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(NARRATOR) From this seaside villa
on the edge of the French port of Lorient,

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Karl Denitz directed the Battie of the Atlantic.

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By the summer of 1942,
Dénitz commanded 330 U-boats,

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five times more than at the beginning of the war.

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With these, he hoped to strike
a decisive blow against the convoys

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on which the Allied war effort depended,

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Fast on the surface, able to hide beneath it,
the U-boat seemed an invincible enemy.

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This is the story of how the Alties fought back

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and, within a year,
drove the U-boat from the Atlantic

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After three years of success,
the Aunter became the Aunted.

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Hitler's U-boats sank
more than BO ships in fune 1942,

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The crews called this their “happy time".

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(TRANSLATION) We were convinced
we were fighting in the right service.

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We expected to have success in battle,

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We were young, optimistic, and we'd sworn
our oath of alliegiance to the Fatherland,

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and to our...well,
as he was then, beloved Fuhrer.

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(NARRATOR) The U-boat
was winning the Battle of the Atlantic.

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More than 500 Allied ships were sunk
in the first half of 1942,

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for the loss of just 27 German U-boats,

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The leader of the U-boat arm

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judged a decisive victory in the Atlantic
to be within his grasp.

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But Karl Donitz's confidence
was shaken that summer

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by a new and entirely unexpected threat.

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On the night of july Bth 1942,
U-159 was making good speed home

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to its base on the French coast.

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/ts crew felt safe.

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The dark hull of the boat
was almost invisible at night.

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(TRANSLATION)
We were sailing at full speed at night

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when we were suddenly caught
in the glare of a searchlight.

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A plane was running In to attack us.

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(NARRATOR) The U-boat had been detected
by a Wellington from RAF Coastal Command.

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(WITTE) It dropped five depth charges
next to the boat, pretty close.

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We didn't know how it had found us.

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We only knew for the first time
a plane had attacked us, at night,

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and caught us in the full beam of its searchlight.

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(NARRATOR) U-159 limped back into Lorient

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to discover that two other boats
had been attacked that night.

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The mystery was, how had
the Allies found them in the dark?

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(TRANSLATION) /t was a surprise for us,

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The U—boats were now always being detected
and we didn't know how it was happening.

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(NARRATOR) British aircrews
were using a new detection device,

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one that threatened to force
the U-boat from the surface.

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in the first months of the war,

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the Admiralty had contacted a small civilian
research team that was working for the RAF.

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(HANBURY BROWN)
Admiral Somerville rang from the Admiralty.

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"Do you think with an aeroplane
you could detect

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“a...a conning tower of a submarine?

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‘ll give you a submarine in the Solent,
127, you go and try it.”

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So / fitted a Lockheed Hudson
with an early form of radar

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and we went out to meet our submarine.

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We saw it at three and a half miles,
peering into a cathode ray tube anxiously,

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and it was the first detection
of a submarine, {| think, by radar.

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(NARRATOR)
The radar was a crucial breakthrough.

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The U-boat spent more
than 90% of its time on the surface.

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Beneath it, it was slow and blind.

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ff it could be detected above the waves,

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a vital step would be taken
towards victory in the Atlantic.

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The lessons of radar
were not lost on the naval stafi

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By the summer of 1942,
the Admiralty and the Air Ministry

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had opened their doors to a new type of scientist,
the operational researcher.

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For the first time,
civilians were given the freedom

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to assess not just the equipment needed
to defeat the U-boat, but the tactics too,

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After three years of war,
the number of U-boat kKilis from the air

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was still disappointingly low —
it was soon clear why.

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Aircraft could be spotted,
by day, many miles away.

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Time enough for a U-boat to dive.

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The solution was astonishingly simple —

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to paint Allied planes
the colour of the Atlantic sky.

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The scientists were also able to prove
that a large number of small depth charges,

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timed to go off close to the surface,
would improve the chances of a kill

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Their work promised to turn the radar—guided
aircratt into a formidable Aunter.

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On December 8th 7942.

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a Liberator from the RAF’s 120 Squadron
set out from fceland.

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(BULLOCH) It used to take us five hours
to get out to pick up a convoy,

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and sometimes they were
hundreds of miles out of position.

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We'd pick them up on radar.

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A big convoy of about 50 ships would
show up enormously on the radar screen,

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so we used to home in on that

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(NARRATOR) Bulloch and his crew
picked up the ships of Convoy HX—277.

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Within minutes, he'd made another contact.

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(BULLOCH) We knew there were
about 1 U-boats in the area.

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You'd pick up...its wake, first of all,
a big stream behind it.

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There was one there, about 70 miles astern,
and we spotted him on the surface.

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(BOMBARDIER) Bomb gone.

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We felt...a lot of satisfaction
that we'd made a good attack.

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You don't worry about
the 48 people on board the thing.

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(NARRATOR) Bulloch had sunk the U-671

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That day he attacked
and damaged another six U-boats,

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Jn the first three years of the war,
aircraft had sunk just 15 U-boats,

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but in the six months
from September 1942, they sank 29.

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Naval intelligence began
to detect encouraging signs —

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a new reticence among U-boat crews
to press home the attack

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when they came within range of Allied aircraft.

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The Allied staff effort was bearing frujt.

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The contrast with U-Boat Command in France
couldn't have been more marked.

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In 1942, Donitz's headquarters
was based in a villa

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on the outskirts of Lorient,
the Chateau Kernevel

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The U-boat war on the Atlantic

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was run from two rooms on the ground floor
and the small bunker beneath the Aouse.

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Headquarters was so small
staff dubbed jt the sardine tin.

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Donitz relied on a core
of just six young staff officers,

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(TRANSLATION) Orders for the U—boats

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had to be written with stencils
and water soluble ink,

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S80 that if the U-boat was sunk,
it would be impossible to find.

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/ would firstly hang up these stencils to dry
in my little room on a washing line over my bunk.

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They had to dry first of all, you know.
That was a joke in itself.

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How primitive this whole warfare business was.

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(NARRATOR) Donitz's headquarters
looked across to huge new U-boat pens.

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Millions of marks were spent
protecting the U-boat in port,

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but next to nothing on improving
its fighting capability at sea,

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Donitz and his staff relied entirely
on navy experts in Berlin for technical advice.

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Their record was poor.

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(TRANSLATION)
The boats hardly differed from the ones

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already in service at the end
of the First World War.

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That meant no significant improvements
had been made in 20 years.

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(UP-BEAT MILITARY MUSIC)

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(NARRATOR) The same old U-boats
were still being launched.

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No serious effort had been made to develop
a submarine with high underwater speeds,

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one that would be safe from Allied air attack.

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(MUSIC CONTINUES)

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There was one stretch of ocean where the old
U-boats could still operate on the surface.

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Donitz began to direct his packs into the waters
south of Greenland — the Air Gap.

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Here they were beyond the range
of ali but a handful of aircraft.

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By September 1942, it was clear to Donitz

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that whilst the Allies might be
one step ahead in the technical race,

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the battie was stili there to be won.

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“Sinkings were as high as ever,

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“and the number of frontline U-boats
was still steadily rising.

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“But the more distant future
caused me some anxiety.”

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(NARRATOR) Donitz took his fears to Hitler.

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Hitler had a simple solution.

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Shoot survivors of a U-boat attack, then
Allied seamen would no longer want to serve.

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Donitz refused to consider such a brutal step.

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But two weeks after his meeting with Hitler,
an event took place

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which hardened Donitz's
attitude towards survivors.

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The liner “Laconia” was homebound
from Cape Town with 2,700 people on board,

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4800 of them ftalian prisoners—of—war.

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She was sailing alone — unprotected.

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We thought we were fast enough
to survive anything,

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so it was speed and zigzagging,
you know, which is the usual thing.

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(NARRATOR)
On the evening of September 12th,

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the "Laconia" was 900 miles from Freetown,
on the west coast of Africa.

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Among the passengers were janet Waiker
and her five-year-old daughter Noreen.

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| was putting my little girl to bed,
getting her to say her prayers,

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and she was sitting up in bed
and | heard this bang.

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(HOLDING) People said, “What was that?”
/ already knew. I'd heard that “bump” before.

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| didn't want to panic them. | said, “I don't know,
we might have hit something, another ship."

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(GOODE) We were looking at one another,
“What's happened?" like,

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when the second torpedo hit.

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(ALARM)

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(WALKER) There was a lot of screaming,
children screaming in the passage.

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/ was just stunned, / stood there
because { didn't know where to go.

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(MORSE BEEPING)

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(NARRATOR) No one picked up
the “Laconia's" distress signal.

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(WALKER)
This Navy boy came up and he says,

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“Come, ['ll show you where the lifeboat is.”

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He took my lttle girl and he said,
"Follow me," so f followed him.

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"Go down first and (ll hand her to you,"

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When | got in the lifeboat
| looked up and he wasn't there.

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| started screaming.

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This Air Force man was in the lifeboat
and he said,

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"ll go up and get her.”

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He came back and said,
"He's taken her to another lifeboat.

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"Don't worry, you'll see her in the morning.”

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(GOODE) The port side was coming up

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and you could see the rust
and barnacies on the bottom.

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Sof jumped and that was that reaily.

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(NARRATOR) Hundreds, mostly Italian
prisoners, were struggling in the sea,

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They were desperate for a piace on a lifeboat.

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(HOLDING) There were sharks about.
Screams there were, some of them, yeah.

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On, aye, one fella in the boat says, “/f any
of them are hanging onto the side, call out.

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‘Vl give you the hatchet, chop their fingers off.”
/ wasn't thinking like that.

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| could see ahead of us a low vess...
it was a submarine really,

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and she had a lamp on corners, circling light,
and she was picking people up.

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(WALKER) He drew up alongside us and said,

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“The women and children
must go on the shi... the submarine.”

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One of the men said,
"They are not going in the submarine."

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He said, "Don't worry, they'll be all right."
So we went on the submarine.

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(NARRATOR) The crew of the U-B6 had
heard the ftalians crying out from the water.

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its commander sent a message to U-Boat
Headquarters, asking for immediate assistance.

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Donitz directed three of his nearest
boats to join the rescue operation.

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(WALKER) They were quite concerned
about me losing my wee girl

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Whenever they saw a lifeboat,
they would call me up to the conning tower,

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and tell me to see if she was
in the boats. They were very good.

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| said to them, "Cigarette." This German took
a cigarette out and | gave it back to him.

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"Kamerad, give them to your mates."
| thought this was a funny German,

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the way I'd been brought up
to believe about them.

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(HARDEGEN) The U-boats had hundreds
of survivors standing on their decks.

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They'd made Red Cross flags
and kept sending radio messages,

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00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:15,478
so that everyone would Know where they were.

191
00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:19,236
Then American planes arrived
and Hew over the boats.

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They asked their commander what they should do,
and the order came back, “Attack!”

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00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:36,789
(NARRATOR) The American aircraft
knew nothing of the rescue operation,

194
00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:39,758
but thought it had caught
the enemy on the surface.

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No boats were lost. but Donitz was furious.

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00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:50,394
On September 77th,
he sent a new order to Ais commanders.

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00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:53,836
No attempt was to be made
at rescuing enemy crews,

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No help offered. Be harsh.

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The war called for the destruction
of men as well as ships.

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Above all, no commander was to risk
his U-boat to help survivors.

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4600 people were lost with the “Laconia”.

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(WALKER) / never gave up hope, never.

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00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:34,551
/ used to spend as much
money on fortune tellers,

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Maybe they would give me some clue,

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00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:41,153
/ heard later on that this boy was drowned,

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00:18:41,360 --> 00:18:43,396
trying to save a little girl.

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00:18:43,560 --> 00:18:48,350
They didn't know who the little girl was,
but | presumed it was mine.

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00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:53,631
And yet | still didn't believe it.

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00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:07,634
(NARRATOR) By the winter of 1942,
the war was becoming more brutal elsewhere.

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00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:12,793
News began to reach
the U-boat bases of a terrible defeat,

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00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:18,074
not at sea, but more than
3,000 miles away, on the Eastern Front.

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00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:24,870
The unthinkable had happened at Stalingrad.
The German Army had surrendered.

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00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:29,079
90,000 men marched off into Soviet captivity.

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00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:37,678
Only at sea were there still victories to report.

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00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:46,596
On the day before the final
surrender at Stalingrad,

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00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:52,039
Adolf Hitler appointed Donitz GroBadmiral,
to head all operations at sea.

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00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:55,397
it was a sign of the confidence he placed in him.

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00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:59,719
But Donitz's job changed ttile,

219
00:19:59,880 --> 00:20:04,476
Germany's small surface fleet
had claimed less than 4% of the ships sunk.

220
00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:08,758
The struggte in the Atlantic had rested
from the first with the U-boat.

221
00:20:08,920 --> 00:20:15,234
Donitz continued personally to direct them.
By now, there were 405,

222
00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:29,315
There was aiso a new man in charge
of the Royal Navy's escort ships.

223
00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:33,869
A poacher turned gamekeeper,
a former submarine commander,

224
00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:36,952
Admiral Max Horton.

225
00:20:37,120 --> 00:20:41,113
Horton was to bring a new vigour
to the war against the U-boat.

226
00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:46,234
His captains were sent back to school

227
00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:50,075
to learn new group tactics
for the defence of the convoys.

228
00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:54,552
3,000 officers were to play
what was known as "The Game".

229
00:20:56,800 --> 00:21:01,999
Wrens would come behind the curtain and say,
"Ship number so and so's been torpedoed,

230
00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:05,789
“and what action are you going to take?”

231
00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:12,837
(ADAMS) What type of searches
should you use in this weather?

232
00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:17,790
If it's really, really, really foul weather,
is it worth it at all?

233
00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:22,357
Should any escorts go back to pick up stragglers?

234
00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:26,911
All these things you need
to have a co-ordinated plan for.

235
00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:34,794
(GUEST) Terrible criticisms.
/ mean, you got murdered if you made a mistake.

236
00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:40,239
We got all the right ideas of defence,

237
00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:44,712
and then we got the right ideas
of how to attack a U-boat.

238
00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:48,835
(NARRATOR) By the spring of 1943,

239
00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:54,358
the Allies were beginning to make
the training and the technical edge count.

240
00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:00,072
(NEWSREEL)
A second volley of high explosives...

241
00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:06,079
(NARRATOR) On April 7th, the U-175
was detected by a US Navy cutter.

242
00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:12,871
(NEWSREEL) There's the Nazi submarine,
forced to the surface.

243
00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:17,719
(NARRATOR) Donitz's packs
were still sinking ships, but at a price.

244
00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:22,635
457 U-boats were sunk
in the first four months of 7943.

245
00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:32,555
But now the Allies had access again
to a vital source of intelligence.

246
00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:38,192
The cryptographers at Bletchley Park
were able at last to read some of the messages

247
00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:42,558
sent by the U-boats
in the key Enigma cipher, “Shark”.

248
00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:48,916
(WYLIE) We were well in
on the "Shark" traffic for some time.

249
00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:51,640
The common signal was "Gustav Gelb” —

250
00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:57,033
and that means "Geleitzug gesichtet" —
"Convoy sighted".

251
00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:00,837
Unfortunately, the one we most often saw.

252
00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:04,630
(NARRATOR) ft was clear from the decrypts

253
00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:08,918
that Donitz was able to maintain
as many as 100 U-boats at sea every day,

254
00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:11,799
most of them in the Air Gap.

255
00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:17,669
That spring, a convoy would sait
into this huge concentration of boats.

256
00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:21,116
/t would be one of the most
decisive moments of the Battie of the Atlantic

257
00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:32,669
“ONS 5” set out on April 22nd
with just six escorts in support.

258
00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:38,793
(ATKINSON) We had fog, icebergs
drifting south with the cold Labrador current.

259
00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:49,156
(BENCE) It got worse and worse and eventually
we were making only about two or three knots.

260
00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:55,158
We were being routed further north all the time,

261
00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:57,959
as they knew U-boats were packing onto us.

262
00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:06,437
(NARRATOR) Admiral Horton
was notified by Naval Intelligence

263
00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:09,239
that "ONS 5” was sailing into trouble,

264
00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:12,949
and for a time he was able
to offer some air support.

265
00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:17,508
But by May 4th, the convoy was on its own

266
00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:22,356
and on that day it sailed into packs
"*Aamsel" and "Fink’.

267
00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:27,278
(ATKINSON) We received a signal,
and f remember it quite well:

268
00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:30,989
"You are encircled by approximately 34 U-boats.

269
00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:37,235
"You may expect attack from down moon,
at approximately 02.30."

270
00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:45,392
(NARRATOR) Donitz sent a message
to the waiting boats, stating simply,

271
00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:49,838
“Fight with everything you've got.
Strike the enemy dead.”

272
00:24:55,240 --> 00:25:00,075
(LOOKS) / was able to take up
position on the port side of the convoy.

273
00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:06,473
And when a gap opened between the destroyers,

274
00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:12,192
| turned towards the convoy
and fired two double shots.

275
00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:17,836
(ORDER IN GERMAN)

276
00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:39,713
(LOOKS) A steamship was hit
and began to sink at once, on an even keel,

277
00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:50,189
(NARRATOR)
That night, the pack sank seven ships.

278
00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:53,438
When you had a mass attack,
as you had on “ONS 5",

279
00:25:53,600 --> 00:26:00,915
the thing to do was to get them under the water
and they would lose contact with the convoy,

280
00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:04,550
and that would be another night
they would be out of action.

281
00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:12,154
(NARRATOR) On the morning of May 5th,
40 U-boats were still in pursuit.

282
00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:15,518
But the escorts had one hidden advantage.

283
00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:19,878
Some ships were equipped
with the latest radio direction—finding sets.

284
00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:27,515
A great deal of chatter
went on among the U-boats,

285
00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:36,713
the U-boats hadn't realised
that we were able to work on this chatter.

286
00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:42,598
(NARRATOR) When the escorts picked up
a radio signal, they went in pursuit.

287
00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:51,313
A log of contact was kept
by the commanding officer of HMS “Oribi".

288
00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:54,872
"There's constant enemy wireless activity.

289
00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:58,510
"A first-class bearing at 7-5-5,

290
00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:02,355
“We see the smoke haze
from the submarine's diesel engines.

291
00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:14,677
"The submarine dives and we have contact.
We drop a 10-charge pattern.”

292
00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:26,713
(NARRATOR) The escort group sank a U-boat
that day, but four ships were lost.

293
00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:35,999
At nightfall on the 5th, at least 1 U—boats
were still in close contact with the convoy.

294
00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:42,957
(LOOKS) We heard the radio messages
from ali the other U-pboats.

295
00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:49,233
We thought, "Oh, God, if they all
rush the convoy at once,

296
00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:52,153
“this will end up as a ‘night of the long knives'.”

297
00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:03,235
Suddenly, a thick pea-souper appeared.

298
00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:07,279
i'd never seen anything uke it
out at sea — it was dreadful.

299
00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:15,390
We heard on the radio that two or three
U-—boats were already in danger.

300
00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:22,800
(NARRATOR)
At Western Approaches Headquarters,

301
00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:26,157
the battle around the convoy
was plotted through the night.

302
00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:30,472
Only if the escorts could find the pack
and drive it from the surface

303
00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:32,631
would the defence succeed.

304
00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:38,518
Radio detection, and above all radar,
would be the key to victory.

305
00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:46,597
(ARCHIVE) Radio contact picked up on
the port bow, close to investigate at 14 knots.

306
00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:49,877
(ARCHIVE)
We picked the submarine up on ASDIC.

307
00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:55,910
(ARCHIVE) Radar contact, picked up ahead
at 3,400 yards, a torpedo fired from Red-20,

308
00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:59,231
(ARCHIVE) Turned towards it
and passed it down on port side,

309
00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:02,949
(ARCHIVE)
our pattern was dropped set at 150—feet.

310
00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:05,680
(ARCHIVE) fé was a most promising attack.

311
00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:11,599
(SPEAKS GERMAN)

312
00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:17,713
(TRANSLATION) While we doddered about
in this pea-souper, trying to achieve something,

313
00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:20,314
we were almost rammed by a destroyer.

314
00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:23,314
it suddenly appeared behind us,

315
00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:28,315
Lighting up the stern of our U-boat
with a big searchlight on its foremast.

316
00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:36,870
It thundered past our stern
with about three metres to spare.

317
00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:51,199
(NARRATOR) Five U-boats
were sunk on the night of May 5th.

318
00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:59,108
The operations chart
at U-Boat Command told its own story.

319
00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:03,068
A total of nine boats lost
in the week—long battle.

320
00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:07,477
A small escort group equipped
with radio detection and radar

321
00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:12,077
had beaten off the largest concentration
of U-boats ever assembied.

322
00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:15,437
Donitz called off the rest of the pack.

323
00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:21,394
(LOOKS) That was depressing.

324
00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:25,678
We realised that the “ONS 5” operation
had pretty much failed

325
00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:32,152
and that it represented
a colossal setback for the U-—boats.

326
00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:34,754
(SPEAKS GERMAN)

327
00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:45,793
(NARRATOR) The crews that managed
to make it home in the spring of 1943

328
00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:48,713
began to grumble about their U-boats,

329
00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:51,110
it wasn't just Allied aircraft.

330
00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:56,877
The escort ships were now able to detect them
as soon as they approached the convoys.

331
00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:01,510
(TRANSLATION) We had one song,
which went something lke this.

332
00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:04,791
(SINGS IN GERMAN)

333
00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:13,276
(TRANSLATION) "Give me a little U-boat,

334
00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:17,069
“a U-boat that can no longer be located,
Karl Donitz."

335
00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:19,231
That was the kind of thing.

336
00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:21,914
Once, coming into port after a short trip,

337
00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:26,596
we were welcomed
by people singing these songs.

338
00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:39,276
(NARRATOR) After "ONS 5", the convoy
battle seemed to follow a new pattern —

339
00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:42,671
U-boats sunk for tittle or no loss.

340
00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:49,870
By the end of May 7943,
the Air Gap had all but closed.

341
00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:55,034
The huge Aliied technical and training effort
had thrown the U-boat on the defensive.

342
00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:04,314
Among the dead was Donitz's own son, Peter.

343
00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:15,268
On May 24th,
Denitz ordered ali his boats to withdraw

344
00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:17,829
from the main North Atlantic routes.

345
00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:20,355
ft was a bitter blow.

346
00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:32,790
(TRANSLATION) He was really in despair.
He saw how things were going.

347
00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:36,191
This was a very great burden for him,

348
00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:47,312
(NARRATOR) As if to underscore
the importance of these successes,

349
00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:51,029
just six weeks later,
the Allies celebrated the news

350
00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:56,672
that American yards had replaced all the ships
lost in almost four years of the war.

351
00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:04,230
They were building ships really...
very fast indeed.

352
00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:09,190
In fact, it was a joke in America
that they were building ships so fast

353
00:33:09,360 --> 00:33:12,989
that they were running out
of names for the new ships.

354
00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:15,674
They couldn't come up with enough names.

355
00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:25,637
(NEWSREEL) In one 24-hour working day,
27 brand-new ships slid down the ways.

356
00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:28,439
Nowhere in the world
is such production possible.

357
00:33:28,600 --> 00:33:33,833
The goal for 1943, 23 million tonnes of shipping.

358
00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:54,793
(NARRATOR) Donitz called a meeting
with six of Ais most senior officers.

359
00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:58,350
He asked if the campaign
in the Atlantic should continue.

360
00:33:58,520 --> 00:34:02,593
The Aliies enjoyed overwhelming
material and technical superiority,

361
00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:06,992
and it would be two years before
a submarine with high underwater speeds

362
00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:09,435
could be developed.

363
00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:16,912
(ROSING)
Everybody gave his view and this was,

364
00:34:17,080 --> 00:34:22,200
even if we can no longer expect to make
an impact with the U-boat war,

365
00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:26,399
as long as there is fighting,
we still have to keep up the pressure.

366
00:34:31,480 --> 00:34:34,517
(TRANSLATION)
And when everyone had had his say,

367
00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:38,355
myself last of all, Donitz said,

368
00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:44,755
"OK, you have simply
confirmed what | also think."

369
00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:50,519
(NARRATOR) The U-boat would fight on.

370
00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:56,630
But Donitz knew well enough
that the cost of continuing would be very great.

371
00:34:59,240 --> 00:35:01,231
(RAPID FIRING)

372
00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:05,276
(NARRATOR) That summer,
the Allies mounted their Biscay campaign.

373
00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:09,115
U-boats were attacked
as soon as they left their bases.

374
00:35:12,320 --> 00:35:15,995
60 more U-boats were sunk in just three months.

375
00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:29,077
Most of the crews were lost with their boats.

376
00:35:29,240 --> 00:35:32,869
The few survivors that were fished
out of the Atlantic by the British

377
00:35:33,040 --> 00:35:38,034
began to tell their interrogators of the growing
sense of unease in the U-boat messes.

378
00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:45,315
(McFADYEAN) They knew
it was their duty not to give information,

379
00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:49,632
but they were perfectly happy
to talk to other naval officers.

380
00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:52,712
They then went back to their cabins,

381
00:35:52,880 --> 00:35:56,668
and if they had somebody else
there with them, he might say,

382
00:35:56,840 --> 00:36:00,515
“What are they asking you about?"
and he'd say,

383
00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:04,958
"They wanted to know was so and so,
but | wasn't going to tell them",

384
00:36:05,120 --> 00:36:07,475
and all this was being recorded,

385
00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:12,073
(NARRATOR)
The picture emerging from these interrogations

386
00:36:12,240 --> 00:36:14,754
was of a crisis of morale

387
00:36:21,160 --> 00:36:25,790
Naval intelligence reported that
"Defeatist conversation was common".

388
00:36:27,560 --> 00:36:32,156
The prisoners spoke of frequent fights
between Nazis and anti-Nazis.

389
00:36:33,480 --> 00:36:36,597
Agents in the U-boat bases reported “proof”

390
00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:42,357
that some crews were damaging machinery
to delay their departure on war patrol.

391
00:36:46,240 --> 00:36:51,519
(TRANSLATION) We talked the same way about
this shitty war, if | may use that expression.

392
00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:57,630
We said to each other, "For God's sake,
it just can't go on like this.

393
00:36:57,800 --> 00:37:02,032
"We suffer losses and don't sink a single ship.

394
00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:05,351
"Is it worth carrying on?"

395
00:37:08,720 --> 00:37:11,234
(NARRATOR) Hitler believed so,

396
00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:17,555
In October 1943, the U-boat ace Eric Topp
was invited to Flihrer headquarters.

397
00:37:17,720 --> 00:37:21,395
it was soon clear to him
that Hitler remained stubbornly optimistic

398
00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:23,949
about the future of the U-boat war.

399
00:37:24,120 --> 00:37:28,272
Hopes now rested on the plans
for a revolutionary new submarine.

400
00:37:32,720 --> 00:37:36,713
(TOPP) We were a group
of four or five submarine commanders

401
00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:40,077
who had been invited to lunch by Hitler.

402
00:37:42,640 --> 00:37:45,996
He said they were in the process
of developing new batteries

403
00:37:46,160 --> 00:37:51,439
which would enable a U-boat
to remain underwater for days.

404
00:37:54,720 --> 00:37:56,870
With these new batteries,

405
00:37:57,080 --> 00:38:02,632
the U-boat could at last
become a true submarine.

406
00:38:08,640 --> 00:38:10,631
(NARRATOR) In the meantime,

407
00:38:10,800 --> 00:38:14,793
Donitz was forced to turn
to an old device to protect his crews —

408
00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:16,916
the Schnorkei

409
00:38:17,080 --> 00:38:20,516
Through this, air was drawn
down to the diesel engines.

410
00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:24,639
/t meant the U-boat could remain
hidden just beneath the surface.

411
00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:27,314
On 5th February 1944,

412
00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:31,473
the first U-boat to be equipped
with the Schnorkel left on war patrol —

413
00:38:31,640 --> 00:38:34,393
Hartwig Look's U-264,

414
00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:41,918
(TRANSLATION) We ceased to think
we'd be successful in battle.

415
00:38:43,480 --> 00:38:49,749
We realised that the U—boats arriving from home,
the new U-boats with young crews,

416
00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:55,074
nearly all of them stayed out
and never came back.

417
00:39:02,720 --> 00:39:06,554
(NARRATOR) Just days before,
the six ships of the Second Support Group

418
00:39:06,720 --> 00:39:10,713
had left Northern Ireland to the strains
of “A Hunting We will Go".

419
00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:14,998
The Allies now had enough ships
to form new escort groups

420
00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:18,152
dedicated to hunting and killing U-boats.

421
00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:21,437
(MUSIC "A HUNTING WE WILL GO")

422
00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:26,239
The leader of the Second Support Group
was Captain johnny Walker.

423
00:39:26,400 --> 00:39:30,678
(BUTCHARD) It was a hunt to him.
He would treat it as a sport.

424
00:39:30,840 --> 00:39:34,150
For instance, we sank one submarine.

425
00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:37,596
There was oil and debris on the surface

426
00:39:37,760 --> 00:39:44,757
and he signalled to the captain of the ship
which had sunk the submarine and said,

427
00:39:44,920 --> 00:39:47,878
"Come over here
and look what a mess you've made."

428
00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:55,994
(NARRATOR)
As the Second Support Group was setting out,

429
00:39:56,160 --> 00:39:59,152
@ British intercept station
picked up heavy signals traffic

430
00:39:59,360 --> 00:40:01,715
some 200 miles to the west of freiand.

431
00:40:01,880 --> 00:40:06,237
A pack of U-boats seemed to be
converging on convoy “ON 221",

432
00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:10,275
The Admiralty sent Watker to intercept them,

433
00:40:12,920 --> 00:40:14,911
(FIRING)

434
00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:19,514
The group's hunt was filmed.

435
00:40:23,640 --> 00:40:28,077
Walker had developed a new tactic,
the “creeping attack".

436
00:40:29,320 --> 00:40:34,155
One ship, usually Walker's own,
the “Starling”, held sonar contact.

437
00:40:34,320 --> 00:40:40,031
it directed one or more of the group in a slow,
creeping attack along the U-boat's course.

438
00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:43,715
The rest of the group
formed a ring around the target.

439
00:40:46,640 --> 00:40:51,634
Once a U-boat was caught in this,
it was almost impossible to escape.

440
00:40:57,480 --> 00:41:02,395
In just 72 days, the group found
and sank five U-poats.

441
00:41:02,560 --> 00:41:05,199
There were no survivors.

442
00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:15,673
(EUSTACE) None of them came to the surface,

443
00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:21,517
so the Admiralty needed proof
that a sinking had taken place.

444
00:41:21,680 --> 00:41:26,800
And whatever tangible things
that they could get hold of

445
00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:29,599
were picked up and put in the boat.

446
00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:34,393
This was a rather gruesome thing,
picking up human remains.

447
00:41:40,240 --> 00:41:42,231
(EXPLOSION)

448
00:41:48,080 --> 00:41:54,076
(NARRATOR) On February 19th, Walker
picked up another contact, the U-264,

449
00:41:54,240 --> 00:41:57,755
(LOOKS) That was really pretty terrible.

450
00:41:57,920 --> 00:42:04,792
During this period, 12 hours,
we were submerged for 12 hours.

451
00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:08,748
We got around 200 depth charges.

452
00:42:12,800 --> 00:42:17,078
Just about everything
in the U-boat was smashed.

453
00:42:17,240 --> 00:42:20,312
We shot out of the water like a champagne cork

454
00:42:20,480 --> 00:42:26,715
and found ourselves inside the circle made
by Captain Walker's submarine chasers.

455
00:42:27,440 --> 00:42:29,556
Captain Walker...

456
00:42:30,400 --> 00:42:32,550
(RAPID FIRING)

457
00:42:43,880 --> 00:42:46,997
(EUSTACE) They were swimming towards us,

458
00:42:47,160 --> 00:42:52,757
We had 2 rule that unless we discovered

459
00:42:52,920 --> 00:42:57,152
the number and name
of the captain of the submarine,

460
00:42:57,320 --> 00:42:59,470
we would not pick them up.

461
00:42:59,640 --> 00:43:03,838
A young boy was swimming towards us...

462
00:43:05,040 --> 00:43:10,717
He came alongside
near to where the scrambling net was,

463
00:43:10,880 --> 00:43:17,399
and | held his arm in my right hand
and another officer said,

464
00:43:17,560 --> 00:43:21,155
“Weill, look, we're going
to ask them for the last time.”

465
00:43:21,320 --> 00:43:25,518
And no sort of unified number came up,

466
00:43:25,680 --> 00:43:29,753
and the call was, “Let the prisoner go."

467
00:43:33,320 --> 00:43:36,835
But | can still feel

468
00:43:37,000 --> 00:43:43,348
this young boy's arm or hand
sliding through my hand,

469
00:43:43,520 --> 00:43:49,789
and | would say this lad
was no more than 16 years of age.

470
00:43:50,760 --> 00:43:55,038
And it's something which has haunted me

471
00:43:55,200 --> 00:43:58,875
for a very long period of time.

472
00:44:02,880 --> 00:44:08,079
(NARRATOR) It was not Navy policy,
but on Walker's ship he made the rules,

473
00:44:10,720 --> 00:44:15,669
The crew of the U-264 was prepared
to furnish him with all the details he required,

474
00:44:15,840 --> 00:44:18,400
including intelugence on the Schnorkel

475
00:44:19,880 --> 00:44:24,396
They were the only survivors
from six U-boats sunk in 20 days.

476
00:44:28,160 --> 00:44:30,720
(TRANSLATION) They took me to the mess,

477
00:44:30,880 --> 00:44:35,032
and three or four British officers
began bombarding me with questions.

478
00:44:35,200 --> 00:44:38,829
One of them said,
"That was a very, very clever fight."

479
00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:42,788
(IN ENGLISH) ..a very, very clever fight.

480
00:44:42,960 --> 00:44:46,316
(TRANSLATION) That wasn't how | felt about it.

481
00:44:51,920 --> 00:44:55,708
(PATRIOTIC MILITARY BAND MUSIC)

482
00:44:56,480 --> 00:44:59,040
(EUSTACE) As we sailed in line ahead,

483
00:44:59,200 --> 00:45:02,636
up the Mersey, / think we feit,
you know, pretty good.

484
00:45:02,800 --> 00:45:04,791
(CROWD CHEERS)

485
00:45:04,960 --> 00:45:11,195
There must have been hundreds of Wrens
and people cheering us as we came in.

486
00:45:16,320 --> 00:45:20,598
(NARRATOR) Waiting to meet the group
was the First Lord of the Admiralty.

487
00:45:20,760 --> 00:45:26,073
it was a moment of triumph which seemed
to symbolise the final victory in the Atlantic.

488
00:45:28,800 --> 00:45:31,155
| want to say to you fellas

489
00:45:31,320 --> 00:45:35,199
that | feel that you've had
an enormous part to play

490
00:45:35,360 --> 00:45:42,357
in settling the issue against
the threat of dictatorship in Europe.

491
00:45:42,520 --> 00:45:44,556
— Hip, hip, hip.
— Hooray!

492
00:45:44,720 --> 00:45:49,236
(NARRATOR) Three months later,
British and American troops landed in France.

493
00:45:49,400 --> 00:45:52,073
The Battle of the Atlantic was virtually over.

494
00:45:54,320 --> 00:45:59,314
There was still rationing and food shortages,
but the convoys were arriving unmolested.

495
00:45:59,480 --> 00:46:04,998

Let's swing out to victory

496
00:46:05,160 --> 00:46:10,553

We can take them one, two, three

497
00:46:10,720 --> 00:46:16,158

Trumpets blasting through the air

498
00:46:16,320 --> 00:46:19,949

Yeah, man

499
00:46:20,120 --> 00:46:24,477
The U-boat menace has for the time being
been practically effaced.

500
00:46:24,640 --> 00:46:31,910
There was a recent month in which, up till
the last day, they did not sink a single ship.

501
00:46:33,400 --> 00:46:36,392
(NARRATOR)
“Britain's ability to fight,” Churchill wrote,

502
00:46:36,560 --> 00:46:40,473
“to Keep itself alive,
depended on the Battle of the Atlantic.”

503
00:46:40,640 --> 00:46:43,712
Yet it was difficult to cheer the final victory.

504
00:46:43,880 --> 00:46:47,998
More than half the ships sunk in the Atlantic
had flown the Red Ensign,

505
00:46:48,160 --> 00:46:52,551
and 50,000 British seamen
died protecting the lifeline.

506
00:46:54,400 --> 00:46:58,552
Donitz's fleet of new submarines
never sailed against the convoys.

507
00:46:58,720 --> 00:47:01,359
The old boats fought on to the end.

508
00:47:01,520 --> 00:47:07,595
650 were lost, and with them
30,000 U-boat men,

509
00:47:09,000 --> 00:47:12,515
(KUALMAN) | could tell you, / wept.

510
00:47:12,680 --> 00:47:17,151
All my comrades, who I'd spent
all those months with, had perished.

511
00:47:20,880 --> 00:47:26,238
(TOPPS) We had been trained
to do our duty to the very end.

512
00:47:26,400 --> 00:47:28,960
That's why we still put to sea.

513
00:47:34,560 --> 00:47:39,759
(ADAMS) | don’t think many people
thought of us, we were an unseen war.

514
00:47:39,920 --> 00:47:43,708
You didn't see the sunken ships
or the survivors who never made /t.

515
00:47:45,600 --> 00:47:47,591
(HOLDING) Weil, it was our job.

516
00:47:47,760 --> 00:47:50,832
We knew we were going out
and mightn't come back.

517
00:47:51,000 --> 00:47:52,991
You never dwelt on it.

518
00:47:55,000 --> 00:47:59,596
(NICHOLSON) This nation owes
those people a great deal.

519
00:48:00,720 --> 00:48:06,875
if the North Atlantic convoy route had failed,
ali eise would have failed