Overview

The shocking story of Nazi Germany’s naval assault in American waters, told through the eyes of seafarers who experienced it off the Jersey Shore._x000D_ _x000D_ It is January 1942. Six weeks after the United States entered World War II, Imperial Japan is annihilating American forces across the Far East while the Nazis stand triumphant over much of Europe. Adolf Hitler’s forces are about to commence an assault along the East Coast of the United States, but this “Atlantic Pearl Harbor” would prove far more devastating than Japan’s attack on Hawaii. The wolves are closing in, and few Americans realize their beaches and coastal cities are about to witness the worst naval defeat in American history. The Western Hemisphere holds the key to victory for the beleaguered Allies, but only if the vast economic and military resources of North and South America can be carried across the Atlantic by Allied merchant ships. These civilian-manned cargo vessels are the backbone of the American war economy and the lifeline enabling Britain and the Soviet Union to survive—but Hitler’s favorite admiral also knows this, and he has set in motion a plan of unprecedented boldness. Germany’s dreaded submarines, or “U-boats,” are going to the United States. The fiery months that followed would pit American servicemen against German U-boat sailors in a desperate struggle that stained East Coast waters with oil and blood. In the crosshairs of this deadly cat-and-mouse game was a stalwart contingent of civilian mariners who crewed the tankers and freighters supplying the war against the Axis Powers. Thousands of them would perish as hundreds of merchant ships were sunk. Every American coastal state became a battlefront in 1942, and the events that transpired off New Jersey illustrate the perils and brutality of this forgotten campaign. The seafloor along the Garden State is today strewn with shipwrecks that bear witness to the innumerable ways to die faced by friend and foe alike only miles from the boardwalk. Though these seafarers’ lives were forfeit, the battle they fought would decide the fates of millions.

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9781955041553

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Reviews

""The author, a wreck diver, researched this richly detailed account both as maritime history and as a needed local history with accounts of the seamen who experienced the action.""-- ""Seapower"" ""An amazing and keenly accurate saga of the horrific loss of men, merchant ships, and naval vessels off the Jersey Shore during World War II.""--Capt. Hugh Stephens, retired US Merchant Marine officer and WWII naval combat veteran ""An extraordinary investigation... a compelling and thoroughly researched account of a little-known chapter of global history. Undoubtedly of interest to both serious military historians and casual readers.""--Senator Kenneth Pugh Olavarría (Chile), retired admiral and nephew of Toltén second mate ""I thought that this was going to another of those books puffing up the American side of WWII. It most certainly isn't. K A Nelson tells an interesting story, illuminating a theatre of the North Atlantic campaign that has been comparatively neglected and he tells it well. Recommended.""-- ""The Naval Review"" ""K.A. Nelson offers a hybrid genre between accurate history textbooks and lively narrative to showcase the important role that U-boats played in WWII's ideological and strategic panorama.""--The Chrysalis BREW Project ""Much of Killing Shore is specific encounters, told by all witnesses, including rescuers and people on shore. Each story draws the reader to the next. Nelson keeps the prose lively with intimate storytelling, as befits the subject...""-- ""New York Journal of Books"" ""These words are real literature, not only war history... Your research and story gave me a new perspective on my father and enabled me to learn things about him I had never known.""--Dr. Wolf Hänert, son of U-550 commander

""An amazing and keenly accurate saga of the horrific loss of men, merchant ships, and naval vessels off the Jersey Shore during World War II.""--Capt. Hugh Stephens, retired US Merchant Marine officer and WWII naval combat veteran ""An extraordinary investigation... a compelling and thoroughly researched account of a little-known chapter of global history. Undoubtedly of interest to both serious military historians and casual readers.""--Senator Kenneth Pugh Olavarría (Chile), retired admiral and nephew of Toltén second mate ""I thought that this was going to another of those books puffing up the American side of WWII. It most certainly isn't. K A Nelson tells an interesting story, illuminating a theatre of the North Atlantic campaign that has been comparatively neglected and he tells it well. Recommended.""-- ""The Naval Review"" ""K.A. Nelson offers a hybrid genre between accurate history textbooks and lively narrative to showcase the important role that U-boats played in WWII's ideological and strategic panorama.""--The Chrysalis BREW Project ""Much of Killing Shore is specific encounters, told by all witnesses, including rescuers and people on shore. Each story draws the reader to the next. Nelson keeps the prose lively with intimate storytelling, as befits the subject...""-- ""New York Journal of Books"" ""These words are real literature, not only war history... Your research and story gave me a new perspective on my father and enabled me to learn things about him I had never known.""--Dr. Wolf Hänert, son of U-550 commander

Author Information

K.A. Nelson is a US Marine Corps veteran and wreck diver. He resides near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. See updates or contact him at KA-Nelson.com.

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