Shadow Divers

Shadow Divers

by Robert Kurson
Publication Date: 13/08/2026

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The remarkable true story of two amateur divers who discover a World War Two German U-Boat sunk 60 miles off the eastern coast of America


'This book is a work of art' RYAN HOLIDAY

'A pulse-quickening real-life thriller'New York Times

'A memorable story, beautifully told'The Times


In 1991, 60 miles off the coast of New Jersey, at the incredible depth of 230 feet underwater, two amateur divers, John Chatterton and Richie Kohler, find what divers dream about: an undisturbed wreck that they soon identify as a German U-boat.


But there is no official record of this warship, and no historian or government can solve the puzzle. So this unlikely duo and their team of daredevil divers embark on a perilous quest: to identify the shadowy vessel who they've nicknamed 'U-Who'. But plunging into the murky depths raises its own questions, and not everybody will make it back to the surface.


After years of increasingly risky diving, painstaking archival research, and gaining the trust of retired U-boat crew, the team finally identify it as U-869 and work out what on earth it’s doing there. But Chatterton and Kohler, whose rivalry has turned to friendship won't stop there. In an ending worth of a Steven Spielberg film, they decide to trace the families of the men who died on U-869, the men whose bones they agreed they wouldn't disturb.


It’s a story of – among other things – persistence, ingenuity and a shared obsession…

ISBN:
9781405990578
9781405990578
Category:
Geographical discovery & exploration
Publication Date:
13-08-2026
Language:
English
Publisher:
Penguin Books Ltd
Robert Kurson

Robert Kurson earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin, then a law degree from Harvard Law School. His award-winning stories have appeared in Rolling Stone, The New York Times Magazine, and Esquire, where he is a contributing editor. Crashing Through is based on Kurson’s 2006 National Magazine Award-winning profile in Esquire. He is also the author of Shadow Divers, and he lives in Chicago.

Available for download after 13/08/2026

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