The Merchant U-Boat: Adventures of the Deutschland, 1916-1918 - Hardcover

Messimer, Dwight R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0870217712 ISBN 13: 9780870217715

Publisher: Naval Institute Press, 1988

Synopsis

Everyone with a taste for adventure and intrigue will appreciate this informative and entertaining book. Based on the World War I records of the German navy, the British Admiralty, the U.S. Department of State, and contemporary newspaper reports, it offers the first detailed account of the unorthodox activities of the Deutschland. This uniquely designed U-boat, built with an exceptionally wide beam to carry cargo, was Germany's desperate response to a British blockade that by 1916 had driven the regular merchant fleet from the seas, leaving Germany cut off from foreign markets and on the verge of economic collapse.

Here, Dwight Messimer reounts the submarine's two dramatic trips to the United States for critical supplies of nickel and introduces the reader to the highly secret Etappendienst, a complex international network of agents, dummy companies, and bank accounts, charged with ensuring war materials for the homeland. In addition, the book provides a fascinating overall picture of World War I and of American attitudes towards the war and its participants. It also offers an inside look at the intelligence-gathering operations of the three leading powers, presenting some amusing anecdotes in the process.

About this edition

• Publisher: Naval Institute Press
• Publication date: 1988
• ISBN 10: 0870217712
• ISBN 13: 9780870217715
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288