The U-boat hunters — A Reader’s Guide

The Foreword as a Roadmap

Connolly’s foreword is not a mere courtesy; it is a strategic introduction that tells readers what to expect and why. He states outright that some chapters have nothing to do with U-boat hunting but are included to promote interest in submarines and the navy. This honesty is rare in war books of the period. He also cites a specific anecdote—a three-year-old admiral dismissing U-boats as insignificant—to underscore how quickly naval warfare has changed. Readers should note that the foreword was written in 1918, when the war was still ongoing, and Connolly’s predictions about future U-boats with heavy guns reflect contemporary anxieties rather than hindsight.

Voice and Vernacular of the Crews

The excerpts are rich with the speech patterns of sailors. Connolly reproduces dialogue and internal commentary that feels authentic: “Wouldn't that test men's faith in their good luck?” and “they sure did look like she needed nursing!” He also includes a memorable comparison of destroyers to hot-water bottles—difficult to swat because they bulge elsewhere. The men’s humor is dark; after a fatal torpedoing, they dwell more on the comedy of the code-book incident than on the one killed. This vernacular grounding gives the narrative a boots-on-deck perspective, even when Connolly steps back to offer broader observations.

Technical Details and Their Limits

Connolly provides specific technical information: code-books bound in lead, kept in a steel box weighing 150–200 pounds; destroyer plates as thin as “seven pages of the Sunday paper”; a propeller shaft sticking out from a smashed stern. These details lend credibility, but the excerpts do not explain how depth charges work or how U-boats were detected. The focus is on the aftermath of attacks—towing damaged ships, treating wounds, repairing in dry dock. Readers interested in tactical or mechanical specifics will find only fragments; the book is more concerned with the human experience of damage and survival.

Structure: Dispatches, Not a Continuous Narrative

The excerpts suggest that The U-boat hunters is not a single chronological story but a collection of episodes. Connolly refers to “the 343” (a destroyer) and describes a group steaming out with a fleet of merchantmen, then returning to port to see the damaged ship in dry dock. There is no clear protagonist or overarching plot. The foreword confirms this by mentioning two opening and three closing chapters that are not about U-boat hunting. Readers should approach the book as a series of linked sketches, each illustrating some aspect of naval life or combat, rather than expecting a unified narrative arc.

Because the excerpts are drawn from the beginning and middle of the book, they reveal little about the later chapters or the overall argument Connolly builds. The foreword promises chapters on submarine workings and navy life beyond hunting, but the provided text does not show how those fit. A first-time reader should treat the foreword as a reliable guide to the book’s mixed purposes and be prepared for shifts between technical exposition, anecdote, and advocacy. The strength of the writing lies in its specific, unglamorous details and the voices of the men themselves.

After finishing The U-boat Hunters, I kept thinking about how those crews lived so fully inside uncertainty, patching thin steel and cracking jokes between alarms. It made me wonder what they imagined waiting beyond the Armistice. That quieter anticipation lives in What is Coming? A Forecast of Things after the War — Context and Discussion, a kind of exhale after all that held breath.