Steel and Ice: The U-Boat Battle in the Arctic and Black Sea, 1941-1945

As the land war raged along the Eastern Front between 1941 and 1945, an equally fierce and unrelenting war ensued on the seas. From German Wolf Pack attacks on Russian convoy traffic and military vessels to close-quarter combat undertaken by small U-boats transported by land and river to the Black Sea, the Kriegsmarine wrestled for control of the seas fringing an embattled Soviet Union. Combined with the fortitude of U-boat crews who fought in some of the harshest weather conditions found at sea, ingenuity on behalf of German military engineers also facilitated the transfer of U-boats from Germany to Romania. From there, the Kriegsmarine engaged Soviet military might and pioneered the use of submarine-based rocket firing technology against land targets. The struggle between the Kriegsmarine’s U-boats and the Red Navy lasted from the opening salvos of Operation Barbarossa to the final chaotic days of Germany’s defeat.

Available in English for the first time, Steel and Ice is well-illustrated, containing never-before-published color and black and white photos.