Category: The Battle of the Atlantic

Looks at the career of U 175 then at the battle around the convoy in which the U-boat was sunk. The author took part in the battle.

A very readable account of the winning of the Atlantic Battle.

Deals with the capture of submarines, but principally that of U 110, captured intact during attacks on convoy OB318 in May 1941. The story was suppressed throughout the war and is first revealed here.

A detailed academic account of the period April-December 1943.

A rare local history. Based on survivors' accounts, this is the story of the ferry Caribou and its sinking off Nova Scotia on 14 October 1942 by U 69. Some 136 passengers died.

A detailed and authoritative account by the air intelligence officer of the Atlantic Fleet Airship Commander. Blimps flew 37,000 operational sorties protecting seaborne trade off the American East Coast.

A personal memoir by one of the participants of the circumstances in which the ancient treaties with Portugal were invoked to allow the setting up of airbases in the Azores in 1943. Transcripts of these treaties and of various wartime memoranda are reproduced. The naval expedition to set up the bases is then briefly described.

The bitterly fought Atlantic battles of the 1942-43 winter described by an officer who served in the US Coastguard. A new edition was published by the Naval Institute Press in 1984 and there have been numerous subsequent editions.

Reviews the profound influence of the American support groups, whose "jeep" carriers were credited with over 50 U-boat kills.

Coale was an official war artist. This book is at root an account of a voyage in a destroyer escorting convoy HX156. This meant that he was an eyewitness to the sinking of the Reuben James. His return on a merchantman from Iceland is also described and the whole is accompanied by his pictures of these events.

A brutal seven day battle in 1941 between newly trained RCN escorts and 21 U-boats in which some 18 merchantmen were sunk.

This 1944 convoy consisted of small US tugs, barges, and harbour craft and it suffered badly at the hands of the weather. Reprinted by Ensign of Camden, Maine in 1993.

The story of a bloody convoy battle told by the escort commander with the benefit of records made available after the war.

Presents the definitive account of the attack on convoy HX-305 in the North Channel in autumn 1944 and unravels the mystery of the fate of U 482.

In August 1941 convoy OG71 suffered dreadfully on the Gibraltar run. Contains much personal detail from survivors of the convoy which was the basis of a central incident in Monsarrat's famous novel The Cruel Sea.

The two convoys sailed in March 1943, the month when the Germans came closest to winning the Battle of the Atlantic. The convoys are examined in depth and while these two have been picked for their own importance, they are also used as examples of the typical hazards, dangers, and successes of the Atlantic convoy system.

One of the crew of the convoy's small escort raises the question of whether this convoy of ferry boats, which may have looked like troopships, was used as a decoy to allow the passage of troop convoys for the North African landings.

The author was third officer on one of the torpedoed merchantmen and tells the largely unremarked tale of this battle by the Canadian Escort Group C1 to save the battered convoy, which had one-third of its ships sunk. Unusual in that the battle is described from the point of view of the merchantmen, which perhaps leads to the small crop of annoying errors and suppositious statements.

A good general account of what can now be seen as a turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic.

A short limited amateur account with some useful detail but nothing new to add.

A full modern account which concentrates on the human side of the action and its background.

The heroic story of a tanker in the convoy saved by the sacrifice of Jervis Bay. The San Demetrio was hit by the raider Scheer, abandoned, but later reboarded and saved by her crew.

Describes the author’s upbringing and relationship with his brother, a merchant seaman who was killed when the Kenbane Head was sunk by the Scheer in the Jervis Bay action.

The tanker’s famous voyage described by one of her able seamen.

Another account of this one-sided action. The Jervis Bay fought the pocket battleship Scheer and was sunk, but managed to save the convoy she was escorting by giving it time to scatter. Her captain was awarded the Victoria Cross.

A weak account.

A scholarly operational history of the convoy battles that led to the defeat of the U-boats in May 1943.

A dramatised account of the real events, by a leading novelist of the sea. US title: The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck.

One of the earliest, but still one of the best accounts of the events which surrounded the Bismarck's final sortie. A second edition was published in 1964.

A solid but routine retelling of the tale.

A vivid account of the hunt by the well known writer and broadcaster who was a Sub lieutenant at the time.

A short, basic, readable modern account enlivened with computer graphics and web-links

A rapidly prepared short account of the action.

Intertwines the story of the Bismarck's last cruise with the 2001 deep sea expedition which discovered both wrecks, allowing a reassessment of the causes of the sinkings. ISBN: 0752220357.

A very modern account which concentrates on strategy and the effects of the fog of war.

An excellent operational history. Republished in 2011 by Pen & Sword with Schofield's account of the attack on Taranto as Stringbags in Action. ISBN: 9781848843882.

A basic and basically accurate account. US title: The Sinking of the Bismarck.

First published in Poland in 2004, this is another attempt to retell the story claiming to have uncovered new facts. It is profusely illustrated and has a lot of technical detail.

A dramatic account of the hunt and action aimed especially at younger readers.

WARNOCK, A. Timothy. Air Power versus U-Boats: Confronting Hitler's Submarine Menace in the European Theater (The US Army Air Forces in World War II). 23p., bibliog., illus. Washington: Center for Air Force History, 1999. ISBN: 016061385X.

A useful pamphlet summary of the contribution of the USAAF.

The 6th Air Force and Antilles Air Command defended the Panama Canal and won the sub war in the Caribbean.

A lurid and overblown account of high Scottish criminals were virtually pressganged into signing up as crewmen for the ss George Washington, briefly taken up by the Ministry of War Transport as a troopship.

A very American view of the little known operation to take control of the islands in late 1943. The author participated as an engineering corporal in the Seabees at that time and has tracked down the official sources to produce a creditable work on an episode of bickering and rivalry.

Tells the tale of the surrender of the German U-boats in 1945. Many were sent to Loch Eriboll in Scotland.

An hour by hour account of the last voyage of the Nova Scotia-to-Newfoundland ferry Caribou, sunk by U 69. The heavy loss of life makes this still a controversial incident in the history of Canada's war.

An ordinary but well-illustrated account that deals with the twilight of the U-boats in the autumn Atlantic Campaign of 1943.

Looks at May 1943 and individually examines the fates of the 41 U-boats lost in that period.

A photo-essay concerned especially with the aircraft.

A sequel to his earlier work, showing how the RCN grew in strength and quality and became an effective fighting force.

The sub-title reveals all.

An American journalist gives a good basic account of the battles of spring 1943, full of personal stories.

HOCHSTUHL, William C. German U-Boat 156 Brought War to Aruba February 16, 1942. 40p., illus. Aruba: Public Relations Dept., Lago Oil & Transport Co., Ltd., 1962.

A well-documented account of the U 156 attack on the refinery and lake tankers in Aruba on 16 February 1942. It includes pictures of the crew, personal memories of the lone survivor, log book of the attack, and the lake tankers hit. Reprinted by the Aruba Scholarship Foundation in 2002, to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the attack, with a new introduction and postscript and a translation of the relevant part of the U-boat logbook.

WIBERG, Eric. U-Boats off Bermuda: Patrol Summaries and Merchant Ship Survivors Landed in Bermuda 1940-1944. 288p., bibliog., illus., index. Stroud: Fonthill, 2017. ISBN: 9781781556061.

Expands upon a little known theatre of war in great detail. Gives full accounts of German actions and patrols, merchant shipping movements and Allied military responses.

FREEMAN, Richard. Atlantic Nightmare: Winning the Longest Military Campaign of World War II. 390p., bibliog., illus., index. [n.p.], author, 2019. ISBN: 978179266729.

Originally an e-book, this edition by the author of several naval works is a chronological account of the battle, which firmly places the defeat of the U-boats in German strategic errors.

WIBERG, Eric. U-Boats in the Bahamas. 377p., bibliog., illus., index. Dering Harbor, NY: Brick Tower Press, 2016. ISBN: 9781899694624.

A very well written account of the neglected subject of naval warfare around the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands.

CAREY, Alan C. Sighted Sub Sank Same: The United States Navy’s Air Campaign Against the U-Boat. xx, 217p., bibliog., illus., index. Casemate, 2019. ISBN: 9781612007830.

An interesting narrative history of naval air operations from 1941 to 1945. In 1943 the USAAF transferred responsibility for ASW to the US Navy along with the transfer of B24 Liberators. This is the story of how the eight Liberator squadrons based round the Atlantic along with the growing numbers of escort carriers helped win the Battle of the Atlantic. Spoiled by many typographical errors.

MOFFAT, Alexander W. A Navy Maverick Comes of Age, 1939–1945. 152p., illus., index. Middletown: Wesleyan UP, 1977. ISBN: 0819550159.

The engaging anecdotal memoirs of a reserve officer who returned to the colours and served afloat and ashore in the Boston area in an active war which culminated in taking the surrender of four U-boats. An earlier version (assumed as no copy seen) was published in 1976 by the same publisher, entitled Maverick Navy (ISBN: 0819550000).

WELSH, Robert. Through Salt Sprayed Eyes. vi, 248p., illus. [n.p.,c.1995]. ISBN: 9780956298508.

The author served as a radio officer on a variety of merchant ships in the Battle of the Atlantic. He offers a mix of potted history and personal anecdote. Reprinted by the author in 2008, ISBN: 9780956298508.

LAMB, James B. On the Triangle Run. xv, 237p., bibliog., illus. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1986. ISBN: 0771597460.

  Another varied and enthralling set of memories from an accomplished storyteller. A second edition was published by Stoddart in 2000, ISBN: 0773732551.

BEAN, Charles. The Life & Love of a Seafaring Man. [4], 136p., illus. Hobart, Tasmania: [author], c.2004.

         A very anecdotal autobiography and set of poems. He served on Honeysuckle in the Atlantic and Arctic and later as a frogman in the Indian Ocean and Pacific. Full of tall tales and exciting action.

CLARKE, Bob. War and Peacey.  [224p]., illus. [n.p., author], 2018. ISBN: 9780992760113.

Aged 15, Chris Peacey joined the RN on the outbreak of war as a boy seaman. His first ship was Prince of Wales, where he served through the Bismarck hunt and on until her sinking in the Far East. He was quickly transferred to Danae and spent some time with her in the Indian Ocean before returning to the UK. He then went to the USA where he joined the newly acquired LST 163, nicknamed Rose Marie by her crew. With her he took part in allied assault landings in North Africa, Sicily, Anzio, Normandy and Malaysia. Also describes his post-war career in submarines. A fascinating and very personal tale as told to the author.

EDWARDS, Bernard. U-Boats Beyond Biscay: Dönitz Looks to New Horizons. 204p., illus., Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2017. ISBN: 973919848.

Tells the story of the U-boat war on the American Eastern seaboard, West Africa and the Mediterranean.

JORDAN, David. Wolfpack: The U-Boat War and the Allied Counter-Attack, 1939-1945. 176p., illus. Staplehurst: Spellmount, 2002. ISBN: 076073092X.

An accurate but basic run of the mill picture book account.

NAISAWALD, L. VanLoan. In Some Foreign Field: The Story of Four British Graves on the Outer Banks. xiii, 82p., illus. Winston-Salem, N.C.: Blair, 1972. ISBN: 0910244650.

The British anti-submarine trawler Bedfordshire was sunk with all hands off the North Carolina coast by U-558, while on loan to the USN. A few bodies came ashore and the history and tragedy of the trawler and her crew and the cemetery in which they lie is described. Reprinted by the University of North Carolina Press in 1997, ISBN: 0865262721.     

STICK, David. Graveyard of the Atlantic: Shipwrecks of the North Carolina Coast. ix, 276p., bibliog., illus., index. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, [1952].

Published too close to the end of the war to have more than a dozen pages of the sparsest information. Published too close to the end of the war to have more than a dozen pages of the sparsest information.  Reprinted in 1989, ISBN: 0807842613.  

BAILEY, Chris Howard. The Royal Naval Museum Book of the Battle of the Atlantic. The Corvettes and Their Crews: An Oral History. xxvii, 156p., bibliog., illus., index. Portsmouth: Royal Naval Museum; Annapolis: NIP, 1994. ISBN: 0905778189.

The imaginative use of oral history is deployed to create a picture of what like was like on the Atlantic corvettes. Some sets of reminiscences are skilfully woven together.

PARKIN, Simon. A Game of Birds and Wolves: The Secret Game that Won the War. 320p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Hodder, 2019. ISBN: 9781529353037.

Describes the development of tactical gaming of how to deal with U-boat attacks as led by Captain Gilbert Roberts working with a team of Wrens.

POOLMAN, Kenneth. Escort Carrier 1941-1945: An Account of British Escort Carriers in Trade Protection. 160p., illus., index. London: Ian Allan, 1972. ISBN: 711002738.

An operational history of the so-called Woolworth carriers in the Atlantic and Arctic.

MOELLER, Kevin M. The Italian Submarine Force in the Battle of the Atlantic: Left in the Dark. 89p., bibliog. [Scotts Valley, CA; Createspace, 2015]. ISBN: 9781519669346.

Published anonymously for the United States Army Command and General Staff College, this is a Master’s thesis written by Moeller. It gives a good dry account of the over sixty Atlantic patrols carried out by Italian submarines which sank almost half a million tons of shipping in the mid and south Atlantic.

WARNER, Guy. Atlantic Linchpin: The Azores in Two World Wars. 160p., bibliog., illus., index. Annapolis: USNIP: Barnsley: Seaforth, 2021. ISBN: 9781399010900.

The role of the Azores in the Battle of the Atlantic has been largely neglected and this well written work attempts to fill the gap.

LAW, Derek. The Indian Navy in the Battle of the Atlantic in World War 2. 26p., illus. [Glasgow]; Colourful Heritage, 2021. https://www.colourfulheritage.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Lascars-and-Merchant-Navy-article-by-Derek-Law.pdf

An e-pamphlet recording the role of the six RIN sloops built in the UK which served in the Atlantic. Also tells the equally little-known story of the Indian crewmen and boys who died in the sinking of the ss City of Benares in 1940.  

EDWARDS, Bernard. The Cruel Sea Retold: The Truth Behind Monsarrat’s Epic Convoy Drama. 214p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2009. ISBN: 1844158632.

A factual account of the convoy(s) that Monsarrat used for his novel in three parts, each describing one convoy. Part One. Convoy OG 71, with 22 merchantmen and eight escorts sailed from Liverpool for Gibraltar on 14 August 1941. Ten ships were lost without a single U-boat being sunk and the convoy had to seek refuge in Lisbon. Part Two. Convoy HG 73 sailed from Gibraltar for Liverpool on 17 September 1941 with 25 merchantmen and 13 escorts. Of these 10 were sunk and only one U-Boat was damaged. Part Three sees the tables turned during the December 1941 HG 76 convoy from Gibraltar. It comprised 31 merchantmen with an escort of 15 warships, commanded by Captain Walker. During a six day running battle five U-boats were sunk for the loss of seven British ships. Also includes an appendix of the personal recollections of one of the officers on HG 73.

HARLING, Robert. The Steep Atlantick Stream. 231p., illus. London: Chatto & Windus, 1946.

An excellent memoir of service in a corvette in the Battle of the Atlantic. Reprinted by Pen & Sword in 2022 with a new and hugely perceptive introduction by Derek Law, ISBN: 9781399072885.             

NELSON, K. A. Killing Shore: The True Story of Hitler’s U-boats Off the New Jersey Coast. 395p., bibliog., illus., index. Havertown, Pa: Casemate, 2024. ISBN: 9781955041294.

A good account which provides much detail on World War II Atlantic submarine warfare, including the failings of US Admiral King down to information on the clothes worn by the sailors on both sides. Neither background nor detail is lacking.

GRETTON, Peter. The Battle of the Atlantic: The War Against Allied Shipping 1939-1945. 505p., bibliog. Ilkley: Sapere Books 2024. ISBN: 9798326369406.

In the 1980’s when Admiral Gretton was in his seventies and in declining health he drafted a history of the Battle of the Atlantic. This draft manuscript is now lightly edited and published by his son. The text covers key aspects of the battle and clearly shows the thinking of a key participant who turned to writing excellent history in his later life. Very readable, slightly quirky but authoritative this is a very important study.

ROBINSON, George W. A Slice of Life at Sea. [6],111p., illus. Broughty Ferry: Moira Brown, 2017. ISBN: 9781521471654.

He joined the Merchant Navy in 1924 and this autobiography covers his early years at sea up to 1931. There is then a final section on his survival in the North Atlantic when the s.s. Carlton was sunk in the North Atlantic by an Italian submarine in the North Atlantic in 1941.

2435.     BEAVER, Paul. Winkle: The Extraordinary Life of Britain’s Greatest Pilot. xxviii, 516p., bibliog., illus. index. London: Michael Joseph, 2023. ISBN: 9780718186708.
        The author was a long-standing friend of Eric "Winkle" Brown and has based this "warts and allbiography on his personal archive as well as public records. There is full coverage of his active wartime service in the Battle of the Atlantic and his later career as a test pilot. He made more deck landings on carriers than any pilot before or since. Also covers his difficult personality.

BRUNING, John. Battle for the North Atlantic: The Strategic Naval Campaign that Won World War II in Europe.300p., bibliog., illus., index. Minneapolis, MN: Zenith, 2013. ISBN: 0760339910.

An illustrated introduction to the long running campaign.

RÖHWER, Jürgen. The Critical Convoy Battles of March 1943: The Battle for HX229/SC122. 256p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Ian Allan; Annapolis: NIP, 1977. ISBN: 0711007497.

A very technical account, fact and appendix filled, of this crucial period in the battle of the Atlantic. An excellent complement to the approach of Middlebrook on the same topic.

BRUNING, John. Battle for the North Atlantic: The Strategic Naval Campaign that Won World War II in Europe. 300p., bibliog., illus., index. Minneapolis, MN: Zenith, 2013. ISBN: 0760339910.

An illustrated introduction to the long running campaign.

CARRUTHERS, Bob. The U-Boat War in the Atlantic. 3 vols., illus. Stratford: Archive Media Publishing, 2012. ISBN: 178158060X (Vol. 1); 1781580618 (Vol. 2); 1781580596 (Vol. 3).

Told from the German perspective and based on German archives and primary sources.

BUCHHEIM, Lothar Günther. U–Boat War. [320]p., illus. London: Collins; New York: Knopf, 1978. ISBN: 0002118688.

A fascinating personal photo-essay which portrays the war in the Atlantic and life at sea as seen by a German war artist, who took an enormous number of photographs while serving aboard U 96.

ESSEX, James W. Victory in the St. Lawrence: Canada’s Unknown War. 160p., bibliog., illus. Erin, Ont.: Boston Mills, 1984. ISBN: 0919783341.

Some 28 ships were torpedoed in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and this describes how local naval defence activity was organised.      

LUND, Paul, & LUDLAM, Harry. Atlantic Jeopardy: PQ17 Convoy to Hell; Trawlers Go to War; Night of the U-Boats. 720p., illus., index. London:  Foulsham, 1990. ISBN: 0572015771.

An omnibus edition of three volumes previously published separately.

LEE, William B. V. A Heavy Harvest: German Submarine Operations in the Gulf of Mexico in World War II. Ridgeland, Miss.: Alveley, 1994.

U-boats mounted a successful assault in the gulf.

WINKLARETH, Robert J. The Bismarck Chase: New Light on a Famous Engagement. 188p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Chatham; Annapolis: NIP, 1998. ISBN: 1861760760.

A detailed account “correcting several discrepancies in earlier accounts” and concluding firmly that one of Hood’s after magazines was hit. Covers the whole background to the action.

JONES, Geoffrey P. Defeat of the Wolfpacks. 223p., illus., index. London:  Kimber, 1986; Novato: Presidio, 1987. ISBN: 0718305892.

Catalogues the loss of 35 U-boats in the winter of 1943–44, in the style of his earlier work.

LUND, Paul, & LUDLAM, Harry.  Night of the U-Boats. 204p., illus., index. London: Foulsham, 1973. ISBN: 0572008287.

Convoy SC7 was badly mauled by the first use of wolfpack tactics in October 1940.  Reprinted in 2010 as I Was There to Face the Night of the U-Boats. (ISBN: 9780572035761).                  

O’BRIEN, David. HX72 First Convoy to Die: The Wolfpack Attack that Woke up the Admiralty. 168p., bibliog., illus., index. Halifax, N.S.: Nimbus, 1999. ISBN: 1551092735.

In 1940 the Frederick S. Fales, a new motor tanker, left Halifax for Europe, as part of convoy HX72. This is the story of the Fales and her crew in a convoy which lost a quarter of its 40 ships.

SEABRIDGE, Allan, MORGAN, Shirley & CHADWICK, David. High Seas to Home: Daily Despatches from a Frigate at War. 190p., bibliog., illus., index. Derby: Derby Books Publishing Company, 2012. ISBN: 9781780910413.

Cliff Greenwood was a 40-year old journalist called up in 1943. After training as a Coder he served on Byron in Home Waters, the Arctic and the Atlantic until war’s end. He wrote home every day and his letters are printed here enriched with the reminiscences of crewmates and background detail from the authors.

Claims to to reveal the full extent of the capabilities of both British and German Radar and the significance of British ULTRA signal intercepts in the hunt.

SCOTT, Harry. The Radio Officer’s War: Ships, Storms and Submarines. 193p., bibliog., illus. London: Createspace, 2013.  ISBN: 1493697218.

A biography of Ian Waddell. He joined the Merchant Navy as a Radio Officer in 1940 and made fourteen Atlantic crossings before dying when the tanker Narragansett was torpedoed and sunk in March 1942. Based on his diaries and letters which are quoted at length.

ALLEN, Kenneth. Battle of the Atlantic. 96p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Wayland, 1973. ISBN: 0853402205.

A very basic beginners' account.

The Wolf Packs (The Third Reich). 192p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Time-Life, 1989

A well illustrated basic history of the U-boat arm. Reprinted in 2004, ISBN: 184447075X.

BLAIR, Clay. Hitler's U-Boat War. 2 vols., bibliog., illus., index. London: Routledge; New York: Random House 1996-99. ISBN: 0394588398 (V.1); ISBN: 0679457429 (V.2).

An excellent, well-researched and comprehensive account, although its central thesis that the U-boat was a much exaggerated threat is at best controversial. Covers all theatres but is, of course, dominated by the Battle of the Atlantic.

DIMBLEBY, Jonathan. The Battle of the Atlantic: How the Allies Won the War. xxx, 530p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Viking, 2015. ISBN: 0241186609.

A wide-ranging and magisterial overview. Harsh and controversial judgments are backed up with wide reading, diligent scholarship and cogent argument.

EDNEY, W. P. Scuppers to Skipper: Life in the Royal Navy 1934-1958. c.105p., illus. [author: Kindle e-book, 2015]. ISBN: 9781508548669.

He joined the RN as a boy sailor aged fifteen in 1934 and retired as a Lieutenant Commander commanding a minesweeper based at Malta in 1958. This interesting but bland autobiography charts his steady rise through the ranks. About half concerns his wartime service, notably on the destroyer Vanoc in the Battle of the Atlantic. He later served with shore parties setting up communications in newly liberated ports.

HOYT, Edwin P. The U-Boat Wars. x, 242p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Hale; New York: Arbor House, 1985. ISBN: 0709023693.

A journalist’s reassessment of the battle of the Atlantic. US edition ISBN is 0877955891.

EDWARDS, Bernard. The Decoys: A Tale of Three Atlantic Convoys, 1942. xiii, 184p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2016. ISBN: 1473887089.

In November 1942, some 600 ships sailed from US and British ports carrying the men and equipment for Operation TORCH in heavily escorted convoys. At the same time three routine convoys sailed with inadequate defence on the normal routes: RB1 and SC107 eastbound from America and SL125 northbound from Freetown. Edwards describes these three in detail and explores whether they may have been used as sacrificial decoys to protect the invasion convoys.

BROWN, Ken. U-boat Assault on America: Why the US was Unprepared for War in the Atlantic. xv, 208p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth, 2017. ISBN: 9781473887282.

A wide ranging study which covers everything from recruitment and training to links with the mafia and the poor defences of New York as the US responded to the U-boat threat.

DOHERTY, Richard. Churchill's Greatest Fear: The Battle of the Atlantic 3 September 1939 to 7 May 1945. xxii, 314p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2015. ISBN: 9781473834002.

A leading Irish historian takes a fresh look at this well-worn ground.

HOLLAND, James. The Battle of the Atlantic (Ladybird Expert History of the Second World War, Book 3. Series 117). 52p., bibliog., illus. London: Michael Joseph, 2018 ISBN: 9780718186319.

A nostalgic basic primer aimed at adults. The book uses the classic Ladybird design format and deliberately old-fashioned artwork with a very basic sketch of the long-running battle.

A biography of one of the great fighting commanders of the battle of the Atlantic. Reprinted by White Lion in 1976. US title: Escort Commander.

Still one of the best general histories of this long battle. Reprinted by Severn House in 1975; reissued by Pan in 1983.

Macintyre was a leading figure in the battle of the Atlantic. After brief service on Venomous in the Channel, he commissioned Hesperus and fought in Norway, before moving to the Atlantic. He then took over the 5EG in Walker in March 1941. After a short spell ashore in Argentia, he rejoined Hesperus in mid-1942, now leading escort group B2. In March 1944 he moved to Bickerton and a newly formed 5EG. She was eventually sunk in the Arctic in 1944 in a fleet operation against Tirpitz. This proved the end of his sea-going career.

Many merchant ship survivors landed on Irish shores.

A profusely illustrated work full of well-worn generalities.

A concise but comprehensive retelling of the battle presenting a distinctive revisionist viewpoint by a major historian.

An unusual account written by an airman and very profusely illustrated.

A concise American account of the sea war, being a revised section of the authors' earlier work Sea Power.

A popular history first published in France and based on the recollections of former U-boat crewmen.

The Laconia was torpedoed in the South Atlantic while carrying German and Italian POW's to the United States. U-boats attempted to mount a rescue operation, but ceased when attacked by Allied aircraft. US title: The Laconia Affair.

Some excellent photo sequences, but often uncritical in its use of original sources.

A well-researched mixture of local history and personal reminiscences, mainly on WWII.

He served in the trawler Loch Tulla in an A/S role at Scapa at the start of the war and in late 1940 took command of the new corvette Verbena. She served in the Atlantic then moved to Freetown early in 1942. After a spell with the Eastern Fleet he took command of Shikari in the North Atlantic. Nine months later he took over Warwick, in which he was sunk. He at once moved to Highlander, but soon took over 30EG in Pevensey Castle where he stayed until taking a shore appointment in 1945. A good story.

An anecdotal look at this area of the war. Two later impressions were published under the author's name of G. Morgan.

Papers from a 1992 conference with many of the best known historians of the period exploring then current thinking. Has an American perspective.

An anecdotal account which includes a chapter on the Second World War and in particular the Battle of the Atlantic.

One of an officially sponsored series, which provides a popular history of Canadian involvement in the war. Well illustrated from contemporary photographs and recollections.

An attempt to see the battle through the eyes of the German High Command.

Tells the story of this battle as viewed through the conning towers of the U-boats. Uses surviving logs, written as the action unfolded.

A very well written American view of the battle, with the later chapters based in part on his father's letters home from the DE Neunzer.

With over 200 illustrations, this is aimed at the average Canadian reader. It is, in fact, a fairly general account of the war at sea, stressing Canada’s contribution.

The U-boat situation and trend reports were prepared weekly and sometimes daily by Rear Admiral J. W. Clayton and Commander Rodger Winn and show the exact and changing state of British knowledge of German intentions.

A selection of papers written by British and American naval intelligence officers demonstrating how communications intelligence was used.

A monumental and excellent work by a leading military historian. Published by Putnam Adult in the US as The U-Boat Wars 1916-1945.(ISBN: 9780399132919).

An attempt to tell the story of the Battle of the Atlantic through the memories of holders of the campaign medal, with a substantial linking narrative by the author.

An authoritative study of the crucial struggle to control the supply routes across the Atlantic during the Second World War. The first comprehensive reappraisal to be written in English for over a decade, it examines not only the action on and under the sea from the Arctic to the Cape, but also the politicking ashore.

A workmanlike history prepared from the original records.

The classic staff history account of the Battle of the Atlantic, completed in the 1950s and providing a stout defence of the convoy system, with an excellent new introductory essay by Eric Grove.

A photographic record with excellent explanatory captions.

The defence of Northern Ireland and how her men served at home and abroad. Northern Ireland's vital role in the Battle of the Atlantic is examined.

A history of the battle from a technical perspective.

The tale of a round trip in convoy to the US and back, which aims to prove the need to value, not neglect, the Merchant Navy.

An autobiography, mainly on the pre-war navy. Near the book's end he tells of setting up the Battle of the Atlantic HQ in Liverpool.

The greater part of this biography concerns Horton's career in WWII. He began the war in command of the Reserve Fleet, but immediately moved to take command of the Northern Patrol. He then returned to his first love as Vice-Admiral Submarines. In November 1942 he moved to command the Western Approaches and to win the Battle of the Atlantic decisively. An important and readable account.

A profusely and well-illustrated account which includes much peripheral information. In its text it synthesises the most recent research and benefits particularly from the revelations about secret ULTRA intelligence. The authors’ names are reversed in the US edition.

A mixture of reminiscence and history drawn from official papers which offers an anti-heroic view of the Atlantic Battle as seen by a new Sub lieutenant.

A short summary pamphlet, well-illustrated but drawing heavily on other sources. Published to mark the fiftieth anniversary celebrations.

An anecdotal and up to date popular and largely anecdotal history.

The war memoir of a Canadian captain who spent most of his war in the North Atlantic. He commanded the Canadian corvettes Baddeck and Sackville and then the new frigate Matane. His final command was the destroyer Saskatchewan. After taking part in operations connected with D-Day he took her back to Canada in August 1944.

A useful pamphlet summary of the contribution of the USAAF.

A fairly general account giving the official British view.

A German history and analysis of U-boat operations by Dönitz’s son-in-law Gunter Hessler, Staff Officer (Operations) to Flag Officer U-boats and himself a former operational commander. Written just after the war, it was originally classified. A detailed and important work now published with some corrections and annotations.

The war memoirs of a successful fighting officer who rose to command Escort Group B7, while serving on Vega, Cossack, Sabre, and Wolverine.

The official British view of Canadian and American production and supply of war material.

This official souvenir of the major commemorative events at Liverpool in 1993 contains a dozen and a half essays by historians on the course and importance of various aspects of the battle.

An RNZNVR officer who served in the Freetown Escort Force, first in Lavender, then in command of Crocus. He had a notable battle with Cremer's U 333.

Papers from the conference held in Liverpool in 1993. A memorable event with papers of the highest quality from a galaxy of renowned naval historians, edited with elegance and grace.

A fresh look at the long struggle. He questions the theory that it was an evenly balanced battle, citing the huge resources of the United States at sea and in their shipyards, together with advances in technology and the breaking of German codes by Enigma.

This is the second of six volumes covering the whole war and gives a full but partisan semi-official account of American involvement in the Atlantic, Arctic, and Mediterranean from the Neutrality Patrol to the Crossing of the Rhine.

Using the techniques from his much praised military work The Face of Battle, Keegan considers Trafalgar, Jutland, Midway, and the Battle of the Atlantic, especially convoys SC122 and HX229. Very readable, but shows the pitfalls facing an author working in an unfamiliar field.

An excellent history of the battle of the sea lanes taking full advantage of recent research and revelations.

"An uncompromising account of the broken promises, slippery evasions, and illegal decisions which impelled America inexorably into World War II".

A good account based on operational records and the contemporary press, which not only records the attacks and responses, but also sets them in a political context.

The first "Happy Time" when U-boats savaged shipping.

The tale of a short-lived German weather station on the Greenland coast and of the authorities' moves to suppress it. Published serially in the Saturday Evening Post as "Secrets of the Unknown War."

Covers the period January-July 1942 and the autumn of 1943 when the U-boats prowled freely off the American East Coast. "Shows the American High Command at its worst.".

The Coast Guard served in the Pacific and the Atlantic and it is their connection with the RN in the latter that is of interest.

Originally published in 1988 in 1000 copies by Paria Publishing in Trinidad, this facsimile reprint by the Naval Institute Press, with a new foreword, deservedly brings an excellent book on a neglected battlefield to a wider audience.

A background book. The destroyers-for-bases deal was only a part of the massive American aid to the Allies. This book charts the internal American political struggle to pass the bill which was an inexorable step toward war.

A very detailed political and strategic overview of the American position.

The small but bitter war fought out in the Arctic Circle, where tiny groups of men existed in atrocious conditions while trying to predict the weather which would affect the movement of larger forces and to prevent the enemy from doing the same. A revised edition was published by Severn House in 1976. (ISBN: 0727801317).

An excellent history, much concerned with the latter part of 1942, when the RCN was in crisis.

Describes daring attacks by U 513 and U 518 on the iron ore terminal anchorage on 5 September and 2 November, 1942.

Tells the story of the defence of the Fifth Naval District and refutes claims that Chesapeake Bay was penetrated. Concentrates on the battles of 1942.

A popular account of the battles in Canadian waters which took over 300 Canadian lives.

The administrator of the programme describes the creation and course of the "arsenal of democracy."

A history of the development of convoy and patrol operations against U-boats on the East Coast of the United States.

In December 1942, the requisitioned yacht Zaida was lost for 21 days in a storm and there was an enormous hunt for her up and down the Atlantic seaboard.

A good account of how the war stretched into the Gulf of Mexico, where the U-boats wreaked terrible havoc.

Views the battle from the perspective of the merchant navy. An excellent account.

xii, 323p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Davies, 1941. A pot-pourri of fact, personal experience, and lurid rewriting of official accounts describing the nature, importance, and course of the Battle of the Atlantic.

Polish Troops were an important component of the Allied Forces. Little naval coverage.

A strong well written account.

A fresh account of an old topic using newly declassified files.

An imaginative German account of the ship's last cruise.

A paperback giving a British view of the Bismarck's last voyage.

An account of the diplomacy involved in the Free French liberation of St. Pierre and Miquelon from Vichy. This unauthorised operation seriously strained the relationships of the Allies. The role played by Free French ships is described. Reprinted as Free French Invasion.

Watt was based at Halifax and was instrumental in developing the Naval Boarding Service which was part of the group organising and preparing convoys. A personal memoir.

Walker’s group sank 23 U-boats and he won a DSO with three bars. Before his premature death in 1944 he did more than anyone to win the Battle of the Atlantic by feats of arms. The author was second in command of Walker's 2nd Support Group. Later published as Relentless Pursuit in 1955 and that republished in 2003 by Wren's Park.

A good modern history covering the sweep of technology , strategy and operations. Critical of Dönitz

An American journalist gives a lively account of the battle and includes some new material from interviews with survivors.

Published to accompany a television series marking the sixtieth anniversary of the battle. Heavily anecdotal.

A book aimed at teenagers, which has a limited amount of original personal material.

A fairly basic primer to the technology and the convoy battles.

Half a dozen brief expert papers are followed by a record of discussion groups. Concentrates on the role of maritime air in ASW.

A basic introduction.

A photographic record and recruiting pamphlet.

A full and rigorous scholarly analysis of this little discussed part of the war. The well-known Kearny and Reuben James incidents were only the tip of a large-scale American involvement well before Pearl Harbor.

A review both of how Irish neutrality was preserved and of the damaging air raids on Belfast.

A project coordinated by Liverpool Public Libraries, it consists of generally brief accounts of particular anecdotes. Very poorly edited.

A political and diplomatic history of the American Atlantic War prior to Pearl Harbor. It suggests there was an element of personal enmity between the two leaders.

An interesting and thorough look at a neglected area, concentrating on the period to 1942 when the Americans arrived.

Local history which criticises the failure to institute a convoy system and considers the losses off North Carolina early in 1942.

A lovingly assembled collection of facts and pictures on the battles and losses at the mouth of the Chesapeake.

A tribute to a 50-year-old American who forced his way into the RN, but died in the North Atlantic. He was the first American to be killed on active service with the RN in WWII.

Tells the story of how the capture of City of Baghdad's codebooks by the raider Atlantis led to the destruction of four convoys in the autumn of 1940.

The Tenth Fleet was the US Navy anti submarine warfare think-tank and this book records its part in the Battle of the Atlantic.

The dramatised story of Newmarket, a Town Class destroyer thinly disguised as "HMS Porchester." This allows the author to give his (rose-coloured) view of the war in the Atlantic without any great need for accuracy or censorship. Based on personal experience.

A war correspondent's account of a 2,000-mile trip in a pre-war destroyer acting as an Atlantic convoy escort in the spring of 1941.

The author follows the career of U 123 in the assault on the American East Coast in order to analyse how the U-boat war was conducted.

Examines the diplomatic background to the Lend-Lease agreement, which brought 50 badly needed American destroyers to join the Royal and Royal Canadian Navies as the Town class. A 25-page chapter is devoted to their wartime career.