

Their sub commander Teddy Suhren is very smart in torpedoing merchant shipping in the war of the ...

Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2016

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This book is an interesting insight into the life and actions aboard U-564 german submarine in World War 2. Their sub commander Teddy Suhren is very smart in torpedoing merchant shipping in the war of the Atlantic as well as the Gulf of mexico and some Carribean islands as well. This book is also sad towards the end of 1942/43 as the Allies close in on it's war on U Boats by the introduction of underwater listening equipment such as asdic(sonar) which decimated lots of U Boats during that time!! There was a reporter/photographer assigned to document a war patrol of U-564 as part of it's propaganda efforts to show the German people how it's U Boat's are at destroying the Allied shipping. There were more than 360+ photographs taken aboard U-564 only a few have surfaced in this book. If you love U Boats as I do, get this book you will not be dissappointed!! Hopefully one day soon the rest of the photographs will surface in another book??

3 people found this helpful

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Daryl Carpenter

Detailed and unique

Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2022

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Although U-boat pictorials aren't exactly a rarity, "U-boat War Patrol" is unique in presenting an entire patrol from beginning to end, as well as providing a wealth of historical details. After a fairly lengthy introduction with explains how the photographs were discovered and which serves as a biography of Reinhard "Teddy" Suhren, the majority of the book focuses on the final patrol of U564 under his command in July-September 1942. Also onboard for this voyage was war correspondent Meimes Haring, who took hundreds of photographs, the majority of which were unseen until this book's publication in 2004. As mid-1942 was one of the last times a U-boat could operate surfaced for any length of time, the photos depict events such as transferring torpedoes and fuel from other U-boats, the stopping of a Swedish freighter, AA gun practice, and a deck gun attack.

Compared with the work of Lothar-Gunther Buchheim, Haring's photos tend to belie their propaganda origins rather strongly, presenting U-boat warfare as more akin to a dangerous Boy Scout adventure than anything else. That's not to say they don't have a tremendous amount of historical value, it's just hard to ignore the sunny skies, calm seas, and smiling, mostly beardless, faces. Lawrence Paterson's text is surprisingly detailed, weaving together technical and operational details, biographies of various crewmembers, logbook extracts, and even a couple of accounts from Allied escort commanders. The photo captions are also well worth reading, even if the text is WAY too small!

My original copy was published by the Naval Institute Press in 2006, and despite the fact that many of the pictures were taken onboard a humid U-boat and kept in a shoe box for 60 years, the majority of the photographs look pretty good. The 2016 edition, published by Frontline Books, suffers in comparison, with many of the photos looking rather murky or washed out. Since used copies of the original edition sell for roughly the same price as the newer edition, I'd recommend buying one of them instead.

3 people found this helpful

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Theodore N. Barnhartii

This is a great book about one patrol of U564

Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2015

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This is a great book about one patrol of U564, a German sub during ww2. This was the boat of Teddy Suhren, a U-Boat ace. They had a photographer along with them to take pictures of a war patrol on a successful sub. The book was out of print and cost a fortune if you could get a copy. The Military Book Club reproduced it at a great price. It is a great book that shows what life was like on a U-boat in war time.

5 people found this helpful

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E. Nelson

Fantastic, a must have

Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2015

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Having read several books on U-boats, this book chock full of pictures adds tremendously to what the other books lacked; lots of actual pictures. Highly recommend this book to supplement any other books on U-boats of WWII.

2 people found this helpful

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William Divale, Ph.D.

Good photos.

Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2016

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Very interesting book. Good photos.

One person found this helpful

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David J. B. Singer, MD

Amazing photos of U boat crews during missions

Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2016

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Amazing photos of U boat crews during missions. NO romance here....crowded and small spaces in sub for both officers and men, no AC, hot, and very dangerous.

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Seeing is believing

Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2016

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Interesting book on uboat war fair. Lots of interesting photos and good explanations.

2 people found this helpful

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Gary

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2015

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Very interesting and great photos.

One person found this helpful

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Dana Rudko

Excellent photo history

Reviewed in Canada on November 6, 2023

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A great read and photos of a German submarine combat voyage. The author did a great job of filling in all the details behind some photos that had been found after the war.