Description

Title: British and Commonwealth Merchant Ship Loses to Axis Submarines 1939 – 1945

Author: Tennent, Alan J

Condition: Near Mint +

Edition: 2nd Edition

Publication Date: 2002

ISBN: 0750927607

Cover: Hard Cover with Dust Jacket – 326 pages

Comments: During the Second World War, merchant shipping was Britain’s lifeline. Essential goods needed from Asia, Australia, Africa and America had to be brought across the oceans in merchant convoys escorted by British and Commonwealth warships.

German U-boats, surface raiders and aircraft did their best to attack and sink these vital convoys and it became increasingly difficult to maintain supplies of raw materials like timber and iron, and foods like meat, cheese, butter and oranges. As the Germans tightened the noose on Britain’s Atlantic supply lines, the pressure grew ever greater on Britons to become self-sufficient. The sinking of Allied merchant vessels mounted and Germany came close to winning the Battle of the Atlantic and starving Britain into submission. More Allied merchant ships were lost to Axis U-boat attack than to any other cause combined – in fact more than 1400 ships. In this unique and comprehensive reference volume, the author has gone back to primary sources to provide full details for each and every one of these ships – including the sinking of the vessels, the U-boat and commander responsible, and survivors, if any.