Errata Pages


The Second World War

by Keegan, John
1989, Penguin Books
ISBN 014011341X
608 pages, numerous b&w photos, maps
This book includes about 25 pages on the U-boat war, but a number of errors are present in that short space. This is rather surprising considering the caliber of the author. Please see the Errata listing for details.

Errata list

Please note: This listing may, or may not be complete.
We normally do not flip through a certain book cover to cover looking for mistakes.

Page
MistakeCorrection
106The photo caption states: "Mohr, captain of U-124, whose boat sank 130,000 tons of Allied shipping before being destroyed[...]"U-124 sank some 255,000 tons of shipping. Mohr personally sank 143,000 tons.
106Photo caption states "Jochem Mohr, captain of U-124"Correct name: Johann Mohr
106Photo caption states "Arguably the greatest U-boat ace of the war was Otto Kretschmer, who sank over 350,000 tons of shipping."This contradicts an erroneous statement on page 123, where Manfred Kinzel, modestly successful commander of U-338, was described as the top-scoring ace of the war. Here, Kretschmer is correctly identified as the top scorer, but the amount given is incorrect (although the amount given for Kinzel, 270,000, more closely matches Kretschmer's real score of 274,000).
109Photo caption states "HM destroyers Wishart and Anthony depth-charging U-6761 in February, 1941. The U-boat [...] was destroyed and all but seven of her crew picked up by the destroyers."First, there was never a U-6761. Also, we have no record of any boats sunk in February 1941, so it is difficult to tell which boat might be referred to here.
123"[...] 'aces' - Günther Prien, Otto Kretschmer, Manfred Kinzel, Joachim Schepke [...]"Manfred Kinzel, commander of U-338, did sink 4 ships but was certainly not among the top scorers. This is a bizarre error, as the fact that there were three great aces, named Kretschmer, Prien and Schepke, is one of the most basic pieces of information relating to the U-boat war.
123"The British officer who interrogated Kinzel, 'ace of aces' with a slate of 270,000 tons of shipping sunk, ruefully expressed the hope that 'there were not too many like him'."This statement was really made in reference to Tonnage King Otto Kretschmer, whom the author, for some incomprehensible reason, seems to be confusing with the relatively unknown Manfred Kinzel of U-338.

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