Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson

Author:Robert Kurson [Kurson, Robert]
Language: rus
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, History, World War II, Military, Naval, C429, Extratorrents, Kat
ISBN: 9781588362490
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2004-06-29T00:00:00+00:00

Chatterton invited Yurga and Kohler to accompany him to Germany. Yurga accepted. Kohler, who ran his own business, could not free himself for the weeklong expedition. But the invitation moved him. Chatterton was serious about this mission and would not have included anyone he did not respect or whose help he could not rely on.

“I’ll work stateside,” Kohler told Chatterton. “I’ll keep my end going here.”

As the March trip approached, Chatterton received a telephone call unlike any since the media storm had begun. An elderly gentleman introduced himself as Gordon Vaeth, a former intelligence officer for the Atlantic Fleet airships during World War II—the blimp squadrons. He had read of the divers’ discovery and asked about any research Chatterton had undertaken. Chatterton told him of his slow correspondence with the Naval Historical Center.

“If you’d like to come to Washington, I would be more than happy to introduce you to the heads of the center, who are my friends,” Vaeth said. “Maybe they can help you find what you’re looking for. I don’t intend to insinuate myself, but if I can help in any way it should be my pleasure.”

Chatterton could scarcely believe his good fortune. Vaeth had been on the spot for antisubmarine warfare, in intelligence no less. And he had connections at the NHC. They made a date to meet in Washington for late February. As Chatterton hung up, he wondered if the trip to Germany would be necessary anymore. If anyone knew the answer to the mystery, it had to be the American government. Now, with Vaeth’s help, he would be escorted straight to the source.

A few days later, Chatterton made the four-hour drive to Washington, D.C. He was due to meet Vaeth at the Naval Historical Center at 10:00 A.M. He arrived an hour early and pulled into the vast Washington Navy Yard, an ancient-looking complex of trolley tracks, cobblestoned roads, libraries, and classrooms. A retired navy destroyer moored in the Anacostia River peeked at Chatterton from behind a stone building as he made his way to the NHC, storehouse for many of the navy’s historical documents and artifacts. Inside, a snowy-haired man dressed in a tweed jacket rose to greet Chatterton. He introduced himself as Gordon Vaeth.

The men became acquainted, and Vaeth outlined his plan for the visit. He would introduce Chatterton to Bernard Cavalcante, the head of operational archives and a world-renowned U-boat expert, and Dr. Dean Allard, the director of the center. Those two men, Vaeth suggested, had access to nearly everything the United States knew about U-boats. Chatterton breathed deeply. He now believed himself minutes away from the answer to the mystery.

Vaeth escorted Chatterton into Cavalcante’s office. These rooms, Vaeth explained, contain the vast majority of American naval records, and it is Cavalcante, a passionate historian born for the job, who oversees them. “And he’s particularly expert in U-boats,” Vaeth whispered as Cavalcante, a slightly built, middle-aged man in a checked sport coat and drooping reading glasses, emerged from an adjacent room. Cavalcante

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