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**Eric JB** · 02-09-2006, 11:20 AM

Originally posted by bratwurstdimsum

I'm a bit confused, while reading IRON COFFINS by Herbert A Werner he claims to have sunk many a convoy ship in a gripping read as exec of u230. But looking at "U-Boat operations of the second world war" by Wynn u230 was only able to hit 4 ships, only one of them a merchant

What gives?

Hallo Bratwurst,

Iron Coffins is nice to read but NOT historical correct.
The book is loaded with mistakes, fiction and inventions.

Many years ago I did have questions myself concerning this book.
Mr. Horst Bredow of the UBootarchive answered me that the book should be read as a war novel and not as a historical book.

Comparing the involved UBoats KTBs and the Werner book makes it clear that many events in Iron Coffins didn't happen at all.

yours
Eric-Jan Bakker

**bratwurstdimsum** · 02-09-2006, 03:28 PM

Thanks Eric, Its bloody unfortunate because in the intro, the author makes great pains to say that he wanted to set the world straight for his fallen collegues about the uboat arm and the bravery of the sailors...

if he could not do that with fact then it just fuels the "non-believers"

**Eric JB** · 02-09-2006, 05:44 PM

Originally posted by bratwurstdimsum

Thanks Eric, Its bloody unfortunate because in the intro, the author makes great pains to say that he wanted to set the world straight for his fallen collegues about the uboat arm and the bravery of the sailors...

if he could not do that with fact then it just fuels the "non-believers"

-----------------------------------------------

Hi , still don't know your real name,

The problem is that Werner weaved and mixed facts and fiction with each other, when I first read the book I thought it was great, later I was able to obtain a large uboat document group from a guy who was on U-557 for the same war patrols as Werner was, and who left U-557 the same time as Werner, going through the original wartime documents I got suspicious about Werner's book.
After contact with Mr. Bredow (I first asked him if he had any corrections on that book, and he answered me that that was almost impossible as he didn't know where to start and where to end), I checked the UBoat's KTB for U-557 and the other subs Werner was on, to find out that a lot of actions in Iron Coffins didn't took place.
Times / places / positions / events / departures + arrivals in ports, many mistakes in it, or just made up.

yours friendly

Eric-Jan Bakker

**bratwurstdimsum** · 02-10-2006, 04:20 AM

That guy had the perfect opportunity to write a great book and he stuffs it...what other u-boat commander is going to do it?

Thanks Eric

p.s. my name is Jeff

**Mark Mac** · 02-10-2006, 05:33 PM

I read Iron Coffins when I was in high school and thought it was a great book. That was a couple...few years ago. With Al Gores invention, the internet, I was curious about Herbert Werner and wanted to learn more. A simple look on the website uboat.net:

http://uboat.net/index.html

Shows that he was not very successful and in fact shows that while commander of two boats - U 415 and U 953, he sunk/damaged NO ships.

And this is from the review of the book at uboat.net:

"Prof. Dr. Rohwer once wrote in January 1970 in the "Schaltung Kueste" the official journal of the VdU (Union of the U-boatmen); "If one were to pencil in with red all the factual mistakes in this book it would look like a bloodbath". And that is just the point as I see it, this is an excellent personal account of this officer but not a serious research-book to base further work on. This was not meant to be such a book."

This was somewhat of a let down for me as it seems for others. I guess it was possible that someone else wrote the book and were allowed to use his name. That could explain the book. A true account of Herbert Werner's career looks like it would have been a little dull.

The book is a very exciting read and may have been more like the career of Kretschmer, Luth or Prien.

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