Story Line
Steel Boat, Iron Hearts: A U-boat Crewman’s Life Aboard U-505 is a first‑person memoir by Hans Goebeler, co‑written with John Vanzo. Goebeler served as a crewman on the German submarine U‑505 and is remembered as the man who “pulled the plug” in June 1944 in an attempt to scuttle his boat and keep it out of Allied hands. Vanzo helped shape and edit Goebeler’s recollections into a clear, readable narrative while preserving the author’s direct, candid voice.
This non‑fiction memoir recounts life aboard a front‑line German U‑boat during the Battle of the Atlantic, from training and early patrols to U‑505’s dramatic capture by a US Navy hunter‑killer group in 1944. Goebeler describes every one of the boat’s war cruises, offering unvarnished detail on cramped living conditions, combat engagements, near‑fatal sabotage, and the tragic suicide of one U‑boat commander. He writes about the terror and excitement of stalking convoys, the boredom and filth between actions, shore leave in French ports, and the gradual realization that Germany was losing the war at sea. The tone is vivid and uncompromising—“no‑holds‑barred”—and the book is often noted as the only full‑length memoir written by a crewman who served through all of U‑505’s patrols.
