The Listeners: U-boat Hunters During the Great War(Garnet Books)

Roy R. Manstan’s new book documents the rise of German submarines in World War I and the Allies’ successful response of tracking them with innovative listening devices—precursors to modern sonar. The Listeners: U-boat Hunters During the Great War details the struggle to find a solution to the unanticipated efficiency of the German U-boat as an undersea predator. Success or failure was in the hands and minds of the scientists and naval personnel at the Naval Experimental Station in New London, Connecticut. Through the use of archival materials, personal papers, and memoirs The Listeners takes readers into the world of the civilian scientists and engineers and naval personnel who were directly involved with the development and use of submarine detection technology during the war.

Table of Contents:
Preface Introduction PART ONE 1914-1916 Chapter 1 Predator and Prey Chapter 2 The Firth of Forth Chapter 3 Sighs of a Lovesick Mermaid Chapter 4 Hunting Submarines from Shore Chapter 5 A Game of Hide and Seek Chapter 6 Lusitania Chapter 7 America Awakens Chapter 8 Preparing for the Inevitable PART TWO 1917 Chapter 9 America Enters the War Chapter 10 Crossing the Atlantic Chapter 11 The First Tentative Steps Chapter 12 Physics Pure and Simple Chapter 13 A Sound Detector of Exceeding Delicacy Chapter 14 From the Laboratory to Sea Chapter 15 Matters of Life and Death Chapter 16 A “Probable” First Kill PART THREE 1918 Chapter 17 Coldest Winter on Record Chapter 18 The Naval Reserve Flying Corps Chapter 19 Listeners in the Sky Chapter 20 The Crazy American—U-boats Beware Chapter 21 Invisible Light and Other Magic Chapter 22 U-boats Westward to America Chapter 23 America Eastward to the War Chapter 24 Listeners at the Front and Armistice Epilogue Notes Bibliography Index Acknowledgements Author Bio

About the Author :

ROY R. MANSTAN is the co-author of Turtle: David Bushnell's Revolutionary Vessel and author of Cold Warriors: The Navy's Engineering and Diving Support Unit. He lives in East Haddam, CT.

"The biologist Peter Klopfer once defined predation as a race in which the finish line is alternately moved ahead of predator and prey. Human warfare is the same. Development and deployment of a new weapon is eventually met by equally original methods of neutralizing it, causing the finish line to advance in stepwise fashion. Roy R. Manstan's new book, The Listeners: U-Boat Hunters During The Great War, documents the rise of German submarines in World War I and the Allies' successful efforts to track them by equipping surface ships with novel electronic listening devices. Manstan, who spent a thirty-year career as a civilian engineer involved in cutting-edge SONAR research, tells his story with rare clarity, thoroughness, verve, and an insider's knowledge few other Naval historians could match. His work sets the bar high in this area of undersea technology and will likely remain the gold standard for years to come."--Stephen Spotte, PhD, author of The Smoking Horse: A Memoir in Pieces and My Watery Self: Memoirs of a Marine Scientist

"Listeners.... is a fascinating story on a long neglected area of WWI naval developments. A scholarly work that melds combat system innovation spiced with vivid operational actions. Mr. Manstan interweaves the political and strategic background of the era to highlight the importance that hydrophone development had on changing the tide of the German submarine menace."--Michael Pastore, Combat Systems Engineer, U. S. Naval Research Laboratory (Ret)

"Mr. Manstan has captured a critical part of our nation's history and role in preserving world peace by telling the story of those in the background whose toils and untold stories made it possible for a war-torn world to survive."--Dr. Peter Skip Scheifele, University of Cincinnati