Podcast Summary: New Books Network - Roger Moorhouse, "Wolfpack: Hitler’s U-Boat War 1939-45" (HarperCollins, 2025)
Host: Dr. Miranda Melcher
Episode Air Date: October 26, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of New Books Network features historian Roger Moorhouse discussing his latest book, Wolfpack: Hitler’s U-Boat War 1939-45. The conversation dives deep into the lived experience of German submariners during World War II, offering insight into life aboard U-boats, the shifting strategies and technologies, and the ultimate fate of the U-boat arm. Moorhouse’s research brings fresh perspective to a theater often examined from the Allied side, drawing upon firsthand German accounts, rare archives, and intelligence documents to reconstruct what it truly meant to serve "inside the wolf’s lair."

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Write About German U-Boats?

[02:26–03:51]

• Historical Gaps: Moorhouse explains that most existing literature on WWII U-boats is written from the Allied or surface ship perspective, with German accounts often "literally, metaphorically unseen."
• New Perspective: His fluency in German allowed access to untapped first-person narratives, offering new historiographical value.
• Quote:

  “There’s very, very little on the German side of things... They’re sort of literally, metaphorically unseen.”
  —Roger Moorhouse [02:46]

2. Sources and Methodology

[03:51–07:30]

• German Archives: Utilized the Bundesarchiv, Militärarchiv, and especially a private archive in Cuxhaven full of unpublished U-boat veteran memoirs and diaries.
• Anglo-American Records: British National Archives provided naval intelligence and eavesdropping transcripts from captured crews, revealing candid details.
• Intelligence Reports: Captured U-boat crews’ post-capture conversations offer critical windows into morale, life on shore leave, and crew dynamics.
• Quote:

  “The eavesdropping reports… raw transcripts of those conversations are also available in the National Archives, which is really, really interesting stuff.”
  —Roger Moorhouse [05:46]

3. Origins and Technology of WWII U-Boats

[07:47–11:57]

• Continuity from WWI: Despite Versailles restrictions, Germany clandestinely continued submarine development, maintaining a crucial technological thread.
• Type VII – The Workhorse: 70% of WWII U-boats were Type VII, a direct descendant of WWI’s UB3, not a "true" submarine but a "submersible"—on the surface 90% of the time.
• Advanced Designs: The Type XXI, a "true submarine" designed to spend more time submerged, never saw combat due to late-war technical issues.
• Quote:

  “If it were able to, you know, motors on the surface. It only really submerges to either attack or to evade counterattack.”
  —Roger Moorhouse [10:24]

4. The Human Element: Recruitment & Training

[11:57–17:55]

• Crew Organization: Type VII crews numbered ~50, crammed into space equivalent to two subway cars, packed with engines, torpedoes, and barely any living space.
• Recruitment: Mainly through blunt conscription, using basic criteria (height, single status), with some room for skilled volunteers.
• Training: Grueling psychological and technical preparation, including escape drills from mock submarine towers.
• Crew Selection: Commanders tried to select crewmates who worked well in confined teams, favoring skilled tradesmen and athletes.
• Quote:

  “The men literally sleep amongst their torpedoes… there’s absolutely no space whatsoever inside.”
  —Roger Moorhouse [12:41]

5. Wolfpack Strategy & Early U-Boat War

[18:34–23:13]

• Goals: Main mission—destroy merchant shipping and cut Britain’s supply lines ("the tonnage war"), not spectacular attacks like Scapa Flow.
• Early Constraints: Only 27 combat U-boats at war’s start; not enough for coordinated “wolfpack” tactics, initially relying on solitary patrols and luck.
• Quote:

  “The whole intention…is to hit merchant tonnage, is to hit merchant ships…with the strategic goal of knocking Britain out of the war by strangling its supply lines.”
  —Roger Moorhouse [18:53]

6. Morality, Law, and Solidarity at Sea

[23:47–29:18]

• Prize Rules: U-boats were, at first, required by interwar law to stop ships, verify cargo, and ensure crew survival—logistically absurd during war.
• Reluctance to Atrocity: Despite ideological brutalization elsewhere, U-boat crews often helped survivors, displaying a surprising “solidarity of the sea.”
• A ‘Clean’ Theater: Few documented war crimes—more U-boatmen aided survivors than harmed them.
• Quote:

  “You can see, this is quite an extreme way, I think, essentially of trying to make submarine warfare unviable.”
  —Roger Moorhouse [24:09]
  “There’s actually many more examples of U boat crews actually helping those whose vessels they’ve just sunk than there are the opposite.”
  —Roger Moorhouse [26:27]

7. Life Aboard: Conditions, Food, and the “U-Boat Stink”

[29:18–38:20]

• Daily Routine: Six- or four-hour shifts, constant sleep disruption, very limited fresh water for washing.
• Odors and Health: The infamous “U-boat stink” was a cocktail of diesel, sweat, mold, halitosis (due to scurvy and lack of fresh food), and vomit.
• Morale and Supplies: Food was heavily rationed—only two weeks’ fresh food; tinned everything after that, even bread. Supply ships and rendezvous helped, but also created vulnerabilities.
• Quote:

  “They were bearded, but they also stank… the best they could do usually was to try and cover it up with aftershave, so you can add aftershave to the mix.”
  —Roger Moorhouse [32:05]

8. Psychological Strain and "Tin Can Rage"

[38:20–44:32]

• Blechkoller (“Tin Can Rage”): Claustrophobia and stress led to outbreaks of group violence, panic attacks, insomnia, and breakdowns—largely unacknowledged by Nazi authorities.
• Statistical Survival: By mid-war, the average lifespan of a crew had fallen from 7–9 patrols to less than one; only 1 in 4 survived the war.
• Quote:

  “There was a phenomenon called the Germans called Blechkoller… these sort of outbreaks of spontaneous violence…”
  —Roger Moorhouse [38:57]

9. The Turning Point—Technology, Tactics, and Allied Counter-Measures

[44:32–55:36]

• Happy Times to Catastrophe: The U-boats’ “happy time” (early 1940s) gave way to disaster circa 1943: improvements in ASW (anti-submarine warfare) and intelligence (Enigma, radar, sonar, ‘Hedgehog’ mortars) greatly increased Allied kill rates.
• Tactics Evolving: U-boat strategies—like surfacing inside convoys under cover of night—were eventually countered by air power and offensive Allied “hunter-killer” groups.
• Decimation: By late war, most U-boats were sunk without survivors; new, less-experienced crews and commanders replaced earlier “aces,” accelerating losses.
• Quote:

  “They are subjected to over 600 depth charge attacks. And that… is really illustrative of the way the war turned for the U boat arm.”
  —Roger Moorhouse [55:13]

10. Surrender, Scuttling, and the Aftermath

[56:12–61:30]

• Endgame: Following Hitler’s death, Donitz briefly led Germany and issued scuttling orders for U-boats; surrender was regarded as dishonorable.
• Operation Deadlight: Surviving U-boats were surrendered to Allies, most ultimately scuttled off the Irish coast to prevent Soviet technological access—presaging Cold War tensions.
• Quote:

  “The idea of surrendering your vessel to the enemy was viewed with distaste… So a lot of them scuttled on that order.”
  —Roger Moorhouse [56:54]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Source Material:

  “When you try and change shift a perspective, it’s almost as good as finding a new archive.”
  —Roger Moorhouse [04:01]

• On Crew Conditions:

  “Your body clock would just be up the wall completely, it would be non existent.”
  —Roger Moorhouse [29:59]

• On Fatalties:

  “Only one in four of the Uber arm actually survived the war. So a 75% death rate, which is astonishing.”
  —Roger Moorhouse [42:17]

Key Timestamps by Topic

| Time | Topic | |-------------|---------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:32 | Introduction, Purpose of the Book | | 03:51 | Sources and Archival Access | | 07:47 | Technical Evolution of U-Boats | | 11:57 | Crew Selection, Training, and Morale | | 18:34 | U-Boat Purpose, Wolfpack Tactics (vs. Myths) | | 23:47 | Laws of War, Prize Rules, and Morality | | 29:18 | Daily Life, Routine, Food, and the U-Boat Stink | | 38:20 | Psychological Stress, Blechkoller | | 44:32 | Technological Shifts, Allied Countermeasures | | 56:12 | The End: Surrender, Scuttling, Operation Deadlight | | 62:01 | Author’s Next Project – The Night of the Long Knives |

Conclusion & Further Projects

Moorhouse reveals his next research focus: a comprehensive study of the "Night of the Long Knives" (1934)—the Nazi purge that consolidated Hitler’s dictatorship.

Book Info:
Wolfpack: Hitler’s U-Boat War 1939-45 (HarperCollins, 2025) is available now. The episode offers a vivid, grimly fascinating look inside the steel hulls of history’s most fabled submarines—humanizing their crews and reframing a pivotal front of WWII.

Closing quote:

“The idea of surrendering your vessel to the enemy was viewed with distaste… So a lot of them scuttled on that order.”
—Roger Moorhouse [56:54]