The U-Boat Hunters: The Royal Canadian Navy and the Offensive Against Germany's Submarines

Dean F. Oliver teaches history at York University.

This sequel to Milner’s critically acclaimed North Atlantic Run (1985)
documents the Royal Canadian Navy’s role in offensive antisubmarine
warfare (ASW) during the final years of World War II. Its focus, the
author acknowledges, largely excludes examination of close escort work
and contributes to a more episodic narrative, but Allied successes in
the Battle of the Atlantic in 1943 changed the nature of the naval war.
Thereafter on the strategic offensive, Allied forces frequently
encountered German submarines going to or from their home ports and far
from the heavily defended convoys. In these battles, the RCN tested its
tactical effectiveness, and their detailed assessment constitutes the
core of Milner’s book.

Although Canadian warships sank 18 U-Boats in this period, they were
frequently outscored by their American and British counterparts, and in
the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Atlantic-Canadian coastal waters were
almost completely unsuccessful. Inexperience, lack of training, mediocre
leadership, and inferior equipment (themes also explored in North
Atlantic Run) were partly to blame, but so were oceanographic and
climatic conditions and the skill of German submariners. Canadian
inefficiency often soured Allied command relationships and was a
constant worry to the Canadian government of Mackenzie King, but at
times, especially during 1944, RCN efforts were highly successful.

The naval staff in Ottawa were especially culpable, Milner argues, for
their failure to secure proper equipment and training. He also chides
the British repeatedly for not understanding Canadian problems, for
insisting on command authority, and for wanting to win the naval war
“on their own terms.” Given such handicaps, it is astonishing that
the RCN produced so many quality ASW officers and crews. Milner’s
balanced, basically favorable, conclusion spares the naval command the
opprobrium it so richly deserves.

U-Boat Hunters is a dense book, thoroughly researched, and often
startlingly revisionist in tone. For the specialist audience it is
essential reading. Marred only by the proliferation of typos and
editorial glitches, it confirms Milner’s place in the front rank of
Canadian military historians.