Torpedo Junction: U-Boat War Off America's East Coast, 1942 (Bluejacket Books)

  Author:    Homer Hickam
  ISBN:    1557503621
  Sales Rank:    429079
  Published:    1996-04
  Publisher:    Naval Institute Press
  # Pages:    367
  Binding:    Paperback
  Avg. Rating:    5.0 based on 28 reviews
  Used Offers:    15 from $12.50
  Amazon Price:    $14.96
  (Data above last updated:  2010-03-06 13:59:26 EST)
  
  
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Torpedo Junction: U-Boat War Off America's East Coast, 1942 (Bluejacket Books)
  
Slaughter at sea—just miles from U.S. soil!

In 1942 German U-boats turned the shipping lanes off Cape Hatteras into a sea of death. Cruising up and down the U.S. eastern seaboard, they sank 259 ships, littering the waters with cargo and bodies. As astonished civilians witnessed explosions from American beaches, fighting men dubbed the area "Torpedo Junction." And while the U.S. Navy failed to react, a handful of Coast Guard sailors scrambled to the front lines. Outgunned and out-maneuvered, they heroically battled the deadliest fleet of submarines ever launched. Never was Germany closer to winning the war.

In a moving ship-by-ship account of terror and rescue at sea, Homer Hickam chronicles a little-known saga of courage, ingenuity, and triumph in the early years of World War II. From nerve-racking sea duels to the dramatic ordeals of sailors and victims on both sides of the battle, Hickam dramatically captures a war we had to win—because this one hit terrifyingly close to home.
                  Reader Reviews 1 - 10 of 10                 
  
  
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01-21-10 5 (NA)
(Hide Review...)  Hickam scores again!
Reviewer Permalink
Well researched, good writing. What more can one say? A good read.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2010-02-16 03:03:07 EST)
12-25-09 4 (NA)
(Hide Review...)  Research Material Torpedo Junction of 1942
Reviewer Permalink
Order received as advertised. In a timely manner as stated in offer. Will do business in furture if offer meets my needs.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2010-02-16 03:03:07 EST)
08-13-08 5 0\1
(Hide Review...)  Very Good Book
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Torpedo Junction is a very educational and interesting book about German submarines destroying numerous ships and their cargos and many deaths. It is historically accurate and enlightening. Once you start this book, it is difficult to put down.

I recommended it to anyone interested in history, WWII and what happened on the East Coast of the U.S., particularly from New Jersey to North Carolina.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2010-02-16 03:03:07 EST)
07-11-08 4 (NA)
(Hide Review...)  A limited operation well covered
Reviewer Permalink
The U-boat war off America's coast "Operation Drumbeat" was merely one of Germany's U-boat operations. This book is an interesting read. I, like others, wasn't aware of the magnitude of U-boat operations off America's coast. It's a great account. It's limited to that operation. There's hardly anything beyond Operation Drumbeat...but that was the book's intent. It's a good account.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-08-14 08:33:52 EST)
03-15-08 5 (NA)
(Hide Review...)  Most Interesting Book Ever Read
Reviewer Permalink
I've read a number of books over the years, both about WWII and other topics. I can say that Torpedo Junction is the most fascinating book I've ever read. Even though the author gives lots of details about the attacks, he keeps it moving along at a steady clip. I didn't want to put the thing down. It's very well-documented (albeit with some secondary sources), but also provides a lighter narrative style along to way to break up the "action reports."
(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-07-11 20:08:37 EST)
11-24-07 4 (NA)
(Hide Review...)  The Unknown Tragedy Immediately Following Pearl Harbor
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Ultimately how good I like a book is if I'm committed to finish it. Torpedo Junction by Homer Hickman is a book I had to finish, but I was so interested in what it revealed I hardly wanted it to end. Many factors were at work here. First, Mr. Hickman's writing is so clear and linear that it belies the painstaking research such an easy to read factual narrative requires. Thank you Mr. Hickman for doing the work so I could both be reviled and astonished!

This little known yet very tragic part of World War II played out right at our doorstep. Because of Japan's audacity to hit us with one massive surprise salvo the even more insideous U-Boat war on the U.S. coastline played out largely unknown to the general public. For months that seemed to drag on and on the Germans sank boat after boat after boat. Maybe for our protection or maybe because we couldn't quite get a handle on how to stop the German U-Boat threat the mounting damage was kept quiet. It was a tremendous tragedy which caused great loss of life as well as massive destruction of resources. With Torpedo Junction we can finally see how close to home death truly came. Also, we get to know the true courage of those who protected our home shores so we could both support the war effort as well as keep that all important semblance of a "normal life" at home. To know the facts surrounding the North Atlantic U-Boat war helps to rectify those long years of not talking about it.

I recommend this book as both educational and entertaining. As with Rocket Boys I was pulled inside a time and place as if I was there. Storytelling really doesn't get better than this.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-07-10 08:42:49 EST)
06-06-07 5 (NA)
(Hide Review...)  I was there...Homer did us justise.
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As the U. S. Coast Guard Cutter Dione's lead soundman during period of Hickman's book I can attest that he did a wonderful job telling our story about some real hazardous duty. Homer's collaboration with our Radioman 1st, Swede Larson really paints the futility and danger of our sub chasing before and after convoys. I'm so glad Homer wrote about us. Now maybe we won't be forgotten.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2007-11-27 15:56:13 EST)
12-27-06 5 (NA)
(Hide Review...)  Excellent !
Reviewer Permalink
Reads like a Clancy thriller. I recommend this book along with Michael Gannon's "Operation Drumbeat" so one can understand the havoc wreaked by German U boats along the Eastern seaboard against totally unprepared and in many cases complacent ships in the early days of World War II.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2007-06-04 10:43:39 EST)
12-26-06 5 (NA)
(Hide Review...)  Excellent !
Reviewer Permalink
Reads like a Clancy thriller. I recommend this book along with Michael Gannon's "Operation Drumbeat" so one can understand the havoc wreaked by German U boats along the Eastern seaboard against totally unprepared and in many cases complacent ships in the early days of World War II.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2007-03-26 20:31:47 EST)
07-03-05 3 0\8
(Hide Review...)  A WW2 HISTORY LESSON THAT FEW KNOW
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I KNOW NOW FOR SURE THAT I WOULD NEVER WANT TO BE A MILITARY OR MERCHANT SAILOR OFF THE ATLANTIC COAST IN 1942. TORPEDO JUNCTION WAS EXTREMELY WELL DOCCUMENTED AND RESEARCHED, BUT ALSO DESCRIPIBED BY SURVIVORS FROM U-BOATS, NAVY AND COASTGUARD SHIPS AS WELL AS MERCHANTMARINES. MY LOWER RATEING COMES FROM THE FACT THAT IT MADE ME UNCOMFORTABLE TO ACCEPT THE FACT THAT THE U S WAS ALMOST HELPLESS AGAINST THE STEALTHY GERMAN U-BOATS, AND THAT THE DATA WAS HARD TO STOMACH (I'M NOT A BEAN COUNTER). THE MOST VALUE I SEE HERE IS SOME BASIS FOR HICKAM'S LATER BOOKS, ESPECIALLY "THE KEEPER'S SON".
(Review Data Last Updated: 2006-09-01 14:54:47 EST)
  
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