PANAMA CITY BEACH — Over the course of six grisly months in the first half of 1942, German U-boats prowled the eastern seaboard of the United States, laying mines and attacking ships. More than 200 merchant vessels were sunk, killing more than 4,600 sailors and civilians, and sending more than 1.2 million tons of cargo bound for the European Theatre to the bottom of the sea.
“This overlooked period piece was an outright naval disaster for the United States, and a time of unrelenting success for the German U-boat Force,” said Panama City Beach author Ed Offley.
Offley’s latest book, “The Burning Shore,” is the true, untold story of two men — American bomber pilot Harry Kane and German U-boat commander Horst Degen — whose clash off the coast of North Carolina brought the horrors of World War II to American shores.
Based on extensive research into naval archives, as well as interviews with surviving participants on both sides of the conflict, “The Burning Shore” explores the harsh reality of life aboard a U-boat, the cryptological side of the war, the paranoia that set in as the attacks continued, and an unlikely friendship that resulted from an act of compassion.
“After Kane’s bomb hit U-701 (commanded by Degen), he and his crew threw their life jackets to the survivors,” Offley explained. “Nearly 40 years later, Kane and Degen began a lengthy and engaging correspondence, eventually reuniting in Germany in July 1982.”
The book also includes many photographs, cut-away diagrams, reproduced confidential memos and maps, as well as extensive glossary, notes and bibliography sections.
Offley has been a military reporter (including a stint at The News Herald) and defense specialist for 30 years in a wide variety of journalism assignments throughout the United States, including reporting, editorial writing and commentary. A 1969 graduate of the University of Virginia, he served in the U.S. Navy during 1969-71, including a deployment to Vietnam on the aircraft carrier USS Midway.
Offley, 63, resides in Panama City Beach with his wife. His other books include “Turning the Tide: How a Small Band of Allied Sailors Defeated the U-boats and Won the Battle of the Atlantic” (Basic Books, New York, 2011), and “Scorpion Down: Sunk by the Soviets, Buried by the Pentagon — the Untold Story of the USS Scorpion” (Basic Books, 2007).
With “The Burning Shore,” Offley presents an account of the bloody U-boat offensive using the story of Degen’s three war patrols as a lens through which to view this forgotten chapter. Degen’s successful infiltration of Chesapeake Bay in mid-June drove home the U-boats’ success, and his attack terrified the American public as never before.