Research Catalog

So close to home : a true story of an American family's fight for survival during World War II

Title
So close to home : a true story of an American family's fight for survival during World War II / Michael J. Tougias and Alison O'Leary.
Author
Tougias, Michael J., 1955-
Publication
  • New York : Pegasus Books, 2016.
  • ©2016

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TextUse in library D744 .T58 2016Off-site

Details

Additional Authors
O'Leary, Alison
Description
xi, 238 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps; 24 cm
Summary
On May 19, 1942, a U-boat in the Gulf of Mexico stalked its prey fifty miles from New Orleans. Captained by twenty nine-year-old Iron Cross and King's Cross recipient Erich Wurdemann, the submarine set its sights on the freighter Heredia with sixty-two souls on board. Most aboard were merchant seamen, but there were also a handful of civilians, including the Downs family: Ray and Ina, and their two children, eight-year-old Sonny and eleven-year-old Lucille. Fast asleep in their berths, the Downs family had no idea that two torpedoes were heading their way. When the ship exploded, chaos ensued--and each family member had to find their own path to survival. --
Alternative Title
True story of an American family's fight for survival during World War II
Subject
  • Downs family
  • Downs family
  • 1939-1945
  • World War, 1939-1945
  • World War, 1939-1945 > Naval operations > Submarine
  • Shipwreck survival > Mexico, Gulf of
  • Survival at sea > Mexico, Gulf of
  • Military operations, Naval > Submarine
  • Shipwreck survival
  • Survival at sea
  • Gulf of Mexico
Genre/Form
  • Biographies
  • Biographies.
Note
  • Maps on lining papers.
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references (pages 223-228).
Contents
A tired old workhorse -- Ina and the South American venture -- Admiral Dönitz and his Grey Wolves -- Harro Schacht and U-507 -- The Grey Wolves and the Mississippi -- Moving ever closer -- Denied a safe port -- An uneasy feeling -- Torpedoes in the night -- The raft -- A most hopeless night -- Dawn -- Desperation -- Running out of time -- The shrimp boat and a surprise -- Ina -- Lucille -- Triumphant return to Lorient -- Morgan City and the hospital -- The Laconia: a sinking and a rescue -- Spies, duty, and the turning of the battle tide -- Passages so far from home -- Sonny.
ISBN
  • 9781681771304
  • 1681771306
LCCN
2016429940
OCLC
  • ocn948520404
  • 948520404
  • SCSB-1854142
Owning Institutions
Princeton University Library