Codename Nemo: The Hunt for a Nazi U-Boat and The Elusive Enigma Machine

by Charles Lachman

Overview

The white-knuckled saga of a maverick captain, nine courageous sailors, and a US Navy task force who achieved the impossible on June 4, 1944—capturing Nazi submarine U-505, its crew, technology, encryption codes, and an Enigma cipher machine. 

Two days before D-Day—the course of World War II was forever changed. The hunters of the Atlantic Ocean had become the hunted, and US antisubmarine Task Group 22.3 seized a Nazi U-boat, its crew, and all its secrets. Led by a nine-man boarding party and Captain Daniel Gallery, "Operation Nemo" was the first seizure of an enemy warship in battle since the War of 1812, a victory that shortened the duration of the war. But at any moment, the mission could have ended in disaster. 

Charles Lachman tells this thrilling cat-and-mouse game through the eyes of the men on both sides of Operation Nemo—German U-boaters and American heroes like Lieutenant Albert David ("Mustang"), who led the boarding party that took control of U-505 and became the only sailor to be awarded the Medal of Honor in the Battle of the Atlantic. Three thousand American sailors participated in this extraordinary adventure; nine ordinary American men channeling extraordinary skill and bravery finished the job; and then—like everyone involved—breathed not a word of it until the war was over. In Berlin, the German Kriegsmarine assumed that U-505 had been blown to bits by depth charges, with all hands lost at sea. They were unaware that the U-boat, its Enigma machine, and its Nazi coded messages were now in American hands. They were also unaware that the 59 German sailors captured on the high seas were imprisoned in a POW camp in Ruston, Louisiana, until their release in 1946.

A deeply researched, fast-paced World War II narrative for the ages, Charles Lachman's Codename Nemo traces every step of this historic pursuit on the deadly seas.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781635768718
Publisher:	Diversion Books
Publication date:	06/04/2024
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	6,576
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 6.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Charles Lachman is author of four previous books: Footsteps in the Snow, The Last Lincolns, A Secret Life, and the crime novel In the Name of the Law. He is also the executive producer of the nationally syndicated news magazine, Inside Edition. He has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, History, Lifetime, C-Span, Sirius/XM, and other local and national programs. He lives in New York City.

Editorial Reviews

04/29/2024

This energetic history from journalist Lachman (A Secret Life) recounts the pivotal seizure of a German submarine and its Enigma cypher machine in 1944. The crews of two U-boats previously captured by the British had trashed their Enigma machines, so securing an intact one had become a top Allied priority. A U.S. naval task force devised, and rehearsed for three weeks, a complex plan to prevent a U-boat crew from destroying its machine. Involving a nine-man boarding party conducting a rapid series of actions with flash-bangs and tear gas, the opening and closing of various vents, valves, and hatches, and the defusing of booby traps, the plan was successfully put into practice—somewhat off-script, as the Germans had already abandoned ship—on June 4, 1944, with the taking of submarine U-505. Setting the stage for the main event, Lachman illustrates the peril of the Atlantic theater by narrating several other high-octane engagements. He also provides jaunty character sketches of the action’s key participants, including Hans Goebeler, a German who came close to foiling the plot by almost scuttling U-505 with a well-placed leak, and the Americans who boarded the dangerously damaged sub and managed to keep it afloat. Brisk yet evocative descriptions—the captured sub smelled like “diesel fuel” and “human body odor”—contribute a vivid sense of place. It’s an exciting account of a daring military maneuver. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Codename Nemo by Charles Lachman

“Charles Lachman weaves the incredible story of the capture by American forces of a German U-boat and its secrets during World War II, an operation which allowed Allied forces to shock the German Navy. Richly detailed with undeniable suspense and action, Codename Nemo is destined for the non-fiction best seller lists."

—Bill O'Reilly, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Killing Series

"It's an exciting account of a daring military maneuver."

—Publishers Weekly

"A satisfying World War II history."

—Kirkus Reviews

"Crisp as a torpedo striking the water, Codename Nemo pulls you along with a deeply personal account of the hunters on both sides of an amazing drama."

—Walter R. Borneman, author of The Admirals and Brothers Down

"A relentless, pressure-packed plunge into the depths of war. Codename Nemois a story-telling tour-de-force indeed, the quintessential story of the Battle of the Atlantic, rendered in taut prose, and with an immediacy and intimacy that all but makes a participant of the reader. In the wake of this story, you'll feel a profound sense of gratitude to the men who went after U-505, and to Charles Lachman for bringing them back."

—James Sullivan, author of Unsinkable

"Codename Nemo is a pulse-pounding tale of high-stakes espionage and daring courage, detailing the pursuit and capture of a German U-boat at the height of World War II. Charles Lachman masterfully builds a cast of characters, German and American, whose destinies intersect in the perilous waters of the Atlantic. The vivid description of life aboard a U-boat immerse you in the claustrophobic, terrifying world of underwater warfare. As the tension builds, with each 'ping' of the Sonar, the thrilling plot keeps you turning the pages. A riveting narrative combining historical research with visceral scenes, Codename Nemo is a must-read for anyone in search of a thrilling maritime adventure."

—Andrew Dubbins, author of Into Enemy Waters

"The best missions involving submarines often start with an outlandish idea, and the very best make a hell of a story.Codename Nemo does both."

—Sherry Sontag, co-author of the New York Times bestseller Blind Man's Bluff

"What a terrific read from Charles Lachman! A suspenseful, fast-paced but little-known saga of hide-and-seek between a US 'baby flattop' and a German U-boat during World War II. Who can resist an Irish-American commander, nicknamed 'Full Flaps' by his crew—always beyond his hearing of course—because of his protruding ears, who embarks with his dog, a border collie named Flabby, instigates nail-biting nighttime takeoffs and landings on his carrier for the first time in Naval history...and if that's not enough, then proposes some cockamamie scheme of commandeering a German sub filled with secret stuff by actually attempting to board her with a nine-man team! It's a wild, engrossing ride from start to finish with extraordinary details and insights into daily life—clashes, arguments, even suicide—aboard both German boats and American ships during the Battle of the Atlantic. This one is a winner!"

—Carole Engle Avriett, author of Coffin Corner Boys and Marine Raiders

From the Publisher

2024-02-28
An account of World War II codebreaking focused more on action than brainwork.

Lachman, executive producer of Inside Edition and author of The Last Lincolns and Footsteps in the Snow, explains that the typewriterlike enigma machine generated critical Nazi communication by scrambling input in billions of ways, and German experts never doubted that its code was unbreakable. However, by 1941, the British were deciphering many messages by ordinary codebreaking brilliance, aided by the earliest computers; despite these successes, actual possession of an enigma machine would make their work easier. All U-boats carried one, but crew invariably destroyed it when threatened with capture. No history of the enigma program—including perhaps the best, Stephen Budiansky’s Battle of Wits—neglects the story of how the Allies hit the jackpot on June 4, 1944, but Lachman tells the fascinating story from the beginning. Opening the book with the U-505 launch in August 1941, the author describes its German crew, the often grotesque conditions inside a U-boat, and the nearly three years of campaigning that featured far more tedium and terror than successful attacks. Lachman does the same with significant American ships and sailors, including Daniel V. Gallery, leader of the antisubmarine task force who, unlike other commanders, had publicly vowed to seize a machine. Few readers will object as Lachman recounts the background, and they will perk up just past the halfway point, when he chronicles how sonar detected U-505. In earlier years, the Allies had captured U-boats, though never fast enough to prevent destruction of its secrets, but Gallery had a trained team ready to go. The author delivers a rousing account of its success. Though Lachman doesn’t claim that the capture of U-505 shortened the war, it was a genuinely heroic act that the author recounts capably.

A satisfying World War II history.

Kirkus Reviews