The white-knuckled war saga of the US Navy task force who achieved
the impossible on June 4, 1944, capturing Nazi submarine U-505, its
crew, technology, encryption codes, and an Enigma cipher machine—the
first seizure of an enemy ship in battle since the War of 1812 and one
that undoubtedly shortened the duration of the war.
On
June 4, 1944—two days before D-Day—the course of World War II was
forever changed. That day, a US Navy task force achieved the
impossible—capturing a German U-Boat, its crew, all its technology, Nazi
encryption codes, and an Enigma cipher machine. Led by a nine-man
boarding party and the maverick Captain Daniel Gallery, US antisubmarine
Task Group 22.3’s capture of U-505 in what was called Operation Nemo
was the first seizure of an enemy ship in battle since the War of 1812,
one of the greatest achievements of the US Navy, and a victory that
shortened the duration of the war.
Charles Lachman’s
white-knuckled war saga and thrilling cat-and-mouse game is told through
the eyes of the men on both sides of Operation Nemo—German U-Boaters
and American heroes like Lieutenant Albert David (“Mustang”), who led
the boarding party that took control of U-505 and became the only sailor
to be awarded the Medal of Honor in the Battle of the Atlantic; and
Chief Motor Machinist Zenon Lukosius (“Zeke”), a Lithuanian immigrant’s
son from Chicago who dropped out of high school to enlist in the Navy
and whose quick thinking saved the day when he plugged a hole of gushing
water that was threatening to sink U-505. Three thousand
American sailors participated in this extraordinary adventure; nine
ordinary American men channeling extraordinary skill and bravery
finished the job; and then—like everyone involved—breathed not a word of
it until after the war was over. Nothing leaked out. In Berlin, the
German Kriegsmarine assumed that U-505 had been blown to bits by depth
charges, with all hands lost at sea. They were unaware that the U-Boat
and its secrets, to be used in cracking Nazi coded messages, were now in
American hands. They were also unaware that the 59 German sailors
captured on the high seas were imprisoned in a POW camp in Ruston,
Louisiana, until their release in 1946 when they were permitted to
return home to family and friends who thought they had perished. Following
Operation Nemo step-by-step, author Charles Lachman has crafted a
deeply researched, fast-paced World War II narrative for the ages.