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Health & Fitness

Guys Read : A Measureless Peril

During World War II an underequipped and undermanned fleet saved the Atlantic from Germany's Submarine wolf pack.

The next selection for the Guys Read book club at the Jefferson Library is  “A Mesureless Peril “ by Richard Snow.  The club will meet on Monday September 12 at 7:30pm at the Library.   Anyone is welcome to join the group and discuss the book.

Named one of the best books of 2010 by the New York Times, “A Measureless Peril” is a history of the United States Navy’s campaign to safeguard the shipping lanes of the Atlantic Ocean from Germany’s submarine wolf pack. 

This story of the fight for the Atlantic is told through the letters of the author’s father, a Naval officer  who served on a destroyer escort in the Atlantic. Winston Churchill said he would have exchanged a full-scale invasion for the “measureless peril” that was Germany’s Atlantic Ocean submarine fleet. Churchill knew that the success of Germany’s submarine fleet could starve and strangle his country.

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All that stood between Germany’s submarine fleet and England’s demise was the United States Atlantic Naval fleet.And unlike its Pacific fleet, the United States Atlantic fleet was completely unprepared to face the ferocity of Germany’s submarines.  It was under equipped and under manned.

The Atlantic fleet was so desperate for ships to protect merchant ships that it re-activated antiquated World War I steamers, commandeered yachts from aristocrats, and used sailed boats to patrol the coast.

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Despite its rag tag nature the Atlantic fleet kept the seaways open and brought England the food and supplies that were necessary to withstand Germany’s attack.

The Guys Read book club is a new venture of the Jefferson Township Public Library intended to encourage men to read more often. For more information contact  Seth Stephens, Library’s Director at 973-208-6245 or by-email at jtpl@jeffersonlibrary.net.

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