Black May, by Michael Gannon, 1998, HarperCollins, New York, NY. ISBN 0-06-017819-I

This book is sub-titled "The Epic Story of the Allies’ defeat of the German U-Boats in May 1943". It describes how the German U-Boat offensive collapsed in May of 1943 and it explains why.

The author describes in detail the successful attacks made by two U-Boat captains. He also details the troubles that befell two others. Then he goes on to describe the ordeal of convoy ON-5 in late April and early May 1943. He describes the battle over this convoy as the last big "wolfpack" attack and tells us why it failed.

He then goes on to describe the technical wizardry which enabled the British, Canadian, and American Navies and Air Forces to find and knock out the U-Boats. He describes the weapons, the tactics, and the training that enabled them to be successful.

He also describes the battles from the German point of view. How they were unable to catch up with the Allied technological advances and how their leaders mis-steps led many a U-Boat crew to a watery grave.

One of the most unusual parts of the book is a number of transcripts made by the British of captured U-Boat crewmen talking to other captured Germans. Seems the British bugged the cells they were holding the prisoners in.

Overall this was an excellent book. It is very readable and I could not put it down. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the history of WWII.

Read in November, 1998