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

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)