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Convoy: the battle for Convoys SC.122 and HX.229
The story of the naval and merchant marine convoys which supplied the Allies during the Second World War, creating a major turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1976
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155 people want to read
About the author
Martin Middlebrook
42 books62 followersMartin Middlebrook was a British military historian and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Appointed Knight of the Order of the Belgian Crown in 2004.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 2, 2010
Martin Middlebrook's Convoy is a classic in the Battle of Atlantic. He combines a statistical, chronological history with excellent mixture of oral histories of the participants of the event. The two convoys he chronicles are SC-122 and HX-229. These two convoys were the last major successes of the war for the U-Boats. He dissects the battle and shows how the major events combined to make the battle a success for the Germans and gave the Allies a lesson on how to conduct convoys in a more successful manner. This book fit in nicely with a few books,
by John Waters,
by Mike Walling and
by Marc Milner. I look forward to reading more of Mr. Middlebrook's books if they are half as good as Convoy then they will be classics as well.
by John Waters,
by Mike Walling and
by Marc Milner. I look forward to reading more of Mr. Middlebrook's books if they are half as good as Convoy then they will be classics as well.
November 18, 2015
In his memoirs, Winston Churchill admitted that nothing worried him quite so much as the U-boat menace. Britain could stand alone against a continental menace, but not without supplies from friends and her Empire abroad. Submarine attacks on merchant shipping broke out almost as soon as war was declared, and reached their peak in 1943 as a massive wolf packs gathered and waited for convoys to appear After an introduction which gives an intimate introduction to civilian sailors, Allied navy men, and German submariners, Martin Middlebrook takes readers across the storm-tossed North Atlantic, following two convoys in a running battle with the greatest concentration of U-boats in the war. Dozens of merchant ships sank into the deep, at little cost to the assailants, and Middlebrook uses the week-long drama as a case study to examine the U-boat threat and Allied responses to it. Though in part a military history, here civilian men and women are heroes as well, fighting against their own fear and struggling together in the aftermath of attacks to survive.
By 1943, U-boats were no longer patrolling vast areas of the ocean and pursuing alone any merchantman they came across. They were strategic weapons, directed and controlled from Europe itself, and fed by intelligence reports that let them know when to expect victims and where. In response to the Allied strategy of forming convoys -- scores of merchant ships flanked by a handful of escorts -- U-boats gathered en masse as well, forming picket lines where they expected a convoy to pass and then converging on it once contact had been made. As its name implies, Convoy is foremost a naval drama, but aviation is an indispensable aspect of the story. Aircraft were the mortal enemies of submarines, providing effective screens around the coast and depth-charging vessels caught cruising on the surface. Even B-17s could only range out so far, however, leaving an "air gap" over the mid-Atlantic,a large window of opportunity for U-boats to wreak havoc unmolested. It is in that window of space, the submarine hunting ground, that Convoy sets forth in.
For several days and nights, vast and lumbering ships carrying locomotives, invasion barges, cotton, wheat, and other sundry supplies to Britain lay at the mercy of dozens of U-boats, defended by a mere handful of escorts. These escorts were not brand new destroyers run by top-rated seaman, either, but sometimes converted civilian ships equipped with depth charges, captained by retired gentlemen who in peacetime commanded only their personal yachts. One craft in the battle was so old that the English declined to borrow it through the Lend-Lease program! The middle section of Convoy follows the constant harrying of the fleet by a formidable gathering of U-boats, and is solid historical journalism; Middlebrook constructs the story based on numerous ships' logs and survivor accounts. The appeal is not strictly military, however; as so many of the players are civilians in extraordinary circumstances. Logs from both Allied and German sources are used, and the details and photographs communicate the combatants' commonality as well. Though divided by war, they are no less united in their human frailty, in their vulnerability on the open oceans and their isolation and loneliness from serving from months on end in ports and waters far from home. The book is most helpful to a student of the period, however, ending with an analysis of the battle. Despite the losses inflicted on the Allies, matters could have been worse; while the U-boat formation was engaged in confronting these two convoys, so thick was the Atlantic with traffic that other convoys were able to hustle through other now un-guarded sea lanes. Within two months' time, various pieces of Allied anti-submarine warfare would click together; the air gap would be closed with longer-ranging aircraft, and the daunting strength of the U-boat fleet broken. At the moment recorded here, however, and for the three years preceding it, their hands were at Britain's very throat, and Middlebrook delivers a sense of peril quite well.
By 1943, U-boats were no longer patrolling vast areas of the ocean and pursuing alone any merchantman they came across. They were strategic weapons, directed and controlled from Europe itself, and fed by intelligence reports that let them know when to expect victims and where. In response to the Allied strategy of forming convoys -- scores of merchant ships flanked by a handful of escorts -- U-boats gathered en masse as well, forming picket lines where they expected a convoy to pass and then converging on it once contact had been made. As its name implies, Convoy is foremost a naval drama, but aviation is an indispensable aspect of the story. Aircraft were the mortal enemies of submarines, providing effective screens around the coast and depth-charging vessels caught cruising on the surface. Even B-17s could only range out so far, however, leaving an "air gap" over the mid-Atlantic,a large window of opportunity for U-boats to wreak havoc unmolested. It is in that window of space, the submarine hunting ground, that Convoy sets forth in.
For several days and nights, vast and lumbering ships carrying locomotives, invasion barges, cotton, wheat, and other sundry supplies to Britain lay at the mercy of dozens of U-boats, defended by a mere handful of escorts. These escorts were not brand new destroyers run by top-rated seaman, either, but sometimes converted civilian ships equipped with depth charges, captained by retired gentlemen who in peacetime commanded only their personal yachts. One craft in the battle was so old that the English declined to borrow it through the Lend-Lease program! The middle section of Convoy follows the constant harrying of the fleet by a formidable gathering of U-boats, and is solid historical journalism; Middlebrook constructs the story based on numerous ships' logs and survivor accounts. The appeal is not strictly military, however; as so many of the players are civilians in extraordinary circumstances. Logs from both Allied and German sources are used, and the details and photographs communicate the combatants' commonality as well. Though divided by war, they are no less united in their human frailty, in their vulnerability on the open oceans and their isolation and loneliness from serving from months on end in ports and waters far from home. The book is most helpful to a student of the period, however, ending with an analysis of the battle. Despite the losses inflicted on the Allies, matters could have been worse; while the U-boat formation was engaged in confronting these two convoys, so thick was the Atlantic with traffic that other convoys were able to hustle through other now un-guarded sea lanes. Within two months' time, various pieces of Allied anti-submarine warfare would click together; the air gap would be closed with longer-ranging aircraft, and the daunting strength of the U-boat fleet broken. At the moment recorded here, however, and for the three years preceding it, their hands were at Britain's very throat, and Middlebrook delivers a sense of peril quite well.
May 28, 2017
Would give "Convoy" 4.5 stars. Lots to like in the book, especially if one wants to get some very colorful and detailed information about a key episode in the "Battle of the Atlantic." Some Goodreads reviewers called it "dry," but I'd say a better description is very thorough and disciplined -- no attempt to sensationalize the already pretty darn interesting!
The author spends the first three chapters setting the scene -- explaining the convoy system; the control apparatus on both the Allied and the German side; the people and types of people involved; and the developments that led to where we are in March 1943. From that point it's mostly a chronological blow-by-blow of three convoys (especially two) against three-dozen U-boats. Each attack is described, each rescue, each counter-attack by the escort forces.
Nearly all of the information here is pure primary-source material, including many, many interviews with survivors from both sides of the battle, even including Admiral Doenitz. Also several appendices provide details for each ship or U-boat: what type it was, what happened to it during the battles, what happened to it afterward, who were the fatalities, etc.
The author spends the first three chapters setting the scene -- explaining the convoy system; the control apparatus on both the Allied and the German side; the people and types of people involved; and the developments that led to where we are in March 1943. From that point it's mostly a chronological blow-by-blow of three convoys (especially two) against three-dozen U-boats. Each attack is described, each rescue, each counter-attack by the escort forces.
Nearly all of the information here is pure primary-source material, including many, many interviews with survivors from both sides of the battle, even including Admiral Doenitz. Also several appendices provide details for each ship or U-boat: what type it was, what happened to it during the battles, what happened to it afterward, who were the fatalities, etc.
October 23, 2013
The best book I've read on the Battle of the Atlantic.
February 7, 2023
Another WWII book about a convoy, a large group of ships, many being cargo ships carrying the supplies that were needed most in the battlefields of WWII. As part of the convoy, there were military vessels also but even with those, the convoy was in big danger of German submarines. And as we are docents on one of those cargo ships is now a floating museum in San Francisco, we related her WWII trips (4 trips across the Atlantic and 11 trips across the English Channel after the initial D-Day battles) one trip from the East Coast to the west coast of South America to pick up ingots going to port in the US on the Gulf of Mexico, and then went across the Pacific to the Philippines and further east. (and she still sails as a floating WWII museum).
June 1, 2024
When was the turning point of the second world war? Was it the battle of Moscow or Stalingrad on the Eastern front, perhaps Pearl Harbor bringing the US into the war or Midway when the Japanese advance was stopped. From Britain’s perspective as important is the turning point of the Battle of the Atlantic, when Britain as a whole nation no longer faced slow strangulation as a result of the submarine or U boat campaign to prevent supplies getting in, or simply sink so much tonnage allied shipyards could not keep up. Martin Middlebrook’s Convoy is an in depth look at the March 1943 battle for convoys SC.122 and HX.229 which represent both a low point in terms of ships lost and a turning point in the battle of the Atlantic. It was the greatest single U boat battle of the war.
The meat of this book is an in depth narrative of the three convoys (HX.229 is split in two) steaming simultaneously from the United States and Canada to the UK. We follow the convoys day by day, night by night, as the escorts fight to protect the convoy from the large wolfpacks that Admiral Dönetz directs onto them. Middlebrook delivers a sense of the fatalistic merchant mariners, harried navy escort seamen, eager submariners and the tense and difficult conditions shared by all. But there is also considerable analysis of how the battle of the Atlantic was fought which is both woven in to the narrative and included as a bit entitled ‘an analysis’ at the end. It is this that helps demonstrate how and why this was the turning point; these convoys were a learning experience in showing that the air gap could be closed, and through Western Approaches command using it to show how they could better use spare escorts to cover convoys under attack.
While this is a ‘battle’ as much of the focus is on the merchant marine as on the convoy escorts or the hunter U boats. It is after all these merchant ships that set the conditions of victory; sinking or getting through to Britain. And as a result they are the ones who bear the brunt of the action; it is mostly their ships sunk, not the escorts, or in this case the submarines. So it is a book as much about their heroism (or otherwise), and about the difficult decisions of the escorts to rescue survivors or keep on protecting the convoy, as it is about the battle between destroyer, frigate and submarine.
Middlebrook has made the most of this being written when there are still many alive who lived through the events. He has clearly done a lot of the initial legwork on the research; following up those who took part and interviewing them to get their stories rather than just relying on reports in the archives. Middlebrook often lets them be the ones who are telling the story, with extensive, and often long, quotes. This both has an advantage of immediacy and disadvantage of sometimes breaking the flow of the writing. Difficult to call it a downside given when it was written but while there is a fair bit on the Germans use of intercepts and intelligence there is very little on the Allied effort which we now know has as big an impact as it had not been declassified at the point this book was written.
A battle over multiple days like this can be a confusing affair with escorts (and sometimes merchantmen) joining and leaving the convoy, not to speak of U boats gaining and losing contact with their quarry. As a result the numerous diagrams and maps provided are invaluable for showing what is going on at the main stages of the battle. There is also a detailed set of appendix; list of merchant ships, list of local escorts (in N American waters), list of ocean escorts, list of U boats, Roll of Honour, and table of U boat sinkings across the war.
This is an excellent book. Although a look just at a few convoys in a single month it captures much of the battle of the Atlantic as a whole while being much more close and personal than a broad brush history of the whole battle could ever hope to be.
The meat of this book is an in depth narrative of the three convoys (HX.229 is split in two) steaming simultaneously from the United States and Canada to the UK. We follow the convoys day by day, night by night, as the escorts fight to protect the convoy from the large wolfpacks that Admiral Dönetz directs onto them. Middlebrook delivers a sense of the fatalistic merchant mariners, harried navy escort seamen, eager submariners and the tense and difficult conditions shared by all. But there is also considerable analysis of how the battle of the Atlantic was fought which is both woven in to the narrative and included as a bit entitled ‘an analysis’ at the end. It is this that helps demonstrate how and why this was the turning point; these convoys were a learning experience in showing that the air gap could be closed, and through Western Approaches command using it to show how they could better use spare escorts to cover convoys under attack.
While this is a ‘battle’ as much of the focus is on the merchant marine as on the convoy escorts or the hunter U boats. It is after all these merchant ships that set the conditions of victory; sinking or getting through to Britain. And as a result they are the ones who bear the brunt of the action; it is mostly their ships sunk, not the escorts, or in this case the submarines. So it is a book as much about their heroism (or otherwise), and about the difficult decisions of the escorts to rescue survivors or keep on protecting the convoy, as it is about the battle between destroyer, frigate and submarine.
Middlebrook has made the most of this being written when there are still many alive who lived through the events. He has clearly done a lot of the initial legwork on the research; following up those who took part and interviewing them to get their stories rather than just relying on reports in the archives. Middlebrook often lets them be the ones who are telling the story, with extensive, and often long, quotes. This both has an advantage of immediacy and disadvantage of sometimes breaking the flow of the writing. Difficult to call it a downside given when it was written but while there is a fair bit on the Germans use of intercepts and intelligence there is very little on the Allied effort which we now know has as big an impact as it had not been declassified at the point this book was written.
A battle over multiple days like this can be a confusing affair with escorts (and sometimes merchantmen) joining and leaving the convoy, not to speak of U boats gaining and losing contact with their quarry. As a result the numerous diagrams and maps provided are invaluable for showing what is going on at the main stages of the battle. There is also a detailed set of appendix; list of merchant ships, list of local escorts (in N American waters), list of ocean escorts, list of U boats, Roll of Honour, and table of U boat sinkings across the war.
This is an excellent book. Although a look just at a few convoys in a single month it captures much of the battle of the Atlantic as a whole while being much more close and personal than a broad brush history of the whole battle could ever hope to be.
January 30, 2022
First 75 pages were a little slow, but the next 250 pulled me right along. Solid writing with lots of details on a complex constantly evolving tactical situation. The author obviously put in a lot of research time.
Fascinating perspective on how big the ocean is and the massive resources committed by both sides during the Battle of the Atlantic.
This would be a good companion read to anyone that enjoyed reading HMS Ullyses or watching Tom Hanks in Greyhound.
Fascinating perspective on how big the ocean is and the massive resources committed by both sides during the Battle of the Atlantic.
This would be a good companion read to anyone that enjoyed reading HMS Ullyses or watching Tom Hanks in Greyhound.
January 2, 2015
I've bought an old penguin edition that is pre-ISBN, but there are more recent editions. This is a thoroughly well-researched book that evokes the harsh environment of the North Atlantic U-bot campaign of WW2. The men (& women) involved are described well and their characters described well on both sides. The technical details are given, but are not allowed to get in the way of the story-telling element. For me it did go on a bit and could have been cut back, but this is a minor quibble. A great read. Well worth the effort to read it to get an idea of what the convoy battles were like.
January 28, 2016
Really enjoyed this novel, it has been something a little different a little non fiction is
always good. There were some very interesting personal stories and the convoys that the
book was set around truly opened my eyes into what was actually going on in the
Atlantic. Even better knowing that my grandfather was somewhere in the middle of it. No
detail was left out.
always good. There were some very interesting personal stories and the convoys that the
book was set around truly opened my eyes into what was actually going on in the
Atlantic. Even better knowing that my grandfather was somewhere in the middle of it. No
detail was left out.
October 3, 2016
the true story of two convoys SC 122 and HX 229 that set off form New York in March 1943. A bit dry at times but very much the story of the convoys and the grim fight to preserve the lifeline that their supplies represented to the beleaguered UK. You do need to be a naval warfare fan!
April 13, 2008
great book, there was a displacement ton of research done on this book, and the reference sources are well documented, including interviews with a lot of the people involved on both sides.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews