Prag Christian. No Ordinary War

Naval Institute Press, 2009. — 192 p.U-604 may have looked like the hundreds of other Type VIIC U-boats built by the Nazi Kriegsmarine during World War II, but her six wartime patrols were far from ordinary. This book draws on the eyewitness testimony of survivors and the boat s war diary to weave a detailed tapestry of life and action on U-604 during some of the fiercest convoy battles of the Atlantic war. She was credited with many successes, among them inflicting the largest single loss of U.S. mercantile personnel in one attack. The success of her career, however, pales beside the epic story of her loss. The boat was damaged beyond repair after repeated bombing by American aircraft, and her commanding officer organized an amazing but tragically unsuccessful rescue attempt by two other U-boats in their wolfpack. Many of the book's photos have not been published previously.