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Attack and Sink: The Battle Convoy for SC42
"This convoy must not get through - U-boats pursue, attack and sink."
This was the signal that Admiral Dönitz sent to the commanders of the 21 U-boats of the Markgraf wolf-pack on September 9, 1941. Sixty-three merchant ships, many of them British; a number old and dilapidated and all slow and heavy-laden with vital supplies for the United Kingdom, were strung out in 12 columns abreast, covering an area of 25 miles of inhospitable ocean. They set sail from Nova Scotia at the time when the German U-boats were sinking more than one hundred ships a month and the US Navy could do nothing but stand by and watch - at least officially. "Around noon, the three US destroyers, Charles F. Hughes, Russell and Sims, wheeled away and made off to the west at speed. The American ships had served their purpose, for although they had taken great pains not to be associated with SC42's official escort, the mere presence of these modern, powerful men-of-war had contributed to the withdrawal of the U-boats."
Their escort of one destroyer and three corvettes of the Royal Canadian Navy, all untried in combat, was hopelessly outclassed. The battle for SC42 began when the convoy was in sight of the coast of Greenland, lasted for seven days, and covered 1,200 miles of ocean.
Captain Bernard Edwards has written another superb story of courage and endurance and has dedicated this book to all those who fought and died in the battle for convoy SC42. First-hand accounts of the participants on both sides add to the interest and drama.
This was the signal that Admiral Dönitz sent to the commanders of the 21 U-boats of the Markgraf wolf-pack on September 9, 1941. Sixty-three merchant ships, many of them British; a number old and dilapidated and all slow and heavy-laden with vital supplies for the United Kingdom, were strung out in 12 columns abreast, covering an area of 25 miles of inhospitable ocean. They set sail from Nova Scotia at the time when the German U-boats were sinking more than one hundred ships a month and the US Navy could do nothing but stand by and watch - at least officially. "Around noon, the three US destroyers, Charles F. Hughes, Russell and Sims, wheeled away and made off to the west at speed. The American ships had served their purpose, for although they had taken great pains not to be associated with SC42's official escort, the mere presence of these modern, powerful men-of-war had contributed to the withdrawal of the U-boats."
Their escort of one destroyer and three corvettes of the Royal Canadian Navy, all untried in combat, was hopelessly outclassed. The battle for SC42 began when the convoy was in sight of the coast of Greenland, lasted for seven days, and covered 1,200 miles of ocean.
Captain Bernard Edwards has written another superb story of courage and endurance and has dedicated this book to all those who fought and died in the battle for convoy SC42. First-hand accounts of the participants on both sides add to the interest and drama.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
225 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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August 1, 2023
I am hoping to go through books that are out of print and quite hard to find, but have been lucky enough to get my hands on them. This is one of those books.
Bernard Edwards is as engaging as always. You can't go wrong with Bernard Edwards when it comes to nautical non-fiction.
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