The Sinking of the Laconia

A Tragedy in the Battle of the Atlantic

By Grossmith, Frederick
1994, Paul Watkins
ISBN 1871615682
236 pages, laminated hardback (without dust-jacket)

Descripton: The author presents a well-illustrated account that attempts to look at the incident from all sides, updating the evidence since Léonce Peillard's book U-boats to the Rescue of 1963; several of the illustrations of course come from Peillard, as well as several from the U-Boot-Archiv. I have not read Peillard's book so I cannot compare it with this current volume, but there appears to be fresh material from Laconia survivors; extracts from the war diary of Lt. Cmdr. Marco Revedin of the Italian submarine Capellini; the Americans on Ascension Island plus the identity of the USAF air crew that was ordered to attack U-156; collected together with material on the pre-war Laconia; extracts from Doris Hawkins' Atlantic Torpedo; the 'Laconia Order' and the Nuremberg Trials; etc. Altogether, a very interesting book.