What are you reading right now?

[Thomen]

Working my way through the KTB (war diary) of the Commerce Raider "KOMORAN". Very interesting read.

[kranz]

I've almost finished Operation Drumbeat by M.Gannon-I feel kinda disappointed....
not connected with uboats: Stalingrad by Antony Beevor- well, if u have read something else about that battle don't waste your money;
and Nazi Germany and Arabic countries, too lazy to check full title, interesting if u like foreign policy

[claybirdd]

Just got through reading Tom Clancy's "Red Storm Rising". I must say of the 7 books of his ive read this is by far the best.

[Shearwater]

'Typhoon' by Joseph Conrad. Always liked his stories.

Weapons of Desperation - German Frogmen and Midget Submarines of World War II by Lawrence Paterson.

[wireman]

Crewdog



http://www.amazon.com/Crewdog-Young-...3802576&sr=1-1

[Syxx_Killer]

Right now I am reading Fire on the Waters by David Poyer. It is the first of his Civil War At Sea historical fiction series. I'm about halfway through. It is a great read so far! His characters really come alive and you just have to feel for them. I barely started Fire on the Waters when I knew I HAD to have the other books in this series. I ordered the other two off Amazon (A Country of Our Own and That Anvil of Our Souls). I hope he's got more in the series on the way! If anyone here is interested in the Civil War in the least, especially the naval aspect, I highly recommend this series. Here's the Amazon links if anyone is interested.

http://www.amazon.com/Fire-Waters-No...3835160&sr=1-2

http://www.amazon.com/Country-Our-Ow..._bxgy_b_text_b

http://www.amazon.com/That-Anvil-Our...d_bxgy_b_img_b

[Henry Wood]

"Simple Courage: A True Story of Peril on the Sea"
by Frank DeLaney

After reading this book, I remember as if it were yesterday the live story relayed every single day on our radio and in our daily newspaper, the story of the "Flying Enterprise", and her Master After God, Captain Kurt Carlsen, who tried so heroically to evade the savage hunger of the sea. Alongside him eventually stood Mr. Kenneth Dancy, Mate of the deep-sea salvage tug "Turmoil".

Listen to those names again: "Flying Enterprise", Carlsen, Dancy, "Turmoil"! They are names to write a book about!

No wonder we listened in each day, the whole family from grandparents down to youngest children, and found the real news much more exciting than "Dick Barton, Special Agent," or even "Journey Into Space"!

This book recreates it all in a most splendid fashion. I truly did relive those memories I thought were long gone, long lost, and yet, once revived I remembered this was one of the real live tales of my childhood which made me seek out a life at sea.

The author seems to tell it as it was at the time and not a lot of time is wasted at the end on the "conspiracies" which seem to abound over every single story these days, and I'm glad for that. We don't need conspiracies to create "excitement" or "thrills", not when there are photos of Captain Carlsen and Mate Dancy hanging on to the dying "Flying Enterprise" for grim life.

From what I have now read after discovering this book, this does seem the definitive account of the "Flying Enterprise"'s last voyage. A great read.

[Henry Wood]

FULL TITLE: "In Peril: A Daring Decision, a Captain's Resolve, and the Salvage That Made History"

A wonderful sea story about a maritime rescue I had not heard of before. Written by the tanker Captain who carried out the rescue, it tells how a huge vessel, at grave risk to itself, managed to save a distressed tug boat which just happened to be towing a barge carrying part of the next Space Shuttle. The tanker Captain did not know of that cargo until the rescue was over and he made his extremely risky decisions solely in the true spirit of the sea: to rescue others if at all possible.

That the outcome was succesful was down to the seamanship and expertise of the tanker's whole crew from the Captain down. The weather conditions were horrendous and other tugs in nearby ports would not put to sea because of the weather. No one at all would have blamed the tanker Captain had he chosen not to risk his ship.

The end of the tale which is about the legal wranglings and the court case between the tanker owners and the US government over salvage rewards is also told in a way easy to understand by the armchair sailor.
Highly recommended.

[HunterICX]

Currently reading:

Laurence Rees - Behind closed doors Stalin, The Nazis and The West

Drawing on material only available since the opening of archives in the East, Rees re-examines the key decisions made by Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt during the war. And as the truth about Stalin’s earlier friendly relationship with the Nazis is laid bare, a devastating and surprising picture of the Soviet leader emerges – one that is deeply embarrassing for many Russians.

HunterICX

[KG_Jag]

Now reading "Silent Victory--The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan" by Clay Blair, Jr., who was a U.S. WW 2 (Pacific) submarine vet, born in the same year as my dad (who is also a WW 2 era naval vet).

[ceedub]

'Send Down a Dove', by Charles MacHardy (1968).

I'm almost finished this book. A great atmospheric tale of daily life aboard a British sub, on a mission into the Norwegian fjords to disrupt U-boat traffic near the end of the war.

Lots of details of the everyday routine: meals, rum rations, hygiene (lack of), how the 'head' works, re-loading torpedoes,etc.

And of course, the attack runs, depth-charging, tension between crew members.

A British "Das Boot".

Don't know if its been mentioned here before but I highly recommend it.

Cheers
Ceedub

Stuka Pilot by Hans Ulrich Rudel. Interesting reading altough Rudel stayed a national socialist after the war.

[Shearwater]

Originally Posted by Shearwater

'Typhoon' by Joseph Conrad. Always liked his stories.

'Typhoon' by Mark Joseph

Know any other novels titled 'Typhoon' written by some kind of Joseph?

[Lionclaw]

"The Great Dune Trilogy" by Frank Herbert.