Brand New Book
From the rear side cover: Operation Paukenschlag, or Drumbeat as it is usually translated, was that phase of the battle of the Atlantic in the first half of 1942 when German U-boats attacked merchant ships and US naval vessels along the American East Coast with impunity, inflicting massive losses and threatening the allied supply routes and the American homeland itself. With tankers burning and petrol rationing in New York City, the US Navy seemed powerless to stop the deprivations of Hitler's marauding U-boats. Some have referred to this episode as America's second Pearl Harbor.
In this book the author seeks to explain how America responded to these deadly assaults and looks at the steps that the Navy Department took to train the men, eo-opt the scientists and make the organisational changes that were required to defeat the German threat. The traditions and development of the US Navy as well as those of the Kreigsmarine are also covered and help explain why the German naval operations of this period had such a devastating impact. As well as describing the ships and men who fought the battles at sea, the author explains the significance of the port of New York and its vulnerability to sabotage by pro-Nazi elements; he also explores the relationship between the US Navy and the New York Mafia, and the influence of the major players, Rear Admiral Adolphus Andrews, the sexagenarian commander of the Eastern Sea Frontier, and Fleet Admiral Ernest J King, Chief of Naval Operations, trying to balance global demands with a devastated navy.