U-Boat War: Tragedy and Redemption in the North Atlantic, 1939-1945

This is the story of the people, strategy, tactics, and technology that were employed on both sides of the U-boat war. More than 2,700 ships were sunk by U-boats which costs the lives of over 35,000 British and American seamen. But by 1943 the Allies began to turn the tide against the U-boat menace through a combination of advances in convoy tactics, radar, active sonar, codebreaking, and intelligence gathering. By the end of the war, over 700 U-boats were sunk at sea and 28,000 sailors perished, resulting in the highest proportion of combat losses for any branch of the German armed forces.

Presenter: Dr. Edward Gordon