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00:00Hidden in a fold of Kent countryside, just 30 miles from London, is the home of Britain's wartime leader, Winston Churchill.
00:13Casting his mind back over five bloody and uncertain years, he would write that during the war, only one thing ever frightened him, the U-boat peril.
00:25Battles might be won or lost, Churchill wrote, but our power to fight, to keep ourselves alive, rested on the outcome of the struggle for control of the Atlantic.
00:42It was one of the longest campaigns in naval history, bitterly fought over three million square miles of hostile ocean.
00:50When it began, the U-boat didn't seem to be a peril at all, and yet within 18 months, it was able to take Britain to the brink of defeat.
01:00In 1942, this battle for survival was at its height.
01:05Those lost fighting it have no grave. There are only names. This series remembers their war.
01:17At a little before midnight on October the 13th, 1939, a lone U-boat slipped through the line of sunken ships that guarded the entrance to one of the Royal Navy's most important bases.
01:42U-47 was about to attempt what the British believed impossible, an attack on the fleet in the safety of its anchorage at Scapa Floor.
01:58Its commander, Gunther Prien, kept a log of his mission.
02:05There are warships anchored in shore. We close to a distance of some 3,000 meters. We will attack the big one.
02:13She was the 30,000 ton Royal Oak, the flagship of the second battle squadron.
02:20That night, the Oak was at anchored at the eastern end of the floor.
02:29Most of her crew, 1,200 men and boys, were asleep alone.
02:33Suddenly, without any warning at all, there was an enormous explosion right up front somewhere.
02:44It shook the ship from end to end.
02:47And I hopped out of my hammock.
02:50And I told them all to get out and get dressed.
02:52And they just sort of leaned over their hammock and said,
02:55No, don't worry about it.
02:57We were talking, saying, you know, what the Dickens was that?
03:02Somebody thought it sounded like an anti-aircraft gun, but nobody really knew.
03:07One of Prien's torpedoes had hit the Oak, close to the anchor chain.
03:13Her captain thought it was a small internal explosion, and that there was no need to rose the crew.
03:18Two out of every three men on that ship only had 12 minutes to live.
03:23And they didn't know it.
03:26Two out of every three men on that ship!
03:28One!
03:33Prien fired three more torpedoes.
03:41The ship seemed to jump out of the water, you know.
03:48It was an enormous explosion.
03:49Enormous explosion last one set off the cordite magazine
03:53And this last
03:56orange blast came up through the deck
03:59And I wondered how long it took you know to die and
04:06Excuse me a moment
04:11Brings back a lot of memories
04:19There was a terrible roaring and cracking columns of water and fire fragments were flying through the air
04:27One battleship sunk every tube empty. I decided to leave
04:38You have to admit it was an incredible achievement for preen in his boat with all the great difficulties of navigation he faced
04:45He managed to get into scupper flow and then get out again
04:55On the oak most of the crew were trapped between the decks as the ship began to capsize
05:01And I must have slipped down many feet and hit the water
05:17Something touched me on the back of the neck. I thought blimey. It's coming down on top of me
05:21And I did the fastest hundred yards I've ever done in my life
05:24The next thing I remember was some
05:31Funny enough my divisional officer coming over
05:34With a great lump of wood. He was hanging on to
05:38And he said who's that and I said leading seaman instance and I'm burnt to buggery
05:43So he said oh bad luck old man
05:45Eight hundred and thirty three men were lost on the royal oak
05:51It was a national humiliation a British battleship sunk at anchor in a place symbolic of the country's sea power
05:58By the time you 47 returned to its base at Wilhelmshaven the name clean was known throughout Germany
06:13He had become the bull of scabble
06:15Preen became a national hero and the public became very aware of the u-boats and their potential in this war
06:28It was all that's wrong
06:42Only a month before Hitler had been openly skeptical about the value of the u-boats
06:50Now it seemed to represent just the image of military ingenuity and courage he wanted to foster in the Reich
06:55He told Preen he was responsible for a unique triumph.
07:01If 44 men and a lone U-boat could sink a battleship, what could a fleet of submarines do?
07:13Preen's mission had been meticulously planned by the staff at U-boat command in Wilhelmshaven.
07:25The leader of the U-boat arm, Karl Dönerts, had forged his men into a fighting elite.
07:33Their training was dominated by the prospect of war with Germany's natural enemy at sea, Great Britain.
07:41The task was to find out how to cut the supplies across the Atlantic within a reasonable time,
07:52so that maybe Britain would get in serious trouble.
07:55When war came, although he commanded just 57 U-boats,
08:04Dönerts planned to launch a ruthless sea blockade,
08:07which he believed in time would starve Britain into submission.
08:18Sixty years ago, this forgotten wasteland was full of ships and merchant seamen
08:22preparing to make the 3,000-mile voyage across the Atlantic.
08:31Before the war, some 60 million tons of food and raw materials passed through ports like Liverpool.
08:37We realised that we were the lifeline.
08:45Without the merchant fleet,
08:49there'd have been no food, there'd have been no fuel.
08:52Where were all the other forces going to get their stuff from if we didn't bring from America?
08:57None of the glamour of the Royal Navy, but sailors of the finest type for all that.
09:02130,000 men sailed under the Red Ensign.
09:09How old are you? 29.
09:11They were officially non-combatants, but these were the men who would bear the brunt of the U-boat attack.
09:17You were directed by what was called the pool.
09:20And you had no choice.
09:23If they says,
09:25take that,
09:27SS Mars,
09:28End and Duck,
09:30you just went down and sign on.
09:39I joined a British,
09:40she was a stamp,
09:41a stamp steamer.
09:44She had the smell of sugar and oil on it,
09:46you know,
09:46dirty old stamps, they call them.
09:50They never came back to me and said,
10:02well, now we've got these new ships,
10:04but we can't man them.
10:06There were always people coming forward
10:08for this very risky and very ill-paid
10:12and very uncomfortable job.
10:15This nation knows those people
10:23a great deal.
10:30Well, it was our job.
10:32We knew we were going out,
10:33you might come back,
10:35but it never dwelt on us.
10:37From the first,
10:43it was the U-boat,
10:44rather than Germany's small fleet of warships,
10:47that threatened this lifeline.
10:49Faith in Britain's ability to protect it
10:51rested in the most powerful surface fleet in the world,
10:55the Royal Navy.
10:55The Admiralty in London was quick to introduce
11:03a system of protected convoys.
11:05Merchant ships would be escorted
11:06for part of their journey by warships.
11:11The busiest convoy routes
11:12were those across the North Atlantic
11:14to Canada and America.
11:16It was along these
11:17that most of the country's vital imports would pass.
11:20Ships were given their station in a box.
11:26You had several in a row there
11:28and several behind them
11:29in a rectangle,
11:31and you steamed out in succession,
11:33which you already agreed,
11:34from Liverpool,
11:35slowly at first,
11:37and then gradually getting underway.
11:40Well, you could be looking six miles
11:42across the front of the convoy,
11:44and you could be looking six miles
11:46down the length of the convoy.
11:48So you cover in a fair area
11:51with a 60-ship convoy.
11:53We in the escort
11:54went round at speed,
11:56looking at all the ships,
11:57checking in by name,
11:58checking they'd got their right positions
12:00in the convoy, and so on.
12:01Usual thing,
12:02eight knots,
12:03four to a mile apart.
12:04Now let's count them.
12:05Three, four, five.
12:09We come charging round
12:10at high speed
12:12and pull up alongside
12:13like, you know,
12:14you're too far behind,
12:16like, you know,
12:17you are right here,
12:18you require assistance
12:19or anything like that,
12:20and they said,
12:21no, it's just the bus,
12:22this is all bus speed.
12:24Try to keep up, old man!
12:29Some are slower than others.
12:31The top speed of that beat
12:33as I was in,
12:33oh, she could do it six knots,
12:35you could walk faster.
12:35The weather was dreadful,
12:41and people were very sick,
12:43and people went
12:44and just slept in the corner
12:46soaking wet from watch,
12:48soaking wet when they went on watch again.
12:52The main factor
12:53in the Battle of the Atlantic
12:54after trying to kill each other
12:56was the weather.
12:57You'd be on the lookout
13:00in the masts.
13:01You're looking out
13:02for protoscopes,
13:04which was a hell of a thing.
13:06You know,
13:07you're looking
13:08and you might see
13:12a few purpose
13:14come zooming at you.
13:17It's scary.
13:17What's out of you?
13:18Because it's just like
13:19a torpedo comes
13:20through the water.
13:20In the first months
13:25of the war,
13:26the U-boat fleet
13:27sailed out
13:27to the convoy routes
13:28from the north German ports.
13:30It bent a long
13:31and dangerous haul
13:32across the North Sea
13:33and round the British coast.
13:35But the crews
13:36were full of confidence.
13:38They were the U-boat Waffe,
13:39the spearhead
13:40of the assault
13:41on the old enemy.
13:50War patrols would last
14:01for as long
14:01as there was fuel
14:02and torpedoes.
14:04For three weeks or more,
14:0550 men would be confined
14:06to what some called
14:08their iron coffin.
14:10The U-boat arm
14:11made its own rules.
14:13Dönitz believed
14:13this would play its part
14:14in building the right
14:15sort of fighting spirit
14:16in the crews.
14:17There is no uniform
14:33on board
14:34and no indication
14:35of rank,
14:36just overalls.
14:38It was informal.
14:41It wasn't really
14:42the usual military order.
14:47The whole boat
14:52smells of diesel.
14:55Diesel is ingrained
14:56everywhere.
14:57Because there are full tanks,
14:58there was always
14:59something dripping somewhere.
15:08There was no comfort
15:09about a submarine.
15:10No comfort.
15:11Because you share
15:12your bunk
15:13with another one.
15:15Because he has
15:15the same job
15:17about the ship
15:17as you have.
15:18For instance,
15:19the wireless operator.
15:20He is about four hours
15:21and you have
15:22the time to rest
15:24and then he goes
15:26into this bunk
15:27and this is,
15:28the bunk is still hot.
15:29Still hot.
15:38Of course,
15:39it would smell of sweat
15:39because no one
15:40washed properly.
15:41It was quite a stench
15:42sometimes.
15:47It was mostly boring,
15:57you've got to admit that.
16:00Boredom.
16:01There was nothing.
16:02The boat would run its course
16:04little by little
16:05and nothing happened
16:06from one hour to the next.
16:07The hunt depended
16:14on the vigilance
16:15of the boat's watch.
16:17Days were spent
16:18searching an empty,
16:19featureless horizon.
16:26We rode some pretty
16:27massive North Atlantic storms
16:29which were really
16:30very impressive.
16:30worse.
16:31Nobody could see,
16:35move, aim at
16:36or do anything.
16:38And then there were
16:38those occasions
16:39when you suddenly
16:40saw a single ship
16:41which you would normally
16:41have attacked
16:42but with which you just
16:44steered a parallel course.
16:45You couldn't harm
16:47each other.
16:48Everybody thought
16:49of their own survival
16:50during those heavy seas.
16:52Nothing else mattered.
16:59For the convoy,
17:01survival depended
17:02on its ability
17:03to lose itself
17:03in the Atlantic.
17:05Just a moment
17:06of carelessness
17:06could reveal
17:07its position
17:08to the hunter.
17:10You've got ships
17:11that were indisciplined,
17:12especially in the early
17:14stages of the war.
17:16They were told
17:17not to throw over
17:18certain kinds of rubbish
17:20from the ship's side
17:21because a trailing submarine
17:23would pick that up.
17:25And the other thing
17:26was a real problem,
17:28coal-fired ships
17:29stoking up.
17:31You could see them
17:32from 50 miles away.
17:34And, of course,
17:35the U-Birds loved that.
17:40In the first months
17:41of the war,
17:42a cameraman
17:43accompanied U-99,
17:45the most successful hunter
17:46in the North Atlantic.
17:48Its commander
17:48was Otto Kretschmer.
17:51My captain,
17:53Otto Kretschmer,
17:55was a very intelligent man,
18:00very cold-blooded,
18:03and knew exactly
18:07what kind of risk
18:08he could take.
18:08At first,
18:11there were easy kills.
18:14Lone ships
18:15travelling beyond
18:16the Navy's protection.
18:18But as more ships
18:19sailed under the
18:19Admiralty's umbrella,
18:21commanders like Kretschmer
18:22were forced to run
18:23the much greater risk
18:24of attacking the convoys.
18:29This was done at first,
18:30as it was done
18:31during the First World War.
18:32By day,
18:35we'd expect to enter
18:35a convoy underwater,
18:37approach it,
18:38and fire at it
18:39from underwater.
18:40It was a calm,
18:52smooth day in summer,
18:54and suddenly,
18:55the Jersey City
18:56went back.
18:59A lovely clear day,
19:01and so calm,
19:01one should have seen
19:02the periscope,
19:03but one didn't.
19:04We went out
19:06in an ever-widening circle,
19:08trying to find
19:09the submarine
19:10by ASDIC.
19:12ASDIC,
19:13or SONAR,
19:14was the new weapon
19:14in the Admiralty's armory,
19:16its underwater searchlight.
19:25Contact!
19:26A pulse of SONAR
19:27was sent out
19:28from the ship.
19:29If the SONAR
19:30wave struck the U-boat,
19:31they were reflected back.
19:33This echo
19:33gave the range
19:34and bearing
19:35of the target.
19:38If convoy
19:40was the first pillar
19:41of the Navy's defense,
19:43ASDIC was the second.
19:46At once,
19:47there was contact
19:48on the ASDIC
19:49of this destroyer,
19:51and he was running
19:53right overhead.
19:55You could hear
19:56the swish
19:56of the propellers,
19:57and then he turned
19:58and came back
19:59and he threw
20:00his depth charges.
20:01depth charges
20:08were 300-pound drums
20:10packed with high explosive,
20:12with a fuse
20:12that could be set
20:13to detonate
20:14at different depths.
20:17Within 50 feet
20:18of the U-boat's hull,
20:20the shock wave
20:20would cause damage.
20:22Within 20,
20:23it would kill.
20:24Once ASDIC
20:28contact was made,
20:30the hunter
20:31became the hunter.
20:36The escort destroyers
20:38started pursuing us
20:40in a very clear
20:40and determined manner.
20:44And because
20:45we were so very slow
20:47underwater,
20:48they had no difficulty
20:49in tracking
20:50our course.
20:54all instruments
20:56were destroyed.
20:57You see,
20:57the glass is broken,
20:59there is no light
20:59anymore,
21:00only small flashlights.
21:02We went down
21:03to this
21:04unbelievable
21:05depth.
21:15The cook
21:16put on a life jacket
21:17and turned up
21:18wide-eyed
21:19at my command post.
21:21I kept telling him
21:22to go back,
21:22but he didn't.
21:23I said to him,
21:24come on,
21:24France,
21:25that was his first name,
21:27sit down,
21:28give Daddy your hand,
21:29nothing will happen
21:30to you,
21:30come on,
21:31I said.
21:32Then he sat down,
21:33gave Daddy his hand,
21:35held my hand tightly
21:36and calmed down.
21:38Daddy was
21:3924 years old.
21:40The boat went deeper
21:52and deeper.
21:53Of course,
21:54everyone had the feeling
21:54this is it.
21:55One second more
21:56and says
21:57one big crack
21:58and you are
21:59pressed together
22:02like an empty tin can.
22:04The air supply
22:17became very scarce.
22:20Everyone had to lie down
22:21and be still
22:22and breathe
22:23through the oxygen cartridges.
22:26They kept us
22:27underwater
22:27for 17 hours.
22:29On this occasion,
22:33depth charges
22:34were not well
22:35aimed enough
22:36to be fatal.
22:38We went to depths
22:39of 150 meters
22:41or more.
22:42The depth charges
22:43were all above us.
22:45The depth charged
22:50fuses
22:51were on too
22:51shallow a setting.
22:53The U-Board
22:54was able to take refuge
22:55at a much greater depth
22:56than the Royal Navy
22:57thought possible.
23:01Yet at the Admiralty,
23:03figures compiled
23:03by naval staff
23:04suggested that
23:05merchant shipping losses
23:06would be manageable.
23:08In the first
23:08nine months
23:09of the war,
23:10215 ships
23:11were sunk
23:11but only 22
23:13within the umbrella
23:14of a convoy.
23:15The first Lord
23:17of the Admiralty,
23:18Winston Churchill,
23:20was more than satisfied
23:21with the Navy's record.
23:23We feel ourselves
23:24more confident
23:25day by day
23:26of our ability
23:28to keep open
23:29and active
23:30the saltwater highways
23:32by which we live
23:34and along which
23:36we shall draw
23:37the means
23:37of victory.
23:39Our faithful
23:40Anstic
23:41Dictator
23:42smells them out
23:44in the depths
23:44of the sea
23:45and I do not doubt
23:48that we shall
23:49break their strength
23:50and break their purpose.
23:57But in June 1940,
23:59the victories
24:00won by Hitler's armies
24:01on land
24:01were to transform
24:03the war at sea.
24:05As Hitler celebrated
24:06the fall of France
24:07in Berlin,
24:08the commander
24:09of his U-boats
24:10was on his way
24:11to the Atlantic coast
24:12of France.
24:15The ports
24:16were all in German hands.
24:18Dönitz and his men
24:18wasted no time
24:19in establishing bases
24:20along the west coast.
24:23Here in Lorient,
24:24work began
24:25on the huge
24:26bomb-proof sea bunkers
24:27which would house
24:28the U-boat fleet.
24:29For the first time,
24:33the U-boats
24:34had an open door
24:35to the Atlantic.
24:41The situation
24:42was now,
24:43I would say,
24:43the one
24:44we'd always wished for.
24:51From his new
24:53headquarters
24:53in Lorient,
24:54Dönitz would direct
24:55an all-out assault
24:56on Britain's lifeline.
24:59The new French bases
25:00on the Atlantic coast
25:02would shave
25:02almost a fortnight
25:03off a U-boat's journey,
25:05time that could now
25:06be spent
25:06hunting for convoys.
25:15Above all,
25:17they offered
25:17the chance
25:18for Dönitz
25:18to introduce
25:19his new tactic,
25:20so carefully developed
25:21before the war,
25:23the pack attack.
25:27This was the beginning
25:28of a new phase
25:29in the Battle
25:30of the Atlantic.
25:32I was anxious
25:33that not a day
25:34should pass
25:35without the sinking
25:36of a ship somewhere.
25:40Dönitz began
25:41to arrange
25:42his U-boats
25:42into search lines
25:43across the convoy routes.
25:46When one of the boats
25:47sighted a convoy,
25:48it was to report
25:49its position
25:50to U-boat command.
25:52It was now
25:52the contact boat,
25:54with orders
25:54to shadow
25:55the target.
26:09U-boat command
26:10was able to direct
26:11the rest of the pack
26:12to home in
26:13on the contact boat.
26:15Dönitz was confident
26:16that the Royal Navy's
26:17defences would crumble
26:19under the weight
26:19of a pack attack.
26:20The attack
26:22would be carried
26:22out at night
26:23and in an entirely
26:24unexpected way.
26:30One of the first U-boats
26:32to be involved
26:32in a pack attack
26:33in the autumn of 1940
26:34was Otto Kretschmer's
26:36U-99.
26:40A warship comes
26:41into view,
26:42followed by smoke plumes
26:43and the convoy,
26:44at last.
26:45We pass the surfacing
26:47U-boat,
26:47U-101.
26:49I am positioned
26:50in front of the convoy.
26:54The pack tactics
26:56pioneered by commanders
26:57like Kretschmer
26:57would change the course
26:59of the war at sea.
27:04We stayed ahead
27:05of the convoy
27:06all day long
27:07and then,
27:08in the evening,
27:09when it was dark,
27:11we dived in front of it.
27:12Then we surfaced
27:15inside it.
27:19Through my binoculars
27:20I could see
27:21there was a shadow
27:22of a ship.
27:23But from time to time
27:25I could see
27:25that someone
27:26was lighting
27:29a cigarette.
27:31Everyone was a less
27:32ship,
27:32whatever you want
27:33and everything.
27:34And that nice
27:34to me was that way.
27:38You're thinking
27:39someone's out there.
27:42I went out
27:46on the wing
27:46of the bridge
27:47and there was
27:49the U-boat
27:51about 100 yards away
27:55with all the officers
27:56in the coming tower.
27:59I gave the order
27:59to go harder port.
28:02That would put
28:03the U-boat stern on.
28:05It's like
28:11big game hunting.
28:12You have to attack
28:14from a forward position.
28:17So the normal
28:17distance
28:19for torpedo attacks
28:20at night
28:21is about 600 meters.
28:23before I could answer
28:32the helm
28:34wheel it.
28:44Everything
28:45sort of disintegrated
28:46around us.
28:48The concussion
28:48shot up your legs
28:49up your backbone
28:51into your skull
28:52and everything
28:53and lifted you
28:54at the same time.
28:59I went round
29:00to the engine room
29:00and looked down
29:02the engine room
29:03and there was nothing
29:06left.
29:07Everything had
29:07collapsed.
29:09The engine room
29:10was three parts
29:11full of water.
29:12Those boom
29:13went down below.
29:14Let's hope
29:15it was very quick.
29:17Their death.
29:17Because it must
29:19be dreadful.
29:19It must have been
29:20dreadful.
29:21Dreadful.
29:28I saw the water
29:30coming into
29:30the wheelhouse.
29:32You know.
29:34That eye.
29:35You know.
29:36Waste eye to me.
29:38And I'll eventually
29:38in it
29:40and then under it.
29:41And I was
29:46reaching out
29:47to rails
29:48and pulling myself
29:49and trying to
29:50get myself clear.
29:51I was panicking
29:52and then suddenly
29:53I was making
29:54my way to the surface.
29:57And I was
29:58coughing
29:59and spluttering
30:00and I looked
30:01around and
30:02would hear
30:02shouts
30:04and
30:06I turned
30:08and tried
30:09to locate
30:10them
30:11but I
30:11wasn't sure
30:13what direction
30:14they were coming
30:14from but
30:15apparently
30:16there were
30:17only shelter
30:17lads that
30:18were drowning.
30:18What follows
30:32now
30:32resembles
30:32the raging
30:33of a wolf
30:34in a flock
30:34of sheep.
30:36I fire a torpedo
30:37at a large freighter.
30:41It explodes
30:42and there is
30:44a high column
30:44of flame
30:45which rips
30:46open the ship
30:46from the bow
30:47to the bridge.
30:48The propaganda
30:54newsreels
30:55caught only
30:56the ships
30:56torpedoed by day
30:57but by the autumn
30:59of 1940
30:59most were being
31:01sunk at night.
31:02The wolf packs
31:03were using
31:03the cover of darkness
31:04to attack
31:05on the surface.
31:10This was the tactic
31:11Dönitz would turn
31:12to time and again
31:13in his pursuit
31:14of victory
31:15in the Atlantic.
31:18We can hear torpedoes
31:23fired by the other boats.
31:25The convoy breaks up completely.
31:28The ships run alone
31:29and in small groups.
31:31The largest group
31:32includes a tanker.
31:34This we shall now attack.
31:35We was caught in
31:41aviation spirit
31:43which is
31:43worse than luck.
31:46I must have said
31:47my prayers more times
31:48than the local vicar
31:48because I was really frightened.
31:53I was on the after
31:54poop deck of the ship
31:55when we heard
31:57that there was a torpedo
31:58coming and you could see it
31:59when they yelled.
32:01You could see the weight.
32:02There was a 200 meter
32:18high tongue
32:19of orange flame
32:20and in these flames
32:22there were human bodies
32:24and parts of the ship
32:25whirling round
32:26and then falling back
32:28into the Atlantic.
32:30Atlantic.
32:32And I didn't hesitate.
32:36I seen the big flames
32:38and I jumped straight
32:39over the stern
32:40and when I surfaced
32:41well the ship
32:42had disappeared
32:43into flames.
32:45You could hear these
32:46your buddies
32:47in the water hollering
32:48Save me, save me.
32:54But you were going by them
32:56the ship was still
32:56in a forward motion.
32:57I asked to come up
33:09to the cunning tower
33:09to have a look
33:10at the burning tankers
33:12and because this was
33:16for a navy man
33:20who was asked
33:20to sink ships
33:21was a wonderful sight.
33:22There was a lot of fuel
33:25on the water
33:25and gasoline burning.
33:28It sticks to you
33:29because it's petroleum.
33:33I heard a cry for help
33:35and I swam to him.
33:37His face is all black burnt
33:39so he's in a terrible state.
33:41We heard shouts
33:48of Hitler help
33:49Hitler help
33:51and then something happened
33:53that I thought
33:53was terrible.
33:55Standing next to me
33:56was the U-boat's
33:57second officer.
33:58He yelled into the night
34:00why do you pigs
34:01sail for England?
34:03I was horrified
34:04and I gave him a jab
34:05and said
34:06what do you expect
34:07them to do?
34:08These people
34:09are doing their duty
34:10just as you are.
34:16Those left in the sea
34:17watched as the convoy
34:19passed on.
34:20The other merchant ships
34:21were under strict orders
34:23not to stop
34:23for survivors.
34:26As we plowed through them
34:28you could hear them
34:28shouting help.
34:32Help.
34:33We couldn't stop
34:35and I knew this
34:37and I could see
34:39over the
34:40just down there
34:41the
34:42little lights
34:44on the life jacket
34:44drifting past.
34:46Very sad.
34:53The first pack attacks
34:55in the autumn of 1940
34:56caught the Navy's escorts
34:58completely off guard.
35:00We realized
35:02they were on the surface
35:03and we tried
35:04to light up the area
35:05so that we could
35:06see a submarine
35:07but we wouldn't know
35:08what area to light up.
35:10I remember feeling
35:11so helpless
35:12when you see
35:13these ships being sunk.
35:15We would scurry around
35:17and try to find out
35:18the submarine
35:19but the Aztec
35:20was useless.
35:22The underwater detector
35:24in which the Admiralty
35:25placed so much faith
35:26was unable to find
35:27the U-boat
35:28on the surface
35:28and the U-boat
35:30was almost invisible
35:31in the Atlantic night.
35:33on the surface
35:36the U-boat
35:37could ring 17 knots
35:38from its diesel engines
35:39and that made it faster
35:40than some of the Navy's escorts.
35:43The Royal Navy
35:44was prepared
35:45to fight a war
35:45against a submarine
35:46but the U-boat
35:48was really nothing
35:49of the sort.
35:49all the boats
35:52we had during the war
35:53were actually surface crafts
35:55who had just the possibility
35:57to dive.
36:05As these boats
36:06were depending
36:08on batteries
36:08they were very slow
36:10as soon as
36:12they were submerged.
36:13out of the
36:15about 20 ships
36:16I sank
36:17I mean
36:17I sank
36:1719 at night
36:20on the surface.
36:29The Navy rescued
36:30those it could
36:31but survivors
36:32in the water
36:33made the job
36:33of protecting
36:34the convoy
36:35even tougher.
36:36The main problem
36:39of survivors
36:40in the water
36:40is that they are
36:41usually
36:42where the U-boat is
36:43and you want
36:44to depth charge
36:45the U-boat
36:45and you can't
36:47because you're going
36:47to kill your survivors
36:48and that on one
36:50or two occasions
36:50had happened
36:51during the war
36:52very unpleasant.
36:53We had someone
37:00shouting on it
37:00loud hailer
37:01he said
37:01I can't stop
37:02I've got a
37:03scramble of nets
37:04over the side
37:05I can't stop
37:06U-boat in the area
37:07you'll have to jump
37:08and scramble a boat
37:09I mean we did
37:10They carried us
37:14down to different
37:15parts of the ship
37:16and I remember
37:17going to this
37:18particular mess
37:20I don't know
37:22and
37:23I laid on
37:24a bunk
37:25and I brought
37:27hot coffee
37:27round
37:28oh god
37:28it was so beautiful
37:30In just two nights
37:34in October 1940
37:36a pack of five
37:37boats
37:38sank 20 ships
37:39even well-protected
37:42convoys
37:42appeared powerless
37:43to prevent the wolf
37:44pack sinking
37:45at will
37:46By the end of the year
37:52more than a thousand
37:53ships had been sunk
37:556,000 merchant
37:57seamen
37:57lost
37:58On the Atlantic
38:05coast of Ireland
38:05the human cost
38:07was all too obvious
38:08The first body that came in
38:12was over on them rocks
38:13over there
38:14The boat must have been
38:16sunk off
38:17away out in the Atlantic
38:18someplace
38:19and the body was
38:20washed in here
38:21There was a disc on him
38:24and his number was on it
38:26I couldn't tell you the number
38:28but I know the name
38:30he was a Sergeant Derby
38:32or the Marines
38:33Then there was other bodies
38:36One body
38:38came in
38:39and it was
38:40badly decomposed
38:42We had
38:44the river cliff to climb
38:46and he had to be tied on
38:48to a stretcher
38:49and when we put the legs
38:54over on the body
38:55the stomach
38:56collapsed
38:57busted
38:58and
38:59there was a
39:00terrible smell
39:01well
39:02he would nearly throw up
39:04and we took him to
39:05this hotel
39:07where the bodies
39:09was all
39:10usually was taken
39:11It was very sorrowful
39:14I mean
39:14a lot of us there
39:16was
39:17well we were sad
39:18but we couldn't do
39:19we had a job to do
39:20and we done it
39:22and that was it
39:22This was what the U-boat men
39:27called their happy time
39:29On the journey home
39:39to their French bases
39:40the crews prepared
39:41their victory bunting
39:42each flag marked
39:43with the tonnage
39:44of a ship sunk
40:12No more than six boats
40:16were operating
40:17against Britain's lifeline
40:18at any one time
40:19just 300 men
40:21Much was being asked
40:34of a handful of U-boat crews
40:35in return
40:37Dönitz ensured
40:38that they were
40:38very well rewarded
40:39This was not just
40:46a happy time at sea
40:47the crews were to enjoy
40:49the best of life
40:50ashore
40:50100,000 bottles of wine
40:55were requisitioned
40:56by Dönitz
40:56for his men
40:57Uncle Karl came
40:59There were special food parcels
41:02U-boat hotels
41:03and extended leave
41:05Usually we would seek out
41:15some dive
41:15and then of course
41:16if there were girls present
41:18we would try to dance
41:19with them
41:19Sometimes we even succeeded
41:21I can still remember
41:29what was the price
41:30of a bottle of champagne
41:31I think it was
41:3520 francs
41:36which was no money
41:37at all to us
41:38Of course
41:45we did have a good life
41:46yes
41:46and we would make
41:48the most of it too
41:49It was a very different
41:58sort of homecoming
41:59for the British seamen
42:00who'd survived
42:01the wolf bags
42:02We got a roll call
42:05any survivors
42:06of one ship
42:06this ship
42:07that ship
42:07and I come down
42:09to Cleek Kirk
42:09and I don't know
42:11what I went up
42:12later on
42:13I said
42:13did anyone come forward
42:14and said
42:15no
42:15they've all gone
42:16to the ship
42:17So I knew
42:19that was to
42:20my friends
42:21and neighbours
42:21they were dead
42:22I knew that
42:23I put my arms
42:35I put my arms
42:36on my mother
42:36and I couldn't tell her
42:40about her
42:40until the next day
42:41and I said
42:43whatever you do
42:44don't tell her people
42:45leave us
42:46until they get a telegram
42:47So my mother knew
42:52she knew
42:53that they weren't
42:53coming back
42:54they didn't know
42:54where they were
42:55at their mothers
42:55In Germany
43:04the propaganda ministry
43:05made heroes
43:06of those it called
43:06the Grey Wolves
43:08That winter
43:10the commander
43:10of U-100
43:11Jochen Schepke
43:12took his men
43:13on a skiing holiday
43:14in the Bavarian Alps
43:15The U-boatmen
43:32were the guests
43:33of the grateful village
43:34of Ruppolding
43:35They lived
43:36with the villagers
43:37the commander
43:38with the Plank family
43:39In those days
43:42it was Preen
43:43Kretschmer
43:44Schepke
43:44They were
43:46for us boys
43:47so to speak
43:47the heroes
43:48the U-boat heroes
43:49and we were proud
43:50of having one of them
43:51staying in our house
43:52That goes without saying
43:53The reception
44:01was naturally
44:02magnificent
44:02I can remember
44:05that there were
44:06folk evenings
44:06at the Coor House
44:07as is the tradition here
44:09They were certainly
44:14unforgettable days
44:15for the crew
44:16I can remember
44:19we were all very proud
44:21As 1940 drew to a close
44:28the British public
44:29felt under siege
44:30Before the war
44:39the country imported
44:4022 million tons of food
44:42By November
44:43that figure was running
44:45at less than 12 million
44:46The one thing
44:47I always crave
44:48and that's why
44:49you hear me sing
44:51When can I have
44:53a banana again
44:56Oh tell me
44:57Tell me mother
44:58The ration book
44:59became the key
45:00to survival
45:01for nearly every
45:01household in the country
45:03You've got two hands
45:04of the tea each
45:05And my mother loved tea
45:06And you've only got
45:08one egg a week
45:10And you've got
45:11very little cheese
45:12Very little meat
45:14You'd have to look
45:16for the meat
45:16It was hard
45:20to manage
45:21Sometimes the word
45:25would go round
45:25There's something
45:27in fossil weights
45:29And that was a fruit shop
45:31All the women
45:32would be scurrying up
45:34And we'd stand in the queue
45:36And you wouldn't actually
45:37know what you were
45:37standing in the queue for
45:38And we'd say
45:40What is it?
45:41What is it?
45:42And the man
45:43would come out all stern
45:44It's one orange
45:45And don't anyone
45:47ask for two
45:48And he'd be so thrilled
45:49to get an orange
45:50Vegetables
45:58weren't rationed
45:59So he ate
46:00more vegetables
46:01So if you ate potatoes
46:04You didn't need
46:05as much bread
46:06They tell you that
46:08Merchant seamen
46:08had to risk their lives
46:09to go to Canada
46:11to bring the wheat
46:13to make the bread
46:14So if you ate potatoes
46:16you were helping
46:16your country
46:17All well known
46:18to the enemy
46:19And we must expect
46:21that Herr Hitler
46:22will do his utmost
46:23to prey upon our shipping
46:25His clutching fingers
46:27reach out on both sides
46:29of us
46:29into the ocean
46:30I have never
46:32underrated this danger
46:34In Winston Churchill's
46:36private office
46:37a small team of economists
46:38was responsible
46:39for keeping him informed
46:40on matters of shipping
46:41and imports
46:42Churchill would pore
46:44over their weekly bulletin
46:45He later wrote
46:46of the measureless peril
46:47expressed in its charts
46:49of figures
46:50showing potential strangulation
46:52An index I compiled
46:55of stocks of imported
46:57food and raw materials
46:59measured in tons
47:00was falling rapidly
47:03towards a really
47:04dangerous level
47:06and I think a lot of people
47:09didn't realize
47:10how worrying it was
47:11It's hardly an exaggeration
47:13to say we could have lost
47:14the war on the home front
47:16at that time
47:17In January 1941
47:21Hitler spoke to the Reich
47:23of his confidence
47:23in his grey wolves
47:25who believes in England
47:26who believes in England
47:27can help
47:28one of the people
47:31know
47:31go up the ship
47:33with or without
47:35the notification
47:35that the other
47:36torpedoes
47:37will torpedo
47:38just a handful of U-boats
47:43had helped bring Britain
47:44to the brink of defeat
47:45and now more boats were being built.
47:50Dernitz's packs would be able to range further into the Atlantic
47:53and in greater numbers.
47:56The tonnage war,
47:58the race to sink more ships than Britain could buy or build,
48:02had begun.
48:15Dernitz's packs.
Recommended
49:05
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