U-boat 977 opens with Schaeffer recalling his voyages in the German navy after spotting a news article about his boat. Schaeffer goes on to talk about his encounter arriving at Argentina with the crew that stuck by him on the journey. The first chapter ends with the question of how they believed Hitler was aboard his own submarine. Schaeffer takes us then on a brief recollection of his upbringing in Berlin. We learn of his admiration for sailing, and how at such a young age he earned the right to sail any boat on the inland waters of Germany. After persuading his father, Schaeffer begins the naval cadetship exams. War broke out soon after he finished, and young Schaeffer would begin his extensive training in the German navy. We’re taken alongside Schaeffer as he …show more content…
At this stage in his life, Schaeffer and his crew eagerly await any action to break the mundane training exercises. After much training, exams, and exercises, Schaeffer graduates the naval college and enters active duty. Schaeffer expresses his excitement to be appointed to his first U-boat while he goes on to explain how potent these weapons were during the war. Thus begins his life at sea, gaining more and more knowledge through battles and strategic warfare that he experiences aboard the submarine. The reader is brought alongside Schaeffer as he learns the ins and outs of these boats, and we are given vivid detail to the inside mechanical workings. Schaeffer and his fellow crew become brothers as they are guided by their commander through various ship attacks, aerial assaults, and depth charges. At one point, the crew alongside Schaeffer manages to sink 36,000 tons of enemy ships. Schaeffer faces many battles that include a Christmas Eve encounter nearly ending in disaster, to air raids shot down by his commander, and drop charges that rattle the boat to its’