Night of the U-Boats

London: W. Foulsham & CO. LTD, 1973. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. Good/Good. 204 pages. DJ flap is price-clipped. Contents include Introduction; The Darkest Days; The Admiral's Daughter; A Ship Called Fritz; The Steaming Herd; The Luck of the Lakers; The First of the Hunters; The Wolves Gather; Don't Launch The Boats!; The Night Explodes; And Still the Slaughter; The Bottomless Bluebell; How Do You Feel, Captain?; The Second Assault; Last Ship to Die; Your Sixpenses, Please, followed by Acknowledgments and Index. Account of convoy SC-7 from Sydney, Canada, to England and the events that transpired when, in the middle of the night, it was attacked by a pack of five German U-Boats. During the course of the night, 20 of the 35 merchant ships were sunk - the single biggest shipping loss in naval history to that time. Ludlam, with Paul Lund, began a series of books that recount various stories of action in World War II. These include: PQ 17: Convoy to Hell (1968); Trawlers Go To War (1971); Night of the U-boats (1973); The War of the Landing Craft (1976); Out Sweeps! (1978); and Nightmare Convoy (1987). The series was very popular. Atlantic Jeopardy (1990) is a compilation of the first three volumes. In 2010-12 the six books were reissued in a series headed "I Was There" with the original titles sometimes slightly altered. Lund and Ludlam also tried their hand at military fiction of World War II, including novels The Fate of the 'Lady Emma' (1978); Hit the Beach (1979); and Icekill (1984). SC 7 was the code name for a large Allied World War II convoy of 35 merchant ships and six escorts, which sailed eastbound from Sydney, Nova Scotia, for Liverpool and other United Kingdom ports on 5 October 1940. While crossing the Atlantic, the convoy was intercepted by one of the first Kriegsmarine submarine wolfpacks. During the ensuing battle, the escort was completely overwhelmed and 20 of the 35 cargo vessels were sunk and 2 more damaged, with 141 lives lost. The disastrous outcome of the convoy demonstrated the German submarines' potential of being able to work more efficiently using wolfpack tactics and the inadequacy of British anti-submarine tactics at the time. The aftermath was that SC 7 had lost 20 ships out of 35, of which seven fell to Kretschmer's U-99. The total tonnage lost was 79,592 GRT. The arrival of convoy HX 79 in the vicinity had diverted the U-boats and they went on to sink 12 ships from HX 79 that night. No U-boats were lost in either engagement. The loss of 28 ships in 48 hours made 18 and 19 October the worst two days for shipping losses in the entire Atlantic campaign. The attack on SC 7 was a vindication of the U-boat Arm's wolfpack tactic, and was the most successful U-boat attack of the Atlantic campaign. The convoy escort was ineffective in guarding against the attack. Convoy tactics were rudimentary at this early stage of the war. The escorts' responses were uncoordinated, as the ships were unused to working together with a common battle-plan. Command fell to the senior officer present, and could change as each new ship arrived. The escorts were torn between staying with the convoy, abandoning survivors in the water, as DEMS regulations demanded, and picking them up, leaving the convoy unprotected and risking being torpedoed themselves.