The author must have Circus Barker blood somewhere in his family tree. He really has a 'flair for dramatics' in telling the story. He also seems to have taken excellent notes or really good recordings of second hand sources to retell what someone no longer alive was thinking. I prefer the less wordy and dramatic flair of Jon Krakauer, but still applaud the level of work involved in the telling of this story... and what a contrast! Kurson is ocean themed, Krakauer has many mountain themes.

I enjoyed the mystery and especially the research! I lived in Washington for a while, in the Navy Yard neighborhood no less, so I'm familiar with the National Archives and the Navy Yard Museum. I'd always wondered what researchers do when they're behind the closed doors of an archive and after the Trade Tower bombing and Navy Yard shooting, the Navy Yard is no longer as accessible as it once was.

This was a great story. It is sad at many points. But I think John C and Richie K did a great service to the sailors of U869.

A thrilling story that's even more compelling because it's a true story.

A proper non-fic book, well-written and about a great story. Kurson dives deep into history, taking you along for the ride and bringing to life the story of the lost u-boat, her crew, and the absolute nutters who uncovered the mystery of a lifetime. Took a little while to get going, and Kurson insists on taking long detours into the divers personal lives when the story is about to hot up, but later on you appreciate why: this whole story is a weaving together of strands past and present, and isn't really about diving at all, but about human connections, what drives each of us, and what we do in the face of adversity. A top book for diving enthusiasts and non-fic readers, as well as history lovers.

I don’t particularly care to read about history, World War II, diving, or any other topics this book focuses on. I still found myself very interested in the story and how the author weaves it together. The audiobook was great.

Hard to believe this is non-fiction! It reads like a fictional tale; fascinating, nerve wracking, heartbreaking, informative, but it’s real life!!!!

4 ☆

Shadow Divers is an adventure story that had a 60+ year old mystery and came complete with chills, suspense and death. It stars John Chatterton and Richie Kohler, who it can be argued had a touch of lunacy in their make-up, as they risked their lives and certainly their marriages in this endeavor. Kurson, the author, was more sympathetic than me and presented this as a classic tale of man against nature. Hmm, I could almost hear the fanfare behind the pronouncements. ;)

Chatterton and Kohler are among the scant 100 or so divers in the world that specialize in deep shipwreck diving. The majority of divers in the world prefer diving in depths that don’t exceed 40 meters (130 feet). Both men regarded these recreational dives as too safe and not a means of testing themselves and pushing the limits of exploration. But humans breathe air, something that you get in water only if you bring it with you. And at a depth of 130 feet, a body is subject to atmospheric pressure 5 times greater than when it’s at sea level. This atmospheric pressure changes how the body processes the nitrogen molecules that are in the air tanks. As the nitrogen is inhaled and gets absorbed throughout the body, one becomes susceptible to nitrogen narcosis and the deeper one dives, the stronger the narcosis. Initially, the narcosis resembles a state similar to alcoholic intoxication but it can quickly progress to including hallucinations. When you have imaginary crabs singing to you and telling you where to go when you’re 180 feet below the surface, then most people would conclude that you’re facing trouble and that you are flirting with death. Their mystery wreck, however, had collapsed at a depth of 230 feet (think 23 stories and atmospheric pressure that’s 8 times greater than at sea level!).

The other physical limitation of deep diving is the need for decompression during the diver’s return to the surface. The diver has to expel the excess of nitrogen that had accumulated in their body tissues during their descent by staggering their return to the surface with mandatory rest periods. This is a slow process that cannot be skipped or as captain Bill Nagle said, “They’re already dead. They just don’t know it yet.” This limits the time at a wreck site, because a 25-minute visit at 230 feet below necessitates about 1.5 hours to ascend and decompress which is the maximum of air time allowed by their tanks.

These realities just made things more interesting for Chatterton and Kohler. Chatterton and Kohler were the only ones among a dozen or so deep divers who persisted after Nagle’s ship Seeker first found the mystery shipwreck. During the initial dive in September 1991, Chatterton recognized immediately that they had found a German U-boat or submarine. A shipwreck is as it sounds, a wreck. Exposed to salt water, materials have eroded and corroded. Oil from the engines mix with corroded metal and wires that have been torn asunder from their walls float freely, ready to trap anything that crosses its pass from the currents. Visibility can be nonexistent once the silt and other matter have been disturbed by movement in the water. It didn’t take that many visits to the mystery site before divers began to die as they took their chance to penetrate the mysteries of the wrecked U-boat.

During the next 6 years, the two continued to hunt for definitive clues as to the identity of the German U-boat found 60 miles off of the coast of New Jersey. Hurricane season and other aspects of real life, like work and failing marriages, kept them to land for the majority of the year. They then conducted research of primary source materials in the Naval Historical Center in Washington, D.C. and wrote letters to experts in the UK and in Germany. They eventually learned that the history experts had gotten things wrong and these two rewrote history.

Crusty, salty characters and lunacy were definitely present! But these two divers accomplished a historical feat at great physical danger to themselves because of their maverick attitude of “no matter what.” This was an interesting and quick read. If Kurson had not chosen certain spots to interrupt the diving narrative with biographies and other background information, Shadow Divers would have read as quickly as any fictional thriller. I had borrowed both a hard copy as well as the audio book from the library. The hard copy had photographs (which I enjoyed) and the latter had a post-publication interview with Chatterton and Kohler.

Just as on the Titanic, it is U-869’s ghosts that do not let her sleep, crying out of the depths for their story to be told.

2 amateur “shadow” divers moved beyond reason, spent 6 years of their lives in study, research, planning, travel, and dangerous deep sea diving (risking death countless times, three men did in fact die while diving the wreck) to uncover the identity of a lost WW2 submarine discovered in 1991 on the floor of the Atlantic just off the coast of New Jersey. It is a flawlessly researched, creatively written, tale of adventure, mystery, honor and character. Not just the story of the submarine and the German men who sailed her but more so the story of the American men who discovered her identify and in doing so revealed her hidden fate to the world and to the surviving families of the lost crew of U-869.

As a Registered Nurse with experience in trauma, I was enthralled by the author’s attention to detail in describing the physiology of deep sea diving along with its inherent dangers. As the lives of the men connected with the boat and her discovery were fleshed out I felt myself drawn purposefully, by author Robert Kurson, into the mystery and historical aura of the wreck. Like a swiftly turning tide, I was pulled out to sea with all those aboard the “Seeker” searching for truths among the waves of life.

Just as I was finishing the book, I glanced up at a documentary, Titanic's Final Moments: Missing Pieces (in HD), that my husband was watching on the History Chanel and was stunned to see the face of one of the Shadow Divers. John Chatterton is likely now the world’s finest deep sea diver. Tying in with my military studies, he is also a Vietnam veteran, a medic. Both he and fellow Shadow Diver Ritchie Kohler have made a very successful transition from deep sea diver to underwater explorer. A docudrama in words, Shadow Divers has earned its prominent place on my bookshelf inspiring a current of new direction in my adventure reading.

www.uboat.net

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lostsub/

http://www.johnchatterton.com/

http://www.titanic2006.com/

http://uboat.net/boats/u869.htm

http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/W...

http://www.richiekohler.com/

http://www.history.com/shows.do?episo...

This book had me completely. I am now looking into other books by Robert Kurson. Amazing story telling.

4.5 Stars for Shadow Divers (audiobook) by Robert Kurson read by Michael Prichard. This is a great adventure, particularly if you’re into WWII or diving.

More than just about the actual discovery of a German U-boat in the waters off New Jersey and the research that went into identifying it (historical archives weren't as much help as people believe), it was about people. The relationship that developed between the two main divers which started out as adversaries. The insight into the field of wreck diving and basically, treasure/artifact hunting on sunken wrecks. Dealing with the idea of supporting a friend doing a death-defying action or waiting for hours, not knowing if they're alive or dead. The search for an answer of which U-boat it was that became an obsession as well as the dangerous risks taken in the name of that fanaticism.

The author looks into the lives of the main characters - divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler as well as charter boat owner Bill Nagle - along with flashback reconstructions of the crew of U-869 as they prepared for their patrol. Since the view into the German crew's lives were based on interviews with relatives and friends - as well as the sole survivor who was too ill to join them on that final journey - it seemed rather striking that they "knew" they would not be returning. Their convictions seemed quite chilling.

This is the combination of true-life mystery with the adventure of deep sea wreck diving. And the author did try to be dispassionate and respectful about the 3 divers that died while exploring the wreck which just reinforced how dangerous Chatterton and Kohler's obsession really was.

The plot went very quickly and there were two sections of photos - color ones of the various divers as well as the decaying sub while there were some black-and-white photos of the crew members and officers of the U-869.

I am curious that Kurson doesn't seem to mention any further contact with the German government beyond their refusal to give Chatterton official permission to dive on the sub. To especially not to remove any artifacts and equipment since it is considered a war grave under German ownership. The team did remove various artifacts but at all times tried to treat the remains of the crew with respect. And maybe that is what the government was mainly concerned with.

2020-040

Shadow Divers tells the story of several deep sea divers who tenaciously follow their hearts to find the truth about the U-Boat they discovered. Previously an unknown wreck, due to mismanaged orders and later incorrect information on the whereabouts of the sub, the divers go to great lengths to classify the wreck. Their empathy with the men lost in the sub and a feeling of obligation to their families, leads them to not only identify the U-Boat, but also find some of their families to give them closure as to where their father, son, or brother lost his life.
Although nonfiction is not usually the genre I choose, this book is written so much like an unfolding story that I couldn’t wait to get back to the book to see if the divers would eventually identify the sub. Those parts interested me so much more than the personal lives of the individuals that I admit I would skim through those sections to get back to the story of the U-Boat. This is an amazing story of two very determined individuals who lost much to follow their dreams and solve a very puzzling mystery. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes history and wants to be inspired.