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Review Hunt and Kill - U-505 and the U-boat War in the Atlantic Theodore P Savas, Ed. Savas Beatie LLC 2004
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There has been great interest in the Museum of Science and Industry's current restoration of U-505. With perfect timing, this newly released book will help fill a gap in people's knowledge of the U-boat war in general, and U-505's remarkable history in particular.
Most people know U-505 was captured intact, and eventually became the chief exhibit at the MSI in Chicago. The fact that it was the first warship captured by the US Navy since the War of 1812, and the only warship captured during WWII, makes U-505 of great historic value. Stopping there, however, would sell the story short. Before and after its capture, the boat enjoyed an extremely interesting career. Most U-boats ended their war as final resting places for their crews or, if they were lucky, survived the war without any successes to speak of. Neither was true for U-505.
Hunt and Kill: U-505 and the U-boat War in the Atlantic, edited by Theodore P. Savas, is not just another "How U-505 was captured" story. Instead, it is a collection of chapters by some of the best U-boat historians writing today. Gathering them all together to write on this subject was a risky proposition, for many similar compendiums produce a disjointed and unfocused book of uneven quality. Theodore Savas, as an experienced editor and writer, has avoided these pitfalls by gathering the finest talent available and getting the best possible from each contributor. The various chapters fit seamlessly together and add substantially to the final product.