Lone Wolf: The Life and Death of U-Boat Ace Werner Henke

Lone Wolf: The Life and Death of U-Boat Ace Werner Henke by Mulligan, Timothy P.. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780806127804.

This book relates the life - and death - of the rebel German seaman who became one of the most successful U-boat commanders of World War II. In this carefully documented study, Timothy P. Mulligan tells the story of Werner Henke and the crew of U-515 in the Battle of the Atlantic, where they engaged in long-range "lone wolf" operations against Allied ships. The story of U-5l5 is closely correlated to the overall conduct of the U-boat war, including assessments of Karl Donitzs strategy, the influence of technological innovations, and the contributions of Allied signal intelligence. Henke sank twenty-four merchant vessels and two warships before U-515 itself was sunk and he and his crew captured by a U.S. task force in 1944. Fearing he would be turned over to the British and tried as a war criminal, Henke became the only U-boat captain killed in North America while trying to escape as a prisoner of war.