Wiggins, Melanie. Torpedoes in the Gulf: Galveston and the U-Boats, 1942-1943. College Station, TX: Texas A & M University Press, 1995.

265 pages
ISBN 0-89096-648-6

Preface; photos; map; Afterword: How the U-Boats Scored; notes; bibliography; index.

Appendix: Vessels torpedoed or sunk in the Gulf of Mexico, listed by U-boat.

An all-encompassing work on a fairly narrow subject, this is the very interesting story of the U-boat offensive in the Gulf of Mexico from 1942 through the beginning of 1943 and the effect of that offensive on the city of Galveston.

Wiggins covers the U-boats -- their orders, their skippers, and their crews -- as they make their patrols into the Gulf and begin devastating American shipping. She also chronicles the development of Galveston from a sleepy southern paradise to another front in the war against the Axis. The naval campaign is intertwined with the Home Front, and other material includes information on German POWs in Galveston.

A two-page map and accompanying key show every Allied merchant vessel attacked in the Gulf. The appendix lists, U-boat by U-boat, the date, target, location, and outcome of every torpedoing. Good photos.

In print and available from Texas A & M for $29.50 in hardcover, $14.95 in softcover.

Thanks to Texas A & M for providing this copy.