Turning the Tide

by Offley, Ed

• ISBN13: 9780465013975
• ISBN10: 046501397X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-04-26
• Publisher: Basic Books

Summary

The United States experienced its most harrowing military disaster of World War II not in 1941 at Pearl Harbor but in the period from 1942 to 1943, in Atlantic coastal waters from Newfoundland to the Caribbean. Sinking merchant ships with impunity, German U-boats threatened the lifeline between the United States and Britain, very nearly denying the Allies their springboard onto the European Continent--a loss that would have effectively cost the Allies the war. In Turning the Tide, author Ed Offley tells the gripping story of how, during a twelve-week period in the spring of 1943, a handful of battle-hardened American, British, and Canadian sailors turned the tide in the Atlantic. Using extensive archival research and interviews with key survivors, Offley places the reader at the heart of the most decisive maritime battle of World War II.

Table of Contents

Introduction: A Fight in the Dark	p. ix
A City at War	p. 1
The Adversaries	p. 37
Movement to Contact	p. 63
The U-boat	p. 79
The Battle of the Codes	p. 93
The Sighting	p. 107
The Battle of St. Patrick's Day	p. 127
Heavy Losses	p. 159
Crisis in the North Atlantic	p. 179
The Allies Fight Back	p. 211
The First Skirmishes	p. 245
The Mêlée at 55 North 042 West	p. 281
Battle in the Fog	p. 319
Defeat of the U-Boats	p. 337
Epilogue	p. 367
Acknowledgments	p. 393
Critical Convoy Ships, March-May 1943	p. 397
North Atlantic Convoys at Sea, March 1-May 24, 1943	p. 405
German U-boats of World War II	p. 408
Escort Warships	p. 413
Equivalent World War II Naval Officer Ranks	p. 420
Notes	p. 421
Glossary	p. 444
Bibliography	p. 452
Index	p. 461
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