Author: Richard Freeman

Publisher:

Published: 2019-01-28

Total Pages: 390

ISBN-13: 9781792966729

No battle lasted longer than the 2075 days of the Battle of the Atlantic. Few battles are so apparently perplexing in their outcome. There was nothing in the dark days of September 1939 to February 1943 to suggest that the Allies could defeat the U-boat menace. Yet two months later the U-boats were tamed. 'Atlantic Nightmare' reveals the seven strategic errors in Hitler's approach to the U-boat war that helped deliver that victory to the Allies, starting with his decision to go war with only 21 ocean-going U-boats. At each stage of the long battle 'Atlantic Nightmare' demonstrates how Hitler, Raeder and Dönitz made mistake after mistake as they failed to develop a coherent strategy. This, and their failure to make the battle a priority, gave the Allies time to build up their anti-submarine forces. 'Atlantic Nightmare' shows how Churchill and his admirals took advantage of these errors to create escort ships and escort support units that overwhelmed the U-boats. Central to this success were fundamental research, operational research, technical wizardry, code-breaking and training. Each of these aspects of the battle is explored in 'Atlantic Nightmare'.Finally, 'Atlantic Nightmare' examines the crucial roles of the gifted people who took on the Nazi challenge, including Admirals Pound, Noble and Horton, plus a galaxy of trainers, escort commanders, brilliant scientists and code-breakers.Throughout 'Atlantic Nightmare' the words of the key participants - politicians, officers, seamen and researchers - are used to show how they responded at the time to the battle in its highs and lows.'Atlantic Nightmare's' mix of battle actions, human interest, and analysis provides a wide-ranging story of this momentous battle.