Shadow Divers Exposed: the Real Saga of the U-869 | 
| Author: Gary Gentile
Publisher: Bellerophon Bookworks
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
Buy New: $22.53
You Save: $2.47 (10%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 72966
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 380
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5 x 0.9
ISBN: 1883056241
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.5451
EAN: 9781883056247
ASIN: 1883056241
Publication Date: May 29, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New. Delivery is usually 5 - 8 working days from order, International is by Royal Mail Airmail
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Product Description
The U-869 was one of more than 1,200 U-boats that were constructed for the Nazi war machine. It was sunk off the American eastern seaboard by a combination hedgehog and depth-charge attack. There were no survivors to tell the tragic tale. Now, for the first time, the real saga of the U-869 can be told in full. Archival documents have established that the U-boat was sunk by two American destroyer escorts. Seven crewmembers of those aggressive warships have supplemented the official record with their personal recollections. Shadow Divers Exposed works on a multitude of levels. It presents the actual circumstances that surrounded the loss of the U-869. It puts the discovery of the U-869 into perspective with other U-boats that have been found in American waters. It provides an overview of the U-boat war through accounts of other U-boat losses. And it corrects some of the gross errors, wild exaggerations, and deliberate distortions that filled the pages of Shadow Divers. The author interviewed a number of witnesses whose testimony contradicted the theatrical plot and boastful embellishments that formed the essential ingredients of Shadow Divers. Some of these witnesses actually performed the deeds for which the chosen protagonists of Shadow Divers were given credit. These witnesses disputed many of the fictitious elements that ran rampant through the pages of Shadow Divers. By means of forensic analyses of shipwreck collapse, torpedo mechanics, and U-boat survivors' accounts, the present volume explains why the U-869 could not have been sunk by a circular run of its own torpedo - as Shadow Divers had its uninformed readers believe.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...
 Do Not Waste Your Money July 6, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
A venomous screed. Not worth the time to read. I suspect Gentile is very good at his diving. He may even have some valid points but they are totally lost in his vendetta to vilify Chatterton and Kohler. The appendices are interesting, except that even there he takes every opportunity to smear C & K. He is far too self-congratulatory. Virtually all of his refer to titles, as proof that whatever point he wants to make is valid, are books he has written. Perhaps if C & K had asked his permission, input and blessing he would not have been so malicious. Most of the points he brings up are, at best, minor details and some of the discrepencies are simply different recollections of stressful matters. Twenty people can give twenty versions of the same incident and all of them are usually telling the truth, from their perspective. One item in Shadow Divers where he berates the author and C & K is the comment that Chatterton "owns" the AD. Gentile goes on and on about it being impossible for Chatterton to "own" the AD. He is so wrapped up in his hate for C & K that he fails to remember that it is an only expression, such as when someone completes an especially difficult project. When you finally reach that 300 pound bench press your friends will say "you own it". I suspect that when a climber reaches the peak of a difficult mountain, his friends say "you own it". No one is stupid enough to mean they actually own it.
Anyone can make misstatements and not being lying, it is simply the way they understand things. An example is on page 257, the second to last sentence of paragraph 2. While being self-congratulatory and displaying what a he-man he is,Gentile says, "Between times, I was wrenched vertically to and fro like a piston rod on the camshaft of a high speed engine". I do not know what kind of engines Gentile is familiar with but I have rebuilt quite a few and have never found one where the piston rods are connected to the cam shaft. In all the ones I have done, the piston rod is connected to the crank shaft. I do not know anyone who has ever seen a piston rod connected to the cam shaft. Maybe it is possible, but I doubt it. The book is filled with such minor mistakes, while trying to denounce C & K. Seems like if a guy is going to throw so many rocks he would at least make sure that he is unbreakable, in case some bounce back. It would have been a good read, without the overwhelming and obvious hate for C & K. However, if he had left out all the hate and invective, it would only have been long enough for a magazine article.
I suspect it is a self-published book, through one of the self-publishing companies, because no normal publisher would have let it slip through with all of it's venom, knowing that demeanor is a killer to any good review.
I had intended to purchase a number of his other titles, but will forego that pleasure. Anything a person that self-absorbed and vicious knows, I do not want to learn.
 Shadow Divers Exposed by Gary Gentile February 15, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Shadow Divers Exposed: the Real Saga of the U-869
As a keen diver and as I have an interest in ocean shipwrecks I enjoyed the book, although one eventually gets the feeling that the author has a deep resentment for the success of the characters and author of the original Shadow Divers and spends an inordinate amout of time (the first 200 odd pages) looking for fault in the original book.
One feels perhaps he could have spent less time on personal issues and dealt more with the actual discovery and research which has gone into the wrecks discussed.
There are a few appendix chapters which deal quite extensively with the technical side of U BOAT submarines and the research that he did here is quite extensive, although very limited in reader interest.
That said, its a quick easy read which dos bring to light a new perspective on the original book, characters and author, but unless you have read the original Shadow Divers and have an insight into wreck diving and artifact collection it may not make an ideal read.
Not worth the effort to read December 21, 2007
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
It was apparent early in the reading that the writer was more interested in attacking and discrediting someone else than in providing a valid report on events. This book is not worth the effort. Unfortunate, because if Gentile had left his animosity behind, he might have provided a good story. I'm a diver myself and understand that there is a lot of competition that turns into childishness by some divers. To tell a good story, I think you have to put that behind you and focus on your objective. Gentile didn't do that.
 Worth a read, for the detail - and the "devil is in the detail" September 3, 2007
20 out of 20 found this review helpful
I've read all three of the books about the U-869 and the efforts to identify the wreck. They are The Last Dive, Shadow Divers, and this book, Shadow Divers Exposed. As a first comment, the divers in these books were diving in the early 1990s and some of their techniques seem dated looking back from 2007. Diving to 70 meters in cold water on air would not be the method of choice today. In fact, it could be argued that diving to that depth on air was a contributing factor in the deaths of Chris Rouse and Chris Rouse, Jr on the wreck.
Gary seems intent on "setting the record straight" and righting a lot of old wrongs. In addition to being a bit on the edge technically, the divers in the Northeast US seem to be passionate about not just their diving, but also about who said and did what to whom. In places this book, Shadow Divers Exposed, seems to degenerate into an argument that would be more at home in a primary schoolyard. That having been said, There are a number of interesting points raised.
A clear difference between diving in the Northeast US and diving here in Melbourne is the differences in diving style. The US divers typically anchor their boats to the wrecks using a grappling hook that is lashed to a point of contact on the wreck. Free-floating decompression is not a method that is in common use there. Everyone ascends along the anchor line. (This certainly explains why Jon-lines are part of their kit.) Another difference is the emphasis on "souvenirs" or artifacts. The people I'm used to diving with generally have a "leave only bubbles - take only photos" approach to wrecks. These guys seem to have a "if it isn't nailed down - take it" approach. Actually, it's more of "if it can be detached in any way at all - take it" approach. Some of the descriptions of the use of hacksaws and cutting torches at depth make the marine archaeologist in me cringe, to say the least.
In a large project that extends over several years, it is important to make sure that the contributors get proper recognition. When attempting to identify a wreck, the people behind the scenes doing research in archives and libraries contribute as much to the effort as the people out diving the wreck. Yes, the diving is the exciting part, at least for those of us who are divers. But the research is essential to the overall effort and seldom receives the credit that it deserves.
The really interesting points raised by this book are the theory for the cause of the sinking of the U-869 and some of the diving methods used. Gary points out that there were two points of hull damage, one near the conning tower and one hear the stern, in the vicinity of the after torpedo room. The authors of Shadow Divers claim that the U-869 was sunk by one of her own torpedoes. Unless there were two torpedoes that simultaneously malfunctioned, an unlikely scenario, there must be an alternate explanation. Gary has tracked down destroyer crew who were in the right place at the right time and paints a much more reasonable explanation involving a depth charge attack.
The diving method in question was the method used to enter the electric motor room. This area was relatively easily accessible from the hole at the stern of the vessel. Instead, John Chatterton chose to use a risky maneuver involving pushing a single cylinder through a narrow opening crowded with cables and other hazards. There is a real question in my mind why this should have been the method of choice in the situation. There is limited margin for error at 70 meters. Maybe I'm lacking in "intestinal fortitude" but as far as I'm concerned, the most conservative method is the best method.
I'd have been happier if Gary had not spent the multiple paragraphs criticizing the language used by Robert Kurson in Shadow Divers. While I am not an English professor, I would have to say that Gary's choice of words and sentence structure also left a bit to be desired, in places. So I believe we could have done without the "pot calling the kettle black" criticisms.
All criticism of the book aside, it does add yet another dimension to the story of an interesting wreck and an interesting era in diving in the US. All three of the books are worth reading for the comparisons that they invite. And, as in any case where we can read about dives that have gone wrong, it is worth reading about the fatalities and near misses to try to learn to avoid similar situations.
THAT will teach me to buy on impulse! June 10, 2007
22 out of 24 found this review helpful
I thoroughly enjoyed Shadow Divers. When I saw this book on the shelf in a dive shop, I immediatley grabbed it. I should have read the reviews first. Even if Shadow Divers is as inaccurate as the author says, it was a GREAT read. This book is not. It strikes me more as 360 pages of rambling, backtracking, and name calling by a bitter man. I have no reason to question the authenticity of the facts he presents, but after pages of his verbal assaults on and disparging references to various people, I really didn't care WHAT the facts were. I skipped the last 2/3rds of the expose but did read about the U-boat sinkings in the appendices. As a naturalized American of German descent, I find his references to German sailors, and Germany in general; insulting, ill-educated, and generally false. Most professional German military had no use for Hitler or the Nazis. If you MUST open this book, find it at a library. Don't waste your money. I gave it one star because there was nothing lower.
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