The Battle of the Atlantic: The War Against Allied Shipping, 1939-1945

479 pages

David Collins

Please note this e-book will be published on 1 September 2024

NR readers will recall the reissue by Sapere Publishing of several of Peter Gretton’s books regarding convoy operations in the North Atlantic during World War II. We are indebted to Vice Admiral Mike Gretton (Peter’s son) for uncovering, and editing, a manuscript (rescued from the archive at the Maritime Museum, Greenwich) written by his father 30 years ago about the Battle of the Atlantic.

One may well wonder if there is merit in reading another account about the events of those times. But what makes this volume special is the fact that the author was intimately involved with convoy operations and the protection of merchant shipping, literally in the thick of it. After leaving the Royal Navy early for health reasons, Gretton went on to become a bursar in an Oxford College where he honed his scholarship and became a don at the same time.

Given the provenance of the manuscript, there is a long introduction by Mike Gretton and an afterword by Professor Marc Milner who himself has written extensively about the Battle of the Atlantic. Both are somewhat kindly critical as to how Gretton wrote his book and organised the information in it. But Milner is emphatic that this is a book which deserves to be published and read.

There are 31 chapters in the book which include topical themes interspersed with descriptions of specific convoys and how they fared crossing the ocean. The chapters on the convoys such as SC7 give rich detail from an operational point of view on the blow by flow of countering attacks by U-boats. The thematic chapters on such topics as the merchant navy, codebreaking, U-boat organisation, air support, the contribution of the USN, and shore-based organization in Western Approaches command provide a pastiche of how the war at sea was tackled.

Gretton was firm in his belief that the Battle of the Atlantic was somewhat less about fighting and destroying U-boats than it was about ensuring the safe passage of merchant ships to resupply a beleaguered and threated Britain in the critical 1941-43 period. Given his operational experience as a convoy escort commander, he frankly discusses the slowness with which the expanded RN and RCN, somewhat supported by the USN, rose to the challenge of combatting the U-boat challenge. The Germans never realised how close they were to victory in the North Atlantic before Doenitz largely called off his boats in May 1943. Gretton does not shy away from the inadequate technical aspects of the ships involved, the inexperience of escort ships and their commanding officers and how long it took to build up a team spirit among the ships to hone their tactical skills to protect the convoys they escorted.

While he laments that many officers sent to the escort groups were from the ‘B List’ (many ‘A List’ officers were appointed to the main battle fleets) Gretton acknowledges that with time, training and experience, the escort and support groups rose to a much higher standard. This is exemplified by the example of the rise of the RCN from a small pre-war navy to a major player in the Battle of the Atlantic. Gretton is critical of how long it took to get the RCN up to speed, the focus on training, the lack of continuity of ship’s crews and the focus, as he puts it, of planning for a “big ship navy”, post war RCN. The role of air support became critical to success in the fight against U-boats, provided by both RAF and RCAF coastal aircraft.

In the research for his books, Gretton spent a lot of time with former officers of the Kriegsmarine, including submarine skippers and their senior officers. He had access to German records including war diaries. As a result, his understanding of convoy engagements with U-boats is excellent. In fact, he grants a lot of credit to U-boat captains for their successes in sinking Allied shipping; he is more reserved about singing the praises of Allied efforts and the contributions of captains such as Johnnie Walker and Chummy Prentice on their leadership and tactical excellence in defending again the U-boats.

In closing, this is certainly a book worthy of attention. Gretton is aligned with the view of modern historians that convoying merchant ships was the key to success in the Battle of the Atlantic. This, despite the naysaying of his seniors earlier in the war who were not as convinced. Let me close this review by quoting from Professor Milner in his Afterword. “Gretton’s manuscript richly deserves to be published. He was an important participant and witness to the campaign he so passionately describes. The combination of research, reflection, and memory marks this MS as a unique document in the history – and historiography – of the Battle of the Atlantic”.