HX 72-First Convoy to Die: The Wolfpack Attack That Woke Up the Admiralty

Tim Cook is the transport archivist at the Government Archives and
Records Disposition Division, National Archives of Canada, and the
author of No Place to Run: The Canadian Corps and Gas Warfare in the
First World War.

The convoy system during the Second World War was essential in
sustaining Great Britain with food, fuel, and war materiel. Indeed,
without the convoy system, in which the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and
Canada’s Merchant Marine played an essential role in ensuring safe
passage across the Atlantic, it is likely that Great Britain would have
been forced to sue for peace against Hitler’s armies. Those bitter,
icy battles between the Allied sailors and the German U-boats
(submarines) is the focus of this important work.

The book, which is based on interviews with veterans and thorough
research into the archival and secondary sources, examines a September
1940 convoy battle between 42 Allied ships and a wolfpack of five
U-boats. Anxious to deliver its cargo, the Allied convoy was raided in a
stealthy and deadly engagement by the German U-boats. With little chance
of stopping the U-boats, the ravaged convoy 11 ships over several days.
The convoy’s destruction and scattering had a fearful impact on the
Royal Navy (RN), and many in Great Britain worried that their lifeline
to North America was in danger of being cut as more and more U-boats
prowled the shipping lanes. Such was not the case, however, as both the
RCN and the RN honed their tactics and received new equipment that
helped stave off the slaughter, eventually turning the tide of battle in
late 1943. Nonetheless, before then, it was a near-run thing, and the
Merchant Marines of all nations suffered heavily in their service to the
war effort.

This excellent book sheds light on the desperate convoy engagements in
the Battle of the Atlantic and the essential role played not only by the
military navies but also by the civilians who were engaged in the
Merchant Marines. O’Brien’s work is a valuable addition to the
historiography that, because of its fine prose and eloquent writing
style, should be accessible to readers of all ages. Those interested in
World War II, the Battle of the Atlantic, the Merchant Marine, or
seafaring in general will find HX 72—First Convoy to Die a profitable
read.