Attack and Sink : The Battle of the Atlantic Summer 1941

by Edwards, Bernard

• ISBN13: 9781883283346
• ISBN10: 1883283345
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-01-01
• Publisher: Brick Tower Pr

Summary

"This convoy must not get through -- U-boats pursue, attack and sink." This was the signal that Admiral Donitz sent to the commanders of the 21 U-boats of the Markgraf wolf-pack on 9 September 1941 just before the US entered the war. Sixty-three merchant ships were strung out in 12 columns abreast, covering 25 miles of inhospitable ocean. They set sail from Nova Scotia at a time when the German U-boats were sinking more than one hundred ships a month and the US Navy could do nothing but stand by and watch (at least officially). The convoy's escort of one destroyer and three corvettes of the Royal Canadian Navy, all untried in combat, was hopelessly outclassed when the battle for SC42 commenced. The battle lasted for 7 days and covered 1200 miles of ocean.

Author Biography

Bernard Edwards is an established writer in the maritime field. He saw service in British merchant ships as a young cadet during the Second World War, and later, as a navigating officer and captain-in-command, voyaged extensively to all corners of the globe. The years have left him with a wealth of experience of ships and the sea, on which he draws when creating with painstaking attention to detail this struggle for supremacy on the high seas in wartime

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 6
Introduction	p. 7
Acknowledgements	p. 10
U-501 Enters the Arena	p. 11
A Merchantman at War	p. 19
Prepare for Sea	p. 29
The Wolves Gather	p. 45
Ocean Escort	p. 56
A Chance Meeting	p. 67
The Other Enemy	p. 79
First Contact	p. 89
The Wolves Close In	p. 98
The Slaughter Begins	p. 107
Confusion and Consternation	p. 117
U-501 and Armageddon	p. 129
A Thousand Miles to Go	p. 137
Help at Hand	p. 151
More Reinforcements	p. 163
To Iceland	p. 175
The Last Victim	p. 185
Journey's End	p. 197
Epilogue	p. 205
Bibliography	p. 211
Glossary	p. 212
Beaufort Wind Scale	p. 216
Index	p. 218
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