Twilight of the U-Boats

In the dying moments of the Second World War in Europe Grand Admiral Donitz sent a final signal to his U-boat crews which read, 'You have fought like lions. An overwhelming material superiority has driven us into a tight corner from which it is no longer possible to continue the war.' With these brave words ended the brilliant yet hugely costly U-boat campaign against Allied merchant shipping which had come so close to cutting the vital Atlantic supply lines. The sea war, which for much of the time was fought in the teeth of the most atrocious weather, with terrible casualties being inflicted on both sides, came to a climax in the winter of 1942-43. It was then that the remorseless flow of replacement shipping from American yards and the combined fighting power of the British and United States navies finally blunted and systematically defeated the U-boat Arm. This latest work by Bernard Edwards, one of the foremost naval historians writing today, charts the declining fortunes of the U-boats from the apogee of their power in 1943 to their final defiant show of force in the North Sea when the German armies on land lay defeated and demoralised. Interwoven with these momentous events is a commentary on the brutal 'kill-or-be-killed' life in a typical U-boat of the day as described in the War Diary of U-223 commanded by Karl-Jurgen Wachter. Twilight of the U-Boats will be read and enjoyed by all those who are fascinated by the conduct of this aspect of warfare and the courage of those who fought under the most dire and dangerous conditions.