Richard Doherty - Churchills Greatest Fear

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Wall of Steel: The History of 9th (Londonderry) HAA Regiment, RA (SR); North-West Books, Limavady, 1988

The Sons of Ulster: Ulstermen at War from the Somme to Korea: Appletree Press, Belfast, 1992

Clear the Way! A History of the 38th (Irish) Brigade, 19411947; Irish Academic Press, Dublin, 1993

Irish Generals: Irish Generals in the British Army in the Second World War; Appletree Press, Dublin, 1993

Only the Enemy in Front: The Recce Corps at War, 19401946; Tom Donovan Books, London, 1994

Key to Victory: The Maiden City in the Second World War; Greystone Books, Antrim, 1995

The Williamite War in Ireland, 16891691; Four Courts Press, Dublin, 1998

A Noble Crusade: The History of Eighth Army, 19411945; Spellmount, Staplehurst, 1999

Irish Men and Women in the Second World War; Four Courts Press, Dublin, 1999

Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross (with David Truesdale); Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2000

Irish Volunteers in the Second World War; Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2001

The Sound of History: El Alamein 1942; Spellmount, Staplehurst, 2002

The North Irish Horse: A Hundred Years of Service; Spellmount, Staplehurst, 2002

Normandy 1944: The Road to Victory; Spellmount, Staplehurst, 2004

Irelands Generals in the Second World War; Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2004

The Thin Green Line: A History of the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC, 19222001; Pen & Sword, Barnsley, 2004

None Bolder: A History of 51st (Highland) Division, 19391945: Spellmount, Staplehurst, 2006

The British Reconnaissance Corps in World War II; Osprey Publishing, Oxford, 2007

Eighth Army in Italy: The Long Hard Slog; Pen & Sword, Barnsley, 2007

The Siege of Derry 1689: The Military History; Spellmount, Stroud, 2008

Only the Enemy in Front: The Recce Corps at War, 194046 (revised p/bk edn); Spellmount, Stroud, 2008

Ubique: The Royal Artillery in the Second World; Spellmount, Stroud, 2008

Helmand Mission: With the Royal Irish Battlegroup in Afghanistan, 2008; Pen & Sword, Barnsley, 2009

In the Ranks of Death: The Irish in the Second World War; Pen & Sword, Barnsley, 2010

The Humber Light Reconnaissance Car 194145; Osprey Publishing, Oxford, 2011

Hobarts 79th Armoured Division at War: Invention, Innovation and Inspiration; Pen & Sword, Barnsley, 2011

British Armoured Divisions and Their Commanders 19391945: Pen & Sword, Barnsley, 2013

Victory in Italy: 15th Army Groups Final Campaign; Pen & Sword, Barnsley, 2014

First published in Great Britain in 2015 by
Pen & Sword Military
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS

Copyright Richard Doherty 2015

ISBN: 978 1 47383 400 2
PDF ISBN: 978 1 47387 942 3
EPUB ISBN: 978 1 47387 941 6
PRC ISBN: 978 1 47387 940 9

The right of Richard Doherty to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.

Typeset in Ehrhardt by
Mac Style Ltd, Bridlington, East Yorkshire
Printed and bound in the UK by CPI Group (UK) Ltd,
Croydon, CRO 4YY

Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the imprints of Pen & Sword Archaeology, Atlas, Aviation, Battleground, Discovery, Family History, History, Maritime, Military, Naval, Politics, Railways, Select, Transport, True Crime, and Fiction, Frontline Books, Leo Cooper, Praetorian Press, Seaforth Publishing and Wharncliffe.

For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact
PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED
47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England
E-mail:
Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk

Dedication

For all who served in the Battle of the Atlantic,
especially those who lost their lives.

Twilight and evening bell
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell
When I embark.

Contents

Maps

The Atlantic Convoy Routes, showing the main routes between North America and the UK.

The Atlantic, showing the limits of shore-based air cover.

Convoy HG76: the battles between 14 and 23 December 1941.

The Battle of the Bay: Anti-submarine Transit Patrols January 1942May 1943.

Convoy HX231, escorted by B7 Group, 31 March to 8 April 1943.

Convoy ONS5, escorted by B7 Group, 23 April to 7 May 1943.

Illustrations

Introduction

T he only thing that ever really frightened me during the war was the U-boat peril. So wrote Winston Churchill of the naval campaign in which Germanys submarine, or U-boat (Unterseeboote), fleet threatened to destroy the United Kingdoms maritime lifelines to North America, the Commonwealth and Empire.

Britain has always relied on merchant ships to sustain life and commerce. During the First World War, Germany came close to defeating Britain through a campaign of submarine warfare in the first Battle of the Atlantic. Lessons were learned: the importance of aircraft flying boats and airships played a critical part in defeating the U-boats: the importance of the merchant marine was emphasized; without it Britain could neither pursue a land war in Europe nor be assured of survival.

The Admiralty re-introduced the convoy system as war loomed in 1939 and took control of the Merchant Navy on 26 August, but the Royal Navy was otherwise not well prepared. The large numbers of escort ships necessary to protect convoys were lacking and few aircraft were available for escort duties. Although the Admiralty later assumed operational control of Coastal Command, the Cinderella of the RAFs operational commands had to make do with stop-gap aircraft unsuited to the tasks assigned to them.

Hitlers Germany should have appreciated the potential of submarines, but other than a few naval officers, the high command was blind to the strategic possibilities of submarine warfare. Hitler failed to see that the U-bootwaffe could be a war-winning weapon. Thus, in 1939, Germany had only a small U-boat fleet and a maritime policy that placed more importance on surface ships, a shortsightedness that deprived the Third Reich of its best chance of defeating Britain since most of what Britain needed for basic survival was imported.

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