As a boy growing up in Germany, Werner Hirschmann dreamed of going to sea. In 1940, he was accepted as an officer cadet in the Kriegsmarine , the German navy, and after rigorous training became an engineer officer in the elite U-Boot-Waffe or submarine service. Using his wartime diaries and remarkable photograph albums, as well as historical documents, Werner Hirschmann recounts the many interesting episodes in his naval career, including serving on a destroyer that escorted Bismarck on her last operation, U-boat ...
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As a boy growing up in Germany, Werner Hirschmann dreamed of going to sea. In 1940, he was accepted as an officer cadet in the Kriegsmarine , the German navy, and after rigorous training became an engineer officer in the elite U-Boot-Waffe or submarine service. Using his wartime diaries and remarkable photograph albums, as well as historical documents, Werner Hirschmann recounts the many interesting episodes in his naval career, including serving on a destroyer that escorted Bismarck on her last operation, U-boat operations in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, being besieged by the Americans at the U-boat base at Lorient in France, and his last patrol to North America in 1945, on which his submarine, U-190, sank HMCS Esquimalt, the last Canadian warship lost during the war. Hirschmann provides a unique view of the day-to-day life of a U-boat officer who, like young men on both sides, did his best to enjoy life while trying to do his duty. An epilogue describes his postwar life as a prisoner-of-war in Canada and Britain. After the war, he moved to Canada, where he pursued a successful career and eventually became an honorary member of the veterans' association of HMCS Esquimalt. A key feature for many readers is the technical section that provides a detailed pictorial tour of the Type IX/C40 U-boat, including many previously unpublished photographs discovered in Canadian archives. This paperback edition is printed on the same high-quality paper as the original hardcover to ensure the best reproduction of the many superb photos.
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