Original subtitles

Fire.

(torpedo launching)

(tense suspenseful music)

(ship exploding)

Dönitz's fleet is expanding

and he will not rest until he sent every convoy ship

to the bottom of the north Atlanta.

Hail Hitler.

Dönitz has 300 U-boats monster wolf packs.

We need more ships.

You admirals are always asking for more and more ships.

And when you get them, things get no better.

(suspenseful music)

This is war, not a bloody board game.

We have designed these tactics as tools,

which will save you time when you are at sea.

Seconds, that can save lives.

I want this convoy wiped out, God.

Destroyed.

What if, what if we don't prevail out there?

(suspenseful music continues)

I need results, Scott.

And ladies, remember the work we are doing here

is more important than ever.

Never forget that.

(tense suspenseful music)

(ship exploding)

But there's going to be an unconditional surrender,

it will be theirs, not ours.

(tense suspenseful music)

(sonar beeping)

Admiral Karl Dönitz, head of the U-boat fleet

and rising star of the Nazi party

has been summoned by Hitler.

(tense suspenseful music)

(phone ringing)

(hanging up phone)

(door opening)

Dönitz was a dedicated Nazi.

He was with a Nazi course.

He believed in the Führer,

he loved the Führer,

he admired the Führer.

He said the Führer is a genius.

(Dönitz coughing)

Hail Hitler.

After failing to stop the convoys using surface ships,

the head of the German Navy has resigned.

And Dönitz is waiting in the wings to take his place.

He's absolutely thrilled.

I wont let you down.

Because having nursed these ideas and ambitions of winning

the Atlantic war with U-boats,

he's all of a sudden in control.

(shoulder patting)

And so from January, 1943,

he feels that he's invincible and unstoppable.

(keyboard typing)

That WATU,

the Western approaches tactical unit,

Captain Gilbert Roberts and Wren Jean Laidlaw ,

a task with the devising anti-U-boat tactics.

Churchill always said that.

One of the things that he most feared in the war

was the Atlantic war, was the U-boat war

Roberts and Laidlaw at WATU

feel this pressure enormously.

(inspiring music)

Ladies, I'm not gonna sugar coat this.

We need food supplies.

Dönitz's fleet is expanding

and he will not rest until he sent every convey ship

to the bottom of the north Atlantic.

And ladies remember

the work we are doing here is more important than ever.

And every one of you plays an essential part,

never forget that.

All of us it's our job to prove

that these tactics work,

to teach these officers,

ah.

You too, here.

Good morning gentlemen.

Officers attending the WATU war gaming courses,

learn the tactics they will use at sea.

WATU now starts to give

these courses to many, many people.

They run from Monday till Saturday, every single week,

day in day out from February, 1942.

Until the end of the war.

Below you is the north Atlantic.

Each line marks a mile.

The U-boats will be invisible to you

as they would be in normal conditions at sea.

If you could take your places behind the screens please.

(suspenseful music)

You have two minutes for your first move.

Be decisive, communicate effectively,

go.

war gaming has been used for centuries

to test how armies might operate in a future war.

It is the only way to explore how an enemy might think

without actually fighting a battle with them.

New German reactions were explored.

They were then introduced into the training process,

so that in the battle space, in the Atlantic,

when an order was given, everybody knew what to do.

This is not a game.

This is training for war.

(suspenseful music)

Time.

(birds chirping)

What scarce food supplies do get past

the U-boats in the north Atlantic

are spread thinly around the British aisles

and Soviet territories.

Good morning.

Morning, sir.

Rationing hit Britain incredibly hard.

In 1943 you're allowed four ounces of bacon a week,

two ounces of butter, this is a very smaller lap,

one egg, one fresh egg a week.

One sausage, one slice of toast.

One egg, one slice of toast.

together they make quite a decent breakfast.

And we're the lucky ones.

True.

True.

(sad music)

I see the cues.

Mother's having to say no all the time.

(gentle music)

You're not going to eat that, Gilbert.

I don't think I want to.

Gilbert Roberts, was cast out of the Navy

because he had TB and his health

has been an issue for him all through the war

to the point where by the time 1943,

his weight was down to eight stone

and on a man that is dangerously underweight.

You have to eat.

I know I should, just can't find my appetite.

They realize that every single day

that they don't come up with a solution

more and more ships are going down.

Ships not only means material,

it also means human lives are being lost.

(gentle ominous music)

(ship exploding)

One of the victories

by Dönitz's U-boat wolf packs

comes in March of 1943.

In Mid-Atlantic, there were nearly a hundred

allied surface transports,

what the U-boats might have called

a target rich environment.

And Dönitz vectored several wolf packs in their direction.

And they had something of a field date.

(suspenseful music)

(torpedo exploding)

(ship exploding)

(ship exploding)

(paper rattling)

Another hit.

Dönitz has 300 U-boats monster wolf packs.

We have nowhere near enough escorts to match that.

But Roberts and Halton will not be out gamed.

The Wrens are set the task

of war gaming the battle, In real time.

They add extra naval support ships

to assess how many merchant vessels could be saved.

(suspenseful music)

Wren, what's the tonnage lost so far?

What are you waiting for? Find out.

These two convoys,

traveling in tandem lost 22 ships to U-boat attack,

that's over 300 lives.

All of these men struggling desperately

to get outta the boats before they slip underwater,

these boats go down in seconds.

Not only was it a devastating loss to the war effort,

but it was a tragic end to so many sea men's lives.

If we had those support ships,

we could have saved eight ships.

As I've been telling the admiralty for months,

I can't wait for them to make up their bloody minds,

If you want something done, do it yourself.

I'm gonna tell Churchill myself.

(Halton Walking)

(gentle music)

There are times

when I wonder is this how it's going to be for us,

losses, defeats.

Don't think like that.

Give it time.

We'll show them.

We will.

But there must be times when you think,

What if, what if we don't prevail out there?

Of course, everyone thinks about that from time to time,

but we have to fight those thoughts.

Believe me I do.

The dark Knight of the soul and all that.

Blood toil and sweat as Churchill said.

And he also said we must,

never surrender never surrender.

(suspenseful music)

We certainly realized that this was a serious war.

And then Churchill was doing these inspiring broadcasts.

So we had considerable confidence

in how we were going to cope with it.

We would fight them on the beaches

and fight them on the landing grounds,

never surrender.

And that's the sort of way we felt really.

(crowd chatting)

(waves gushing)

Despite his elevated rank,

Karl Dönitz maintains direct contact

with his U-boat fleet in the north Atlantic.

He's now grand Admiral Dönitz,

but first and foremost here's a submariner.

Had he win the war at sea?

You win it under the ocean with your U-boats,

The sea war is the war of the U-boats.

It is a massive problem for Western approaches.

Following Dönitz's promotion,

rear Admiral Eberhard Godt is now head of U-boat operations.

(suspenseful music)

This isn't Stalingrad,

this isn't north Africa.

in the north Atlantic, we win our battles.

100 U-boats here, stalking the black pit

(suspenseful music)

100 being repaired,

100 ready to be deployed.

They don't stand a chance.

They think they're going to invade France.

How, how will they get their troops across.

The sea war is the U-boat war.

If there's going to be an unconditional surrender,

it will be theirs, not ours.

(tense suspenseful music)

March, 1943 really was a very successful month

for U-boat force

and it looked like if it's really going on like

that every month then maybe we really have the chance

to bring Britain to her knees.

(suspenseful music continues)

Following the loss of over 300 lives

in the March battles.

Admiral Halton is determined to increase his fleet.

Halton

Prime Minister.

Drink.

No, thank you.

(whiskey pouring)

Prime minister.

We war gamed a scenario with two convoys in March,

we added three groups of support ships,

rapid response units that.

Halton has an ace up his sleeve

and he can prove that the ships will make a difference

cause he has the strategy,

He has the war game that proves extra ships

can turn the war around for Britain.

22 Ships were lost in that battle.

If we'd had the extra support ships,

as I've been proposing to the admiralty for months,

we could have saved eight ships, eight ships

give me 15 destroyers and we will beat

the subs at their own game.

You admirals,

you admirals were always asking for more and more ships,

And when you get them, things get no better.

But the war game does convince Churchill.

By the end of the month,

Halton is granted his extra 15 warships,

which he forms into five rapid response units

amongst them is the destroyer HMS Oribi.

In April, 1943, it arrives in Belfast for repairs.

A young Wren is watching from the plotting room

in Belfast castle that day.

(gentle uplifting music)

HMS Oribi came in one day

because she'd been so damaged during the storm.

The first thing they did was to send a message

to say, send us half a dozen Wren's down to have a drink.

So half a dozen us went down to the Oribi to have a drink.

And that's how it all began.

The 22 year old Christian is about

to meet someone who will change her life forever

and involve her in one of the most ferocious battles

of the north Atlantic.

(bomb exploding)

(gentle music)

Another three depth charges.

He'd already used every single depth charge on his ship.

Where did he think he was getting another three from.

(Jean sighing)

thankfully they can make their mistakes here and not at sea.

Hmm.

Could I ask you something?

Do you think, I mean,

should I talk more slowly?

Or more quietly, I just need to boom somewhat,

Wouldn't you say.

At times, perhaps.

In Robert's early lectures,

it was remarked upon that some of his speeches

were garbled or unclear.

His solution is brilliant.

He goes to Liverpool theater

where Tommy Handley is performing.

Now go on buzz off,

fit your fishing rod with a sausage and catch a tickler ,

A tickler?

Yes an Adolf tickler

Tommy Handley had a satirical radio show,

which took the mick out of Hitler,

which of course allowed him to teach Roberts,

these little references he could put

into his talks to make them more interesting and engaging.

Yeah, I would like to get this thing right.

Get the message through,

make them understand how important it is

when they're out there.

I think they do understand that.

You know how I like to send them on their way

with a memorable line.

To encourage.

I want to know I'm doing it right.

The prime minister.

He's rather fond of pauses.

Yes.

Hmm.

Very well.

Would you mind listening?

Of course.

(bright uplifting music)

The battle of the Atlantic.

The battle for the Atlantic.

The WATO course

is teaching communications and coordination.

What it's doing, it's enabling the escorts

to work together more efficiently,

to communicate more clearly and to trust each other better.

Escort commander, Peter Gretton

is a firm believer in the WATU courses.

Gretton was an exceptional officer

and clearly one of the bright lights

in one of the great escort captains

and any submarine captains of the second world war.

(bright lively music)

If you had used half raspberry, rather than raspberry,

this would not have happened.

Have I made myself clear.

Half raspberry?

aye aye, sir.

An error made in a war game.

Good

can often give you greater insight than complete success.

If everything runs smoothly and everything works,

What have you learned?

We have designed these tactics as tools,

which will save you time when you are at sea,

time that is crucial, seconds that can save lives,

(gentle suspenseful music)

Sir.

(gentle suspenseful music continues)

The battle of the Atlantic is unlike any other.

It is the war of the little ships and the lonely aircraft

long patient and unpublicized,

against our two great enemies,

the U-boat and the cruel sea.

Good luck.

And God speed.

One of the most important convoy battles

of the entire battle of the Atlantic

and for that matter of the entire war.

Was ONS five.

(gentle piano music)

Dönitz decided that he wanted to annihilate

this convoy entirely Gentlemen,

To demonstrate to the allies

that they could not venture onto this ocean,

that, that convoy could lose every ship in it.

So,

ONS five.

It's one of the largest single convoys ever undertaken.

43 ships bound for Halifax.

on its return it'll be carrying tons

of vital food and raw materials.

If you have something to say, man, say it to me.

We will be taking the north route,

Northwest to 61 degrees, 45 north, 29, 11 west,

east of Covington, here and then South west along

the great banks of Newfoundland.

I know, I know, ice.

It's a risk.

Yes.

Pack ice more so than bergs.

It can slow us down, damage ships,

but what would you rather have

ice or more time in the black pit?

(tense music)

The Atlantic air gap known as the black pit

is so far from any air bases,

the convoys traveling through it, have no air support.

As you know, we're on our own here.

This is where the wolf packs prowl,

they'll shadow us, they'll attack at night.

That's their MO.

There is some good news.

A number of long-range aircraft have been allocated

to the convoys, but the weather is bad out there.

Not even the VLR can fly in those winds.

If they could, there's a very small area here,

even they can't reach, we must have our wits about us.

The WATU tactics, raspberry, half raspberry artichoke,

all of them, drill them in,

Know them like the back of your hand,

because out there we will need them.

So,

observant.

What's the formation.

He was pretty hard driver.

He could be quite clipped and quite sharp,

even dealing with a young graduate student,

asking him questions.

Why don't you know, this?

It should be second nature by now, sharpen up man.

(gentle inspirational music)

(book flipping)

At the drinks party on HMS Oribi,

Christian Holdem meets first lieutenant, John Lamb.

One of the things that I liked about him

was his sense of humor.

As we found a lot of things funny,

which a lot of people don't file funny.

John and I got engaged after 10 days.

And of course we were only visiting each other

part of the day wasn't like 10 days in a hotel or something.

It was just enough for us to realize

that we liked each other enough.

The feelings of the newly engaged couple

are about to be tested to their very limit.

(gentle apprehensive music)

On April the 22nd of the coast

of Scotland ONS five assembles,

43 merchant vessels and seven escorts.

In formation it covers over eight and half miles.

(gentle apprehensive music continues)

With annihilation as their goal,

Dönitz and Godt reconfigure their wolf packs.

Dönitz laid out the north Atlantic

into a series of squares so that he could indicate

to the U-boats in the Atlantic,

which grid was likely to be target rich.

I think we move Miser, Miser has 30 Boats,

Correct?

We will reconfigure Miser, it's obvious.

We take 16 boats from here and we'll form

a new patrol line, north south between latitude 61 degrees,

50 and 57 degrees north, 400 miles east of Greenland.

We'll call it group star and they'll assemble

at zero 900 hours tomorrow morning.

I want this convoy wiped out God,

destroyed.

(gentle music)

The convoys facing of course the threat

of Dönitz's U-boats, this coming right after

the mass sinkings in March, everybody's very fearful

that this is going to happen again,

but then the weather turns against them as well,

and gale force winds start hit the ships.

The day after Christian

gets engaged to John Lamb,

HMS Oribi sails out into the north Atlantic

on a secret mission.

The next morning,

after we'd seen the ship sail down the esthery

to imagine his going out into this dreadful storm,

the ships were in great danger all the time.

It was rarely the morning after he'd left,

when I realized a feeling of real fear

of what you might lose, which was so dreadful to think of.

As ONS five also heads into the storm.

There is another serious setback.

The news from submarine tracking is bad.

Expect U-boats in the general area of New founding.

(paper rattling)

What?

That's a large area sir,

are there any bearings?

If I had bearings run, I would give you bearings.

Now get on.

(Halton walking)

Code breakers at Bletchley park

are unable to decipher the enigma coded messages

from the U-boats.

What's going on?

Why does this keep happening?

If Halton knows where the U-boats are,

he can get in contact with the escort commander of ONS five

and they can avoid the threat.

I've got a convoy about to enter the black pit,

no air cover, no.

What?

Well as soon as you know, I need to know.

But in April, 1943, he doesn't have the intel,

he has no idea where the U-boats are.

And that means that the convoy is heading into the unknown.

(suspenseful music)

(waves gushing)

They're like clocks out there without cargo.

We've already had one collision.

Fuel is 62%, sir,

Speed?

Four knots.

I shouldn't have to be dealing with this.

A ship that guzzles fuel 8% a day, It's so fast,

This is the north Atlantic.

We'll never be able to fill her with these waves.

We've got a few more days and that's it.

HMS Duncan had boiler problems.

So she was using more fuel than usual anyway,

in addition, she was a fast destroyer,

so her fuel use was very high.

(sky rumbling)

As Gretton heads towards the black pit,

the largest wolf pack of the second world war

begins to assemble.

(sky rumbling)

The captain of U-boat six 50 is hunting for prey.

Last head spotted.

Message to U-boat headquarters, convoy spotted,

speed eight to 10 knots bearing 2, 7, 0.

The message is ciphered on the enigma machine

and radioed to U-boat command.

That message would tell Dönitz what was coming,

where it was coming, at what speed.

He would then use the grid coordinates

of the north Atlantic to send his own messages out

to other U-boats in the area,

ordering them to congregate in the appropriate spot,

so that they can all attack the convoy as a wolf pack.

(tense suspenseful music)

Spotting a U-boat calling tower,

Gretton calls on his WATU training.

(water splashing)

U-boat cited at a range

of about two miles bearing 1, 46,

expect U-boat contact at any time.

Observant, observant, observant.

Also in as the square search,

the escort ships conduct a two mile sweep

in a square shape around the last known U-boat location.

If the U-boat tries to escape the square,

ASDIC will detect it and the U-boat can be depth charged.

Convoy full speed ahead, Duncan and Tay observant.

The escorts through in the area assigned by that tactic.

Then search that square in the good knowledge

that the U-boat is probably operating within that area.

(dramatic suspenseful music)

(sonar beeping)

In order to identify where it is,

you need to flush him out with your sonar,

your ASDIC, this is the sound wave that's gonna ping

off the shell of the U-boat,

The dreaded sound that no U-boat captain wants to hear.

(sonar pinging)

(sonar pinging)

When they're getting pinged by ASDIC,

they know that the British are getting close,

where they can hear escorts getting closer.

They know their risk is increased.

(sonar pinging)

Dive.

This causes them to go deep,

go deeper to evade the convoy.

(depth charge exploding)

Once the ships are in the observant formation,

Gretton launches a pattern of 10 depth charges.

(gentle ominous music)

(submarine cricking)

(submarine cricking)

The convoy doesn't hit any U-boats that day,

but a potentially lethal attack is successfully deterred.

(gentle ominous music continues)

If you are a U-boat commander,

you definitely want to avoid getting trapped

by one of these tactics.

As a result, most of the tactics used by WATU,

even if they don't sink a U-boat,

will dissuade it from attacking.

(water splashing)

And this was the basic rule in anti U-boat warfare.

It's not necessary to actually sink a U-boat,

take away the chance of success

and bring your ship and cargo home,

that's what it's all about.

Even though Dönitz was head

of the Kriegs marine in an hour,

when there was an important operation going on,

then he tried to do as much as possible himself.

16 boats was supposed to be in positioned

by zero 900 hours.

Where are they?

Yes, sir.

Yes, sir.

Yes, sir.

16 boats, sir.

Where are they?

They can't move, the wind.

Don't whimper to me about bad weather and strong winds,

like some little French girl.

Do you want to tell that to the Führer,

this is war, not a board game.

Do your job.

(tense dramatic music)

Get the boats there, now.

Attack.

(tense dramatic music continues)

(sky rumbling)

Although there is still no intelligence

from Blatchley park, the onboard technology

on HMS Duncan picks up enemy radio frequencies.

(picking up phone)

Bloody mag pie's chattering.

Gretton's use of the term chattering a mag pie's

merely indicates, there were multiple signals.

This cascade tells him that there's

a major wolf pack converging on him.

Message to Western approaches,

submarines cited,

position course and speed.

6, 1, 3, 7 north,

3, 2, 4, 9 west

Huff activity suggests several more in the vicinity.

It's even worse than they thought, They're surrounded.

It's a bit like being at a camp at night in the Moonlight,

and you can hear the wolves howling in the distance.

(water splashing)

Gretton immediately messages Western approaches

and tells them to send help

and this is the beautiful thing.

Halton, because he's already asked Churchill

for his support groups is able to send

some extra destroyers to help the convoy.

Wren

message to Oribi,

detach to support ONS five,

position course and speed, 21 20 hours,

six, one degrees , three, seven north, three, two degrees,

four, nine west, proceed at 20 knots weather permitting.

If he's wrong, then that support group is expended fuel,

getting to that location and may not end up fighting

any U-boats at all.

If he's correct, they can make a decisive difference

to the battle, it's in a vital decision

that Halton's making.

(tense dramatic music)

In the mountainous waves,

the Oribi travels slowly.

It will be nearly two days before it reaches the convoy.

Although there have been no direct hits on Dönitz's fleet.

Two U-boats have returned to base for repairs.

The imbecility,

the magnitude of it.

It's gale force 10, the waves.

You don't get it. Do you?

It's this.

what Cutchma had, what Prine had, what Chedka had, what I,

I need results Scott.

(tense dramatic music)

Not tomorrow, when the sun shines.

Now.

The dark side of Dönitz's discipline

was that he demanded a lot from his U-boat crew

from the commanders and he put a lot of pressure,

especially when they were not successful.

(tense suspenseful music)

We know what the standard U-boat tactic is.

The ideal tactic get in among the convoy shipping lanes

on the surface late at night when you can't be spotted,

but the game has changed.

We know we've got the hard weaponry of technology.

We've got the soft, incredibly ingenious tactics

of WATU the U-boats are up against it

and they are being pushed,

the pressure on them is like never before.

Angles 30 degrees

range 2000.

[Scout] torpedo depth five.

They go in between the convoy rose.

Open bow caps.

Into the fourth row.

Tube one and two ready.

And they attack point blank.

(torpedo firing)

(ship exploding)

(tense suspenseful music)

The McKee spot a merchant ship carrying 68 men

takes a direct hit.

(ship engine rumbling)

Convoy full speed ahead,

be on the lookout for survivors,

artichoke artichoke,

(ship exploding)

let's send these bastards to the deep.

Artichoke artichoke.

Operation artichoke,

to be used when a U-boat attacks by day

or by strong Moonlight.

The escort astern the convoy immediately proceeds

to the torpedoed ship scanning with ASDIC,

all other escorts turn and speed astern the convoy

until 6,000 yards past the stricken ship.

The rest of the escorts move to the rear of the convoy

and then basically scan forwards.

The evading U-boat will hopefully run into the line

created by the artichoke tactic.

Again, they are using the fact

that the U-boats are concerned about being hunted.

(depth charges firing)

Brewing depth charges.

Once the escort ships

are in the artichoke formation,

another pattern of depth charges is dropped.

(depth charges exploding)

(ship banging)

(ship rattling)

Again there are no direct U-boat hits,

but operation artichoke deters further attacks.

The Mickey spot, There's 68 crew members on board,

and it becomes obvious that the ship's

just not going to make it,

so the order is given for them to abandon ship,

to leave the vessel to its fate.

(gentle music)

Convoy full steam ahead,

Northern gem, be on the lookout for survivors.

One of the reasons the Atlantic war

is really so terrible is because of the fact

that human beings are going overboard,

and they're going into this terrible icy water

sometimes into pools of oil and sometimes into flames.

you have a life expectancy of only a few minutes.

(gentle music)

Survivors.

Whole crew, 68 men rescued by Northern jam.

Good.

Good.

Few years ago, I would've lost them all.

What Roberts war games identifies

is that deploying a ship that should be escorting

the convoy to rescue men in the water.

And sometimes women and children risks the defense

of the convoy itself.

As a result in 1942,

designated rescue ships are added to the larger convoys.

It means the escort can concentrate on the job in hand,

protecting the convoy and hunting the U-boats.

(waves gushing)

In Belfast, Christian Holdem

finds herself plotting the course of her own fiance's ship.

As it gets closer to the convoy.

When I really felt rather despairing and anxious

and worrying naturally

because it was just an extraordinary experience

to become engaged to somebody

and they have find that whole thing was endangered.

It was something of a nightmare to be living through

this extraordinary situation

where you had to had nothing you could do about it,

but just watch from a distance.

The weather is atrocious and the Oribi

its compass breaks, it's an absolute disaster.

It finally manages to make it to the convoy

and finds that it's Hove to its stationary.

The storm is now so bad, neither the ships

nor the U-boats can move until it passes,

the convoy can only watch and wait.

(Roberts sighing)

Do you ever lose faith Jean?

I mean, in what we're doing here.

I can't afford to lose faith.

How can I teach what I don't believe.

This year has been catastrophic.

There's lots of people in this place

who would close the stand, just like that.

There are no guarantees.

We've never claimed that.

We can drill them all we like, We can,

talk,

set the stopwatch,

but we can't recreate the ocean, wind, waves.

The terror.

We will prevail.

I know we will.

Yes, yes, of course.

The relationship between Roberts and laidlaw

seems to be one of a very, very close cooperation,

a mutual trust, mutual respect.

And this is something that's really quite unusual

for the age, for the era.

I have every faith.

I suppose that's what we have now, faith.

No, we have this.

What we teach them.

We do.

(door opening)

(waves gushing)

As the storm begins

to abate HMS Duncan's fuel is now dangerously low.

Western approaches aren't gonna like it.

Do you think I like it.

The last bloody thing I want to do, leave my charge.

The last thing, I've lives to protect on the ships

and back home.

What choice have I got?

We've got just enough fuel to get us to St. John's,

if that

(waves gushing)

or we stay, where we are told.

It may seem odd to us that any man or indeed woman

would want to remain in a battle zone,

but Gretton like most of the men fighting in this war there

to win it, come what may.

Duncan to detach?

See a course for St. John's Newfoundland.

Best speed.

Forced to depart, commander Gretton knows

he is leaving the convoy at the worst possible time.

In the military.

If you are not able to take part in a battle that yourself

have influenced, it can be incredibly emotional.

It must have been heartbreaking.

(gentle music)

(Halton walking)

News of Gretton's departure

from the convoy soon reaches Admiral Halton.

Present weather conditions, preclude oiling at sea

intend detaching, and he's taking three

other escort ships with him.

That ship was built in the thirties.

It's not up to modern standards.

Our commanders weren't trained to leave their charge,

especially not a commander like Gretton.

With respect sir, I don't believe he had a choice.

We all have to live with our decisions, Roberts.

(tense dramatic music)

It is now five days since ONS five

was spotted by U-boat six 50.

as the convoy reaches, the black pit,

Dönitz is desperate for his wolf pack to attack.

Message.

Utilize all means to listen, report every clue immediately,

every chance must be taken.

Something can and must be achieved with 31 U-boats.

And.

He's cut his teeth into ONS five.

And by the time he's done ordering up U boats to attack it.

There's around 40, 41, 4 times larger than the escort,

I mean, it's an overwhelming number of U-boats.

(tense dramatic music)

Knowing that three days ago,

her fiance ship HMS Oribi joined the convoy.

Wren Christian holdem refuses to leave the plotting room.

Naturally I needed to stay there.

There was no way that I could leave the plot

until the battle was decided.

(waves gushing)

It was a nightmare to feel so helpless waiting for news,

which didn't ever come.

(ship crashing)

(Ship exploding)

(dramatic upbeat music)

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