U-66 vs USS Buckley: Duel in the Atlantic (adaptation of a true story)

cover of U-66 vs USS Buckley

Just published my newest book, U-66 vs USS Buckley Duel in the Atlantic. It's a book that's been in the works for around seven years. 

Back in 2016, while I was researching for information about u-boats for my other book, U-1215, I came upon the story of U-66 and USS Buckley. The story I found was short so I went looking for more information about the event. The best source was from USS Buckley's after action report at the uboatarchive website. It detailed the almost minute-by-minute retelling of the whole battle.

With no thought of publishing the story as a book, I gathered every bit of information I could get and filed them in a folder in my computer. I went ahead and published U-1215 and forgot about U-66.

During the pandemic in 2020, the movie Greyhound came out. While watching it, the surface battle between the USS Greyhound and the u-boat struck me as very similar to the story of U-66 and USS Buckley. I decided to review the story and make it into a book.

I wanted to tell the story from both sides but all the information came from the American side. There was almost no information from the German side. I found an report on the interrogation of the captured survivors of U-66 but it offered very little information about the German side of the battle. There was no choice, I would have to invent some of the scenes.

Even though I decided to use my imagination about the German side of the story, I didn't want to abuse my artistic license but just coming up with sensional details. The scenes had to be plausible so as to be believeable. Besides, I didn't want to put "based on a true story" in the book. As far as I was concerned, it was to be a historical retelling of the event.

I started writing in 2022 (can't remember what month I started but it was around the last quarter of the year). I didn't concentrate on it, however. I was also busy trying to build my YouTube channels (Yes, plural) so I couldn't devote 100% of my time on it. I finished the book in July 2023.

With the book writing done, I needed to create a book cover image. I had a choice of two scenes: a front view of the destroyer escort and the u-boat side by side, blasting away at each other from what seemed point blank range (indeed, the battle did involve such distances). The second choice was an aerial view of the battle showing the two vessels maneuvering around the sea from the point of view of a US Navy aircraft that was watching the two gladiators duke it out below him.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find images that would work. I thought of hiring an artist but I couldn't afford them at this time. In the end, I decided to just put images of the destroyer escort and the u-boat side by side, empty of people and just lying there as if abandoned. If I could afford an artist in the future, I'll change the cover eventually.

The actual battle lasted only 16 minutes so the book is only 5,743 words, which qualifies it as a short story. Here's to hoping that it does as well, if not better, than U-1215, my best seller.

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