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.

Introduction: Meet the Real Captain von Trapp --World of To the Last Salute -- Between the Islands -- U-Boats Mobilized -- Leon Gambetta -- Letters -- Envy -- Trip to the Hinterland -- Bomb Exploded -- Poor Austrians! -- Giuseppe Garibaldi -- Nereide -- Prize -- Gasoline Stupor -- America Bluffs -- First Depth Charges -- Heroes -- Curie -- Oil Spill -- Deck Paint -- Bypassing the Official Channels -- Unrestricted U-Boat War -- Reconstruction in the Arsenal -- First Steamers -- Transmission of Orders -- Fog -- Two Greeks -- Salute to Africa -- One Comes, the Other Goes -- Gjenovic -- Otranto -- Loot -- Entertainment on Board -- U-Boat Trap -- Sheet Lightning -- Bravo, Bim! -- Autumn Journey -- Internal Duty -- Intermezzo -- In the East -- Fire Goes Out -- Durazzo -- To the Last Salute.