In Great Waters: The Epic Story of the Battle of the Atlantic, 1939-45
- ISBN-10
- 0771029292
- ISBN-13
- 9780771029295
- Category
- History / Wars & Conflicts / World War II / General
- Pages
- 342
- Language
- English
- Published
- 1999
- Publisher
- McClelland & Stewart
- Author
- Spencer Dunmore
Description
It was probably the most important battle of the Second World War. The German attempt to stem the vital trans-Atlantic flow of men and supplies to Britain would cost the Allies more than 2,600 merchant ships, 30,000 merchant seamen’s lives, 5,000 aircrew, and about 2,500 aircraft. The battle ranged across the ocean: from the waters of the St. Lawrence, through the treacherous open sea of the North Atlantic, to the fjords of Norway and the Bat of Biscay. Spencer Dunmore traces the complete history of the Battle of the Atlantic, giving equal time to all aspects of the conflict: in the air, on the water, and below its surface. He follows the action from the earliest days, when surface raiders – such as the infamous Bismarck – were seen by the Allies as the greatest danger at sea, through the heyday of Germany’s U-boats and the catastrophic damage the dreaded Wolfpacks wrought on the heavily laden convoys steaming their way to Britain. His is also one of the few books to acknowledge the pivotal role of the air-force in determining the final outcome fo the battle. Dunmore tells the story from the perspective of both sides, and includes the first-hand accounts of individual participants, both Allied and German. For all involved – whether on board merchant ships or their escort vessels, whether in submarines prowling below or aircraft patrolling above – life was a combination of awful anticipation of attack and nerve-shattering tension when it came. Behind the scenes were the politicians and strategists, fully mindful of the stakes of this epic battle; the ingenious scientists and their race to improve radar technology, torpedoes, and depth charge; the brilliant code breakers of England’s Bletchley Park; and, most remarkable of all, Admiral von Donitz, the extraordinary mastermind of Germany’s U-boat campaign and eventual successor to Adolf Hitler himself.
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
1939: Countdown to War
By Richard Overy, R. J. OveryIn this dramatic account of the last days of peace in 1939, Richard Overy re-creates hour by hour the unfolding story in the capitals of Europe as politicians and the public braced themselves for a war that they feared might spell the end ...
-
The Basis and Making of British Grand Strategy, 1940-1943: Was There a Plan?
By Brian Padair FarrellCAB70 / 5 , DC ( S ) ( 42 ) 89 , 5/10 , DC ( S ) ( 42 ) 6 , MAP Report , 26/1 , DC ( S ) ( 42 ) 98 , MAP Report , 16/11/42 ; CAB65 / 28 , War Cabinet minutes ... LHCMA , Brooke Papers , 3 / A / V , 18/5/42 retrospective ; Butler , vol.
-
Concise Historical Atlas of World War Two: The Geography of Conflict
By Ronald StoryThe collection will cover both conventional and non-conventional areas.
-
Hell's Highway: U.S. 101st Airborne -1944
By Tim SaundersCaptain Phillips was leading us. The platoons were well deployed. We pushed our way through whatever Germans were in front of us to a drawbridge at the canal and anchored ourselves in position.' Radio operator Private Haller, ...
-
World War II on the Air: Edward R. Murrow and the Broadcasts that Riveted a Nation
By Alex Lubertozzi, Mark BernsteinThe journalists and the reports that brought World War II to life share accounts of the London Blitz, Eric Sevareid's parachuting over Burma from a crippled aircraft, Howard K. Smith's narrow escape from Nazi Germany on December 6, 1941, ...
-
Film Propaganda in Britain and Nazi Germany: World War II Cinema
By Jo FoxAlso reproduced in K. Jackson ( ed . ) , The Humphrey Jennings Film Reader ( Carcanet , Manchester , 1993 ) , p . 7 . 137. Ibid . , 20 October 1940. K. Jackson ( ed . ) , The Humphrey Jennings Film Reader , p . 8 . 138.
-
Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945
By David M. KennedyWho touches these books touches a profession.
-
The Curtain: Witness and Memory in Wartime Holland
By Henry G. SchogtSeven stories reveal how two families - one Jewish, one non-Jewish - fared in the Netherlands during the German occupation of World War II. Each story highlights a specific aspect of life; and emphasizes the difference between the options ...
-
1941: The America That Went to War
By William M. ChristieBurman, Red, 172 Burma-Shave, 191 Burns, Bob, 202,301 Burns, George, 203 Bush, Douglas, 70 Butts, Wally, 167 Byrd, Harry F., 12ff., 17 Caldwell, Harmon, 67 Calloway, Cab, 44 Campanella, Roy, 165 Cantor, Eddie, 52 Carle, Frankie, ...
-
绞杀世界：二战各国未实施的绝密军事计划
By 迈克尔·克里根“毫无疑问的是,”海军中将路易斯·蒙巴顿勋爵注意到,“敌人已经完全认识到了海峡群岛的价值,认识到一旦我们的军队重新占领它们所带来的潜在威胁。”由蒙巴顿起草的“星座行动”是针对海峡群岛各岛屿而进行的一系列独立行动的统称。“天鹰行动”“六角琴行动” ...