Shadow Divers
by Robert Kurson · first published 2004
82% recommend18% neutral
Why HN recommends it
True story of amateur wreck divers who find an unidentified German U-boat off New Jersey and spend years trying to identify it. Suits fans of adventure nonfiction like Into Thin Air and readers curious about diving.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Shadow Divers is a riveting true adventure in which two weekend scuba divers risk everything to solve a great historical mystery–and make history themselves. For John Chatterton and Richie Kohler, deep wreck diving was more than a sport. Testing themselves against treacherous currents, braving depths that induced hallucination, navigating through a minefield of perilous wreckage, they pushed themselves to their limits and beyond, brushing against death often in the rusting hulks of sunken ships. But in 1991, not even these bold divers were prepared for what they found 230 feet below the
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…favorites. Life-changing: Why We Sleep Page-turner: How to Change Your Mind Most useful: The Consolations of Philosophy On startups: Troublemakers: Silicon Valley's Coming of Age Random but amazing: Shadow Divers (true story about deep sea diving - think Into Thin Air)
on “Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?” ↗…of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. So far, it's a really charming history of science (and well, everything else), starting from the Big Bang. Bryson has never let me down before. I just finished Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson. That was an intense book! If you like deep sea adventure or anything U-boat, it's a worthy read.
on “Ask HN: What are you reading right now?” ↗…To Kill A Mocking Bird (Insanely good) True Grit (Insanely good) The Little Friend (Good) Priceless (Very good, about art theft) The Secret History (Insanely good) Ready Player One (Good, nerdy) Shadow Divers (Very good, history nerd book) Diary of Anne Frank (Very good) Unbroken (Very good, way better than the movie) With The Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa (Very good) Seveneves (good, but I'm a Stephenson…
on “Ask HN: What's one book you've recently read and enjoyed?” ↗…good habits) - A Guide to the Good Life (friendly intro to stoicism) - What Got You Here Won't Get You There (building self-awareness) Fun: - Richard Feynman autobiographies - The Martian - Shadow Divers - Ready Player One - The Myron Bolitar Series (mysteries with a good sense of humor)
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?” ↗Shadow Divers is an excellent book about finding sunken U-Boats in the Atlantic as well. Highly recommend. http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Divers-Adventure-Americans-Ever...
on “Sunken World War II German U-boat and Freighter Found Off Coast of Cape Hatteras” ↗I would also add shadow divers: https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Divers-Adventure-Americans-Eve...
on “Two days in an underwater cave running out of oxygen” ↗I really enjoyed this book, perhaps it would be of interest: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9530.Shadow_Divers Though Ive spent a lot of time diving in my life so your mileage may vary :)
on “Newly released footage of a 1986 Titanic dive reveals the ship's interior” ↗Shadow Divers was amazing: https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Divers-Adventure-Americans-Eve... The Tiger was also amazing: https://www.amazon.com/Tiger-Vengeance-Survival-Vintage-Depa... Both non-fiction
on “Ask HN: What's the best book you've read so far in 2024?” ↗Robert Kurson's diving books (Shadow Divers and Pirate Hunters) are some of the best books on startups I've ever read. They're stories about some of the most ambitious wreck divers out there. It might not seem analogous, but there's a lot of parallels,…
on “Ask HN: Books about people who did hard things” ↗Shadow Divers (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9530.Shadow_Divers) - story of amateur deep sea divers who discover a sunken German U-Boat and spend years trying to get into it. Genuinely riveting story, absolute…
on “Ask HN: Books about people who did hard things” ↗…read a few writing guides this year and was by far freshest. Collected Fictions (Borges). Darkness at Noon (Arthur Koestler) is a classic in the same vein as One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Shadow Divers (Robert Kurson) is a true-life story about divers discovering and exploring a remarkable wreck. Read this by accident, turned out awesome. A Swim in a Pond in the Rain (George Saunders) was one of those…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023” ↗…Moon by Charles Murray and Catherine Bly Cox - Apollo missions. 12. The Secret Life of Groceries by Benjamin Lorr - Food supply chains. 13. The Prize by Daniel Yergin - Oil industry evolution. 14. Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson - Ambitious wreck divers. 15. The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes - Manhattan Project. 16. American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin - Robert Oppenheimer. 17.…
on “Ask HN: Books about people who did hard things” ↗I suggest reading the book "Shadow Divers" for a look at some of the professional diving culture. It's super interesting. This death is definitely horrible. However, reading Shadow Divers also made me think that any cave divers take on high risk…
on “Thailand cave rescue: all 12 boys and coach successfully rescued” ↗There is a book titled Shadow Divers (I would recommend) that goes into this a bit. The book tells the story of wreck divers who find a U-boat not far from New Jersey. The story echos your friend's concern. Wreck divers will remove anything…
on “Treasure Hunter Notches 5th Year in Prison for Refusing to Forfeit His Loot” ↗…what you're getting at. I've never been a super avid reader, but ive always enjoyed fiction and most sci-fi type stuff. As i get older i find myself gravitating towards more non-fiction. I recently read "Shadow Divers" which is the true story of some divers who discover an unknown U-Boat off the coast of New Jersey and spend years and several divers' lives in the pursuit of an identification. It was completely riveting…
on “We live in an age of distractions, dealing with constant mental stimulus” ↗