Military Model Scene

Title: The Capture of U-505
Author: Mark Lardas
Publisher: Osprey
ISBN: 978-1-4728-4936-6

Raid 58 from Osprey, The US Navy's Controversial Enigma Raid, Atlantic Ocean 1944. An 80-page soft-cover book from author Mark Lardas.
After a useful introduction there is a 2-page Chronology of the story, stretching from the Kriegsmarine commissioning the first U-boat in 1935, to the death of the key character of Daniel V. Gallery in 1977. Then comes some background on the Battle of the Atlantic, before Initial Strategy with notes on the basic U-boat designs, and the allied Task Group 22.3, one of 11 hunter killer groups that were operated to hunt down the U-boats, centred around the USS Guadalcanal (CVE-60), under the command of Captain Daniel V. Gallery. He had thought deeply about capturing, rather than sinking, a U-boat for some time, and had made some preparations for the possibility. It goes on to detail just what happened in the actual capture of the U-505. The crew were forced to abandon ship, and the captain, Harald Lange ordered the ship to be scuttled. The story explains what then happened which allowed the US Navy crews to secure the sub, also capturing the vital code books and machine which offered so much intelligence data. Of course what the crews did not know was the Enigma was already being read by the allies, so it was vital that the capture of U-505 was kept secret, so that the Germans did not change their use of Enigma. Some of the captured information did help, but the secret was protected until after the war, and the final outcome is set out in the conclusion.
An interesting story, a story that had to be kept secret in case another secret was given away. Add the archive images and some great artwork by illustrator Irene Cano Rodriguez and this one makes for some interesting reading.
Thanks to Osprey for the review copy.

Robin