To the last salute : memories of an Austrian U-Boat commander

The Sound of Music endeared Georg von Trapp (18801947) and his singing family to the world, and it also showed us how desperately the Nazis wanted Captain von Trapp for their navy. In To the Last Salute we learn why. Trapps own story of his exploits as a submarine commander during the First World War is as exciting as it is instructive, bringing to stirring life a little-known chapter in the naval history of that war. In his many guises Trapp describes life as captain of Austro-Hungarian U-boats in the Mediterranean and Adriatic seas, emerging by turn as the Imperial Austrian naval officer, the witty observer of international politics, and the indefatigable and ultimately heartbroken patriot opposing the Allied enemy. He relates deadly duels with submarine sweepers, narrow escapes and excruciatingly close calls, and the spectacular sinking of cargo and war shipsall the while maintaining a keen sense of the camaraderie of seamen from every corner of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A picture of a lost time, a portrait of a remarkable character, a window on early submarine Trapps story, in English for the first time, offers a rare combination of human interest, historical insight, and true life-and-death adventure. Captain von Trapp's narrative of his wartime U-boat exploits has lurked in the German and French for generations and now finds an adequate translator into English in one of his granddaughters. He emerges from his account as a man of great skill, considerable compassion (even for his victims), and sufficient tact and tolerance to handle the kind of polyglot crews that sailed in the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas. In two submarines, the antique U-5 and the French prize, U-14, he became the highest scoring Austro-Hungarian submariner, despite equipment that was sometimes more dangerous to him and his men than to the enemy. He relates deadly duels with submarine sweepers, narrow escapes and excruciatingly close calls, and the spectacular sinking of cargo and war ships. He fought on to the end maintaining a keen sense of the camaraderie of seamen from every corner of the Austro-Hungarian Empire knowing that the Dual Monarchy he served so well was crumbling. In the end, he gave the last salute of the title when the imperial flag was hauled down for the last time