Just Finished Shadow Divers

[amascuba]

loved the book , but must admit I cheated I was on vacation in FL and found the audio version on CD's. listened to it for 6 hours on my trip home to VA. Could not wait to put the next disk in. Very well read and great information on the struggles they endured for so long.

I've read the book and listened to the book on disk. The book is still better!! .. They left out some parts on the book on CD that put alot of thing bits and pieces together. Why? I don't know. I'm definitely waiting for the movie though. I would like to read it again, but I lent it to my dad and since then it's been passed around to like 10 other people and I haven't seen it since. Maybe I'll get the book back one day.

 

[dandrian]

Someone mentioned that they skimmed over some of the U-boat history, but I think that understanding the life of a U-boat is amazing similar to the tech/deep diving that we are all talking about. One of the things that I liked the most out of the book was the great sense of history and the reverence in which they showed that history. We talk about diving on boats like the U869 as being dangerous and even having proof of the danger by what happened with the Roushes, but what I came away with from Shadow Divers was how dangerous it was to be on a U-boat. You have to respect the lives that all of those U-boat sailors lived. You have to appreciate the mind set they must have all carried to even climb into one of those things. I guess IMO that if you come away from reading Shadow Divers and think that it is just another book about diving, then you missed something...............

David

 

[JMdiver]

I just finished it a couple of weeks ago great book I couldn't put it down either. A friend of mine e-mailed Chatterton about the movie & got a response pretty quick. If I'm lucky I might be diving on that movie.

Happy Diving
John

 

[Daylonious]

Someone mentioned that they skimmed over some of the U-boat history, but I think that understanding the life of a U-boat is amazing similar to the tech/deep diving that we are all talking about. One of the things that I liked the most out of the book was the great sense of history and the reverence in which they showed that history. We talk about diving on boats like the U869 as being dangerous and even having proof of the danger by what happened with the Roushes, but what I came away with from Shadow Divers was how dangerous it was to be on a U-boat. You have to respect the lives that all of those U-boat sailors lived. You have to appreciate the mind set they must have all carried to even climb into one of those things. I guess IMO that if you come away from reading Shadow Divers and think that it is just another book about diving, then you missed something...............

David

Well, the amazing thing in the book is that they mention that during the latter period of WWII (1944-45) the average lifespan of a "kriegsmarine" was 60 days. They suffered 75% casualties over the course of the war, and STILL went to sea. You can argue morality all ya want, but I came away from Shadow Divers with a respect from what would have been 18-23 year old kids volunteering to go on a mission that they knew in their hearts they wouldn't come back from.

Call 'em what ya want, but cowards they weren't. I think "Shicksagemeinshaft" sums it up pretty well.

D.

 

[Don Burke]

How about when Chatterton removed his tanks and shoved them through the holes when they were too small for him and his rig?

That is the hole I was referring to. From "The Last Dive", I got the impression he did it once. From "Hitler's Lost Sub" (the Nova program), I got the impression it was twice.

 

[Nevis Diver]

Great book.

The main thing I got out of it besides the description of how painful the bends can be is the reverence the divers had for the wrecks because of the lost souls. It created my mindset of not raping a wreck. Since that time I have been on wrecks with folks that pry off anything they can and it does look cool in their collection, but I am satisfied with the memory of seeing it under water and not having helped destroy it.

 

[Don Burke]

Well, the amazing thing in the book is that they mention that during the latter period of WWII (1944-45) the average lifespan of a "kriegsmarine" was 60 days. They suffered 75% casualties over the course of the war, and STILL went to sea. You can argue morality all ya want, but I came away from Shadow Divers with a respect from what would have been 18-23 year old kids volunteering to go on a mission that they knew in their hearts they wouldn't come back from.

Call 'em what ya want, but cowards they weren't. I think "Shicksagemeinshaft" sums it up pretty well.

D.

I saw one source that said the 75% apparently included squadron personnel in the population base, so the percentage of seagoing personnel lost was even higher.


Check out:

"Iron Coffins" by Herbert Werner
"U333" by Peter Cremer
"Grey Wolf, Grey Sea" by E.B. Gasaway (with a foreword by Karl Dontiz)
"Black May" by Michael Gannon
"The U-Boat Peril" by Bob Whinney

also:
"Wahoo" by Richard H. O'Kane
"The Bravest Man" by Timothy Tuohy


... hmm ... It would appear I am somewhat obsessed by the topic.

 

[Sharky1948]

Great book. One thing about the OOA on deep decompression dives. Proper procedure is to follow the rule of thirds similar to cave diving. Thus in an OOA, you have enough gas for you and a buddy if he has an OOA. Think of decompression dives in the same way you do diving in an overhead environment. You don't have a direct ascent to the surface.

I have the pleasure of diving next weekend in NJ with John and Ritchie...a charity dive for the Michael Norwood foundation...followed by a dinner that evening. I'm looking forward to it!

Now, off for a very rainy day of diving at Ft. Wetherill in Jamestown, RI.

 

[H2Andy]

Call 'em what ya want, but cowards they weren't.

certainly not.

what a terrible waste of such men dying for such a disgusting government

 

[Nailer99]

Absolutely amazing book. I read it 3 times. "The Last Dive", about the father and sone who died there, is also excellent.